Dean, no appology needed. I didn't take it as a negative at all.
I am saying that the coach can devise a style of play to counter what the 'Star' on the other team is doing. Adjust so that he/she is attacking vs an outnumber situation. Don't so much worry about the forwards matching up but match up the defense and have the forwards come back hard to the net and always back pressure. If your team is in the same league then you should have more than one D who is capable of playing on the defensive side.
I watched a player on my grandsons team last season score about 130 goals and most were scored because the other team skated right at him. He would make a move and be gone (we play full ice with everyone here) and the teams would watch him skate down and score. Simply staying between him and the net would have prevented half his goals.
Back checking and playing D side cures most defensive problems.
My team is 15-16-17 years old and we have players who play even strength, pp, pk and some who play even and pk and a couple who play only even strength. When I coach younger kid's I simply roll lines.
This is a good place for this conversation as the system or style of play should reflect the needs of the team. 'If it doesn't matter who wins or loses then why keep score."
Tom , Dean , Kai,
I'm am talking about Bantam age group Rep ( Major , Minor combined) Not AAA.
Thanks for the advice. I agree with what you have said.
Again , I am not the coach just help out at practices and kind of mentor the coach. I don't make it to all the games for this team.
The game that I went to they lost . There was a lack of pressure on the puck , poor D coverage , and giving this player too much time and space. Played on back their heels Not on their toes..Propper defensive side positioning , stick on stick , stick in the passing lanes all are small fundamentals that are exposed playing good hockey teams. It shows your weaknesses.
I only asked the question for other opinions and how they would handle this situation. I have coached shortening the bench before and playing everyone fairly giving each line a role. The outcome was the same or playing everyone evenly sometimes sparked the team and gave all players confidence with their role.
You have mentioned before that in an average game-3 game phases
0 Game - loose puck 30% of the time.
1 Game - Offence 35% of the time.
2 Game - Defence 35% of the time.
If a team could take advantage of the 0 Game - loose puck situations by pressuring the puck, winning puck battles, it will give a puck possession advantage and lead to more scoring chances.
All the statistics that have been posted on this site have been very helpful on how you look at a game and how you teach the game.
RK