Reply To: Clearing the defensive zone

MMB – Dean & Tom give great advice. My experience has been that ringing the puck is usually a panic reaction on the part of the D when they don't see passing options. I have seen noticeable improvements by focusing on having the forwards always face the puck (somethign I learned from Tom), and by teaching the D to support each other. These habits can be emphasized in drills, but stopping play when it happens in a controlled scrimmage or game situation really points out to players where and when the bad habits occur, and what difference it makes. Many times the player is not even aware that they have been doing this (turning back on the puck, not supporting puck carrier) for years. Games that reward successful breakouts would then be an opportunity to do this without any guidance, and both Dean and Tom have great ideas for this.

A coach I worked with this summer had a great method of stopping play, questioning what went wrong, waking them through it the correct way slowly, then sending the players back to line (if it was a drill) or back to the original position (scrimmage) and starting play back up with a successful pass/play. I liked this method because it went beyond pointing out what players did wrong, walked them through doing it right, then started back up at a pace closer to competition. The one drawback to this is the players not involved in the play need to be paying attention or they will recreate the same errors. Also the players tend to get frustrated with all the stoppages of play, but it sends a strong message that you need to do it right or we'll stand around all day/night until we do and everyone is accountable. If they really can't perform the skills needed to do what you are asking, then then it is time to back up and do more simple skill drills. Then come back and try again. (Tom's books have great ideas for teaching the skills through progressions and games to apply them in, by the way.)

Another thing this coach really emphasized (and I can't believe I haven't heard this before) was "removing all panic from the game." In essence, nothing good happens out on the ice when we panic. "Eating the puck" in the corner is in many ways preferable to throwing it around the boards without success. This might be another approach that helps if you think that's part of the cause.

Hope this helps,
Dave