(Transcribed from How to Play Hockey: Our Minor Hockey Coaching Course.)
The ‘wheel break out’. You may, when you go to a game, hear defenseman yelling this, “wheel, wheel, wheel!” Or you can also here the goalie yelling the same to help verbally communicate as well with his/her D1 & D2.
Which ever D is closest to the puck has pressure on him/her, and needs to escape from the strong side to the weak side, a ‘wheel break out’ is a great way to do that. ‘Wheel’ basically means use the net and skate yourself out the other side.
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The D2 usually maintains a net front presence facing up ice being vocal to D1 whom has the puck and the weak side W who is becoming the strong side W would have to come down and pivot and open up to be able to take a good breakout pass. While having your C or your weak side W mirroring the puck as we have spoken on before and coming through the middle as a pass option. Either a pass from the D1 or a secondary pass from the strongside W once they receive the puck.
So, the point is, the defenseman takes the puck from the strong side under pressure to the weak side where there’s open and free ice. If there isn’t a W in position for a pass on the wall or there’s a lot of room this D can keep skating that puck until he/she is almost in trouble and then can make the next play.
There’s a little piece that will really help you with that forechecker if they are tight on you., It’s called ‘hanging the forechecker on the post’. Hanging the forechecker on the post…
Example:
- D1 has the puck on the inner hash marks of the right defensive circle, starting to wheel a route to the back of the net to get themself to the weak side.
- If the D1 takes a wide angle on this route, the forechecker can stay with him/her and cut them off eliminating you from the play and cause a potential turn over.
- But if the D1 can take a route of cutting towards the net tight using it to his/her advantage almost as a little pick play. It will take away that lane the forchecker previously had to cut off the D.
- It makes it physically impossible for the forchecker to stay on that D.
- You want to remember not only to cut the near side post tight, but to also cut the far side post tight as well to take away any chance of the forchecker to have any secondary chance at all to disrupt you.
So the ‘wheel’ break out is moving the puck by skating it from the strong side to the weak side and hanging the post. Cutting right up against the net is a great way to ditch or lose that forechecking pressure. That’s the ‘wheel break out’!
We’ll see you in the next video!
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