Breaking Down The Tape Of Seamus Casey's First Game At The University Of Michigan
Breaking Down The Tape Of Seamus Casey's First Game At The University Of Michigan
Hockey Details With The Freshman Defenseman NJ Devil draft pick, Seamus Casey
We’ve already profiled Seamus Casey’s point play and discussed where the young defenseman has room for improvement. Today, we wanted to look at how the freshman at the University of Michigan is transitioning to the NCAA game.
Most players take their time to feel their way into a new team. Not so with Casey (#26 in all clips). Let’s take a look at his first game with Wolverines:
Sequence 1
Newly appointed head coach Brandon Naurato is a noted ‘modern-day coach’ with progressive ideas, particularly surrounding how defense is played.
This clip is a prime example. We see Casey defending by skating forward via angling. His details within the sequence are textbook:
Leading “stick-on-puck” to close space and options.
Controlled skating
Finish through the player’s hands and sealing contact so only he and his team can get positioning on the puck.
Sequence 2
Ice hockey is a fluid game where players change roles as the play unfolds. Players with great awareness are continuously effective in driving results in their team’s way as they can fluidly fill each situation’s required role.
Casey is listed as a defender but plays the role of center here. Watch how he reads that he is in the best position to fill the support role on the breakout that the center normally fills.
He supports on the strong side dot and then sprints up ice to join and lead the rush.
Sequence 3
This is a classic Casey play. He understands where goals are scored.
Rather than chucking the puck to the net, he drives down the wall and commits two opponents to him.
He scans and passes to his recently vacated space behind him. Rather than stop and return to his regular positioning, Casey takes a hard push toward the net.
Maybe the bank off the back wall was lucky, but the process is solid. Great goal.
Sequence 4
The last time we talked about Casey, there were opportunities to improve his point play. And, oh boy, has he delivered!
Without hesitation, Casey rotates over and down as a teammate skates the puck up the wall. The more he does this, his teammates will understand his expectation and continue to find him.
Driving down the dot line, Casey gets the goalie to commit to one look before his deke. That is fantastic deception with a goal scorer’s intent.
Related: How Zach Werenski scores goals
Sequence 5
Once again, Casey gets off his blueline and shorts the offensive zone.
He is then aggressive and able to attack the play early. He again leads stick-on-puck and breaks up the play before it ever gets started.
Sequence 6
A common situation defensemen find themselves in is retrieving a puck and finding their way up ice. Casey makes this look smooth and easy.
He starts by scanning behind him before flipping his body orientation (hips around the puck) early. He’s able to gather great information and manipulate the F1 forechecker. The opposing forechecker does his best to cut the D-to-D pass. But Casey uses puck positioning and a fake pass to get F1 to over-commit, then simply steps by him.
The play doesn’t stop there. Casey drives through the neutral zone and enters the offensive zone with possession through the middle.
Once inside the offensive zone, Casey finds the ingredients right for a 1v1 situation and employs great 1v1 technique… building speed differential and defeating the stick.
Unlucky to not get a hat trick goal.
There was no waiting around and feeling his way into his Michigan career. Simply put, a fantastic start for the highly-touted freshman defenseman. The New Jersey Devils drafted a good one.
Further Reading