Everyone is familiar with the expression ”defense wins championships.” Yet, how do players approach defense? They know that they need to stop the other team from scoring and the thought process normally stops right.. about.. there.
With that in mind, we thought it would be helpful to lay out a mental framework for players to work under to effectively go about doing just that.
Defensive Roles
There are two distinct roles when playing defense.
On the puck defense (Player closest to the puck)
Off the puck defense (Away from the puck)
Our friend Mason Baptista of BapsHockey has a great flow chart for this:
The key to establishing effective defense is speeding up your ability to process this flow of decision-making. The faster you can recognize and execute this, the quicker you will regain puck possession (all while keeping the puck out of your net!).
The Starting Point is the Same
Goals
Eliminate time and space
Steer into bad ice
Stop movement
A proper starting point when playing defense is getting onto the defensive side of the puck (closer to your goal than your opponent).
Once positioning is established, we next want to close off the time and space of the opponent so they begin to run out of options. This could be to players on the puck or even players off the puck. Attaching to players gaining speed and steering them into poor areas before they get the puck is a great strategy.
On the puck defense
This is the player closest to the puck carrier.
Angling is a key skill to shrink available space to the opposition. Once players understand the value of angling and can execute well, they are able to dictate the terms of play in order to “be hard to play against.”
The two most common issues for young players engaging players on the puck are opposite sides of the coin.
(1) Fishing = Seeking to win the puck solely with their stick (Note: incredibly common at the youth/minor hockey level)
Watch below where Auston Matthews (#34) fails to establish body positioning and is simply trying to fish the puck out from the battle.
(2) Hand-led contact = Seeking to win the puck by hitting the opponent hard and separating the puck and the player.
While Emil Andrae (#28) ended up getting the puck in this clip, it wasn’t seamless and quick. Had his teammate not been in close support, this would’ve been a situation where the opposing team gained control. Dive further into his game,“Scouting Emil Andrae.”
The proper way to play these situations is to establish the best body position possible and then go stick-on-puck + body-on-body. Here is 5’8” Tyler Johnson easily winning a 50/50 puck battle against 6’1” Sam Lafferty with great technique.
One leads facing the check, the other puts their check on their back and controls the puck’s space. Small difference, massive advantage.
Turning 50/50 pucks into easily won puck races and battles via Position before possession
Off the puck defense
These are the players away from the puck carrier.
While offensive players away from the puck are afforded more freedom of movement, they are still threats to the defense that should be mitigated. Often the most dangerous player is not the one carrying the puck… it’s the player about to get the puck with an A+ opportunity.
While a lot of defense can become read/react, the defense can still dictate what is available. The defender can either:
Lay off and give space to the potential passing target to incentivize the opponents to pass to that player.
Stay close to suffocate the puck carrier’s passing options and prevent those players from becoming viable passing options. Often called “sitting” on the option.
The other element defenders are guarding against is speed. This involves proper gap control (distance between the defender and their assignment) and slowing offensive movement before it gets going.
Watch as William Nylander (#29) glances twice, gets good body positioning so he can (1) See Connor McDavid at all times, and (2) beat him to any race by boxing out. Nylander simply gets in the way to allow a teammate to grab the puck. The same principle can allow himself to win the race to the puck. Gaining positioning before touching the puck is the best predictor of who will win a given puck battle.
Backchecking
Once the puck is moved and you are no longer the on-the-puck defender, you’re now on the backcheck… also known as “tracking” or “tracking back.”
Terms associated with backchecking
Landing spots
Overbackchecking
Middle-out
Reloading
Backchecking and changing are massively underrated aspects of a quality team performance. We will go into greater detail on these topics in an upcoming post.
Backchecking
Further Reading
Did you enjoy this newsletter?
Help us spread the ideas within and share it with the people you care about