(Transcribed from How to Play Hockey: Our Minor Hockey Coaching Course.)
European hockey has taught us to be patient. Don’t throw the puck away under pressure. Very often there is a second wave of attack wide open. Use it.
In the previous video we talk about head-manning the puck and moving it forward. There is a time and place to move it back which we call a back pass.
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Example:
Let’s say you are the winger in the scenario, and the play has slowed down in a battle on the wall.
- Your C is helping you out.
- The opposing team has two FWD’s involved in the battle.
- Your D1 is supporting the play on the defensive side of the puck. While you’re standing still digging for that puck rather than chipping it ahead and giving it away.
- Nine out of ten times your D1 is open for a back pass here.
- Make a back pass to the D1.
- Next your D1 would make a wide D to D pass to the weak side of the ice where D2 is located.
- Now this gives D2 time to skate and make a zone entry, or have the time and opportunity to make a play to the secondary W on the ice.
You see this in soccer a lot when the defender is moving the ball, when the perimeter is in the back end. In this case, instead of pushing It forward and turning it over we move it back and over.
And we move it from the strong side area that is a cluster full of traffic with a back pass and a wide pass over to the weak side. And very often we can then have good controlled zone entry into the opposing teams d-zone.
There is another time for a back pass which we will discuss in an upcoming video on offensive zone attack. That’s when entering the zone with speed and having a trailer from your team coming from behind while you drive the defender back.
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