Reply To: Defensive Zone Overload – Swarming and Other Team Play Ideas

[SMAC]

Thanks Dave and Tom . Sounds like too many decisions for a young team to make in a volatile area lol. Does seem to have some merit and worth keeping in mind for the right team ?
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SMAC,
I think it is really important for the players to learn to be complete players. That is why I really like how the Finnish program focuses on all of the 4 game playing roles and the players learn the skills required for each role. i.e.

Offense:
Role One – playing with the puck – learn how to handle the puck, take passes, protect the puck etc. in all areas of the ice and the skating skills involved.
Role Two – learn how to support away from the puck depending on how close to the puck you are; D partner, on the wall, in the middle, far wing. How to breakout, move through the nzone, middle drive and cycle.

Defense:
Role Three – practice the skating skills of playing a defensive 1 on 1 and the positioning skills of dside, stick on the puck, stick in the passing lanes, angling, stick and body checking.
Role Four – skating skills for the forecheck, stick in the lanes, back checking, recognizing who to cover, man-you-puck positioning in the defensive zone.

Break the practice planning down into the 4 playing roles and we can develop complete players who are comfortable in all the game situations. i.e. loose puck, offense and defense. Then our players are ready to move onto the higher levels and have the skills to read the play and will be able to play the more fluid systems that hockey is moving toward.

The game is moving closer and closer to Total Hockey where players only have a 'home position' where they start on the face-off and then it is 1-2-3-4-5 according to their closeness to the puck and their net.

I saw a lot of this with the Red Bulls where Pierre Page has the D stay in on the cycle on their side of the ice if they were 1-2- or 3 on the rush and 4 and 5 cover the points. This demanded that the D have the offensive skills like F's and the F's have the defensive and skating skills of the D's. So now F's have to take defensive 1-1's in practice and D's have to practice all of the attack skills of forwards. This changes your practice plan so that the F's and D's are not always separated but learn all of the skills. Their HOME POSITION is decided by what they are best at because most of the time they will be in that position but will be comfortable rotating into any position.

Thoughts.
Tom