(Transcribed from How to Play Hockey: Our Minor Hockey Coaching Course.)
Defensive Side Positioning. We will talk about this term in every zone and where it’s applicable all over the ice. If you’re covering a player and you are staying between the player and your own goalie then they have to come through you to score. If you get lazy and let yourself get to the offensive side of the player and now you are not between your opponent and your net, you’re no longer on the defensive side and you’re no longer helping out. I’m going to give you a few really typical examples where this is important.
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Scenarios:
#1
In our first scenario here let’s say that I am the weak side W. I am sagged a bit in the middle of the ice being able to see the puck and see the opposing team’s D like we have spoken on previously. Right now I am between that D and the net. If they slide down and I stay where I am then i’m no longer in between him/her and my net, so I need to slide as well. If I play smart and simple and just stay with this D and slide then i have now regained defensive side or goal side positioning, which is what we always want to keep.
#2
In our second scenario we have a puck battle in the corner of our defensive zone, i’m the D2. D1 has positioning on the opposing F1 battling for that puck. My player that I am responsible for is floating strong side high as their F3. If that’s my man, I will stay between him/her and the net. If he/she slides down to the corner to support their F1, or they head towards the “fort” then I need to slide. So as that player gets further and further from the puck, my gap or my distance away can slack in a little bit. But the goal side positioning allows me to do that.
#3
Now we move onto the Neutral Zone. In this I am the D1 and I am battling for the puck along the boards just outside our blue line. As I’m battling, digging and trying to gain possession for my team…if I get myself caught on offensive side of the battle and the opposing F1 gets possession of the puck, they’re off to the races and I’m beat. So while I’m battling head down digging, working hard for my team and my teammates, I have to make sure to maintain defensive side positioning.
The more players you have between the puck and your own net the harder it is for the other team to score. There’s a time and a place in the offensive zone where maybe one player takes off and subside positioning to support the puck carrier. But as soon as possession changes and we clearly lose possession they will get back onto the defensive side. We will talk about that more in the offensive zone strategy section of this course. So this is a defensive side positioning all over the ice.
We’ll see you in the next video!
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