Reply To: Help with Parents

[Tom Molloy]

I agree with what Dean has written. Make sure you talk with the player so he knows why you have asked him to play D and if he agrees and you can get a few forwards to alternate at the back end then create a rotation where they take turns playing back.

It is an ongoing problem in youth hockey to find enough skilled D. Over the years I have asked many forwards to play D. Some like it because they usually get more ice time and sometimes I have had to have them take turns.

If you play a style that the D are involved in the offense and you do a lot of drills and games where position doesn't matter but both the F and D get to be on offense and on defense that makes sure everyone is improving their skills.

A little story about my experience with a very good F who I moved back to D. It doesn't have much to do with your situation but it shows how valued a D who can move the puck and do the defensive job is.

When I coached men's college we had the same problem and I asked my best forward to drop back to D because we were weak back there. He did and the next season I helped get him a contract in Germany. He played in a lower division and every year moved up, then married a German girl, sat out a season to get his German playing pass, played on their National Team and is still there coaching pro. He told me that if he would have played F there he wouldn't have lasted as long because when an import F goes in a slump they are often replaced. As a D he just had to play well and scoring wasn't the prime thing so he never got released.

Good teams need A-solid goaltending, B-D who can defend well and make the first pass and join the attack, C-centres who can do the job at both ends of the ice and read the play, D-wingers who get the puck out, go to the net and win board battles.

This holds true at the PW level but if the player hates the position then plan B is required and you have to either rotate them in or let him play F the last part of the season and get someone else to pay D.

'The Game is the Greatest Coach'
'Enjoy the Game'