SUCCESSFUL HOCKEY THROUGH CONCEPTS OF TRANSITION AND DEFENSE A USA HOCKEY COACHING EDUCATION PROGRAM MASTERS LEVEL THESIS

Transcription

1 SUCCESSFUL HOCKEY THROUGH CONCEPTS OF TRANSITION AND DEFENSE A USA HOCKEY COACHING EDUCATION PROGRAM MASTERS LEVEL THESIS By Corby G. Anderson, Ph.D. Head Coach Butte High School Hockey

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5 Prologue "The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are. If you as a coach can grasp the dynamics of teaching and, creating the environment for players to achieve their ultimate goal, you would have facilitated the development of your players being who they are. Vince Lombardi, Former Head Football Coach Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins, NFL It is the sum total of the entire unit that counts, not the total on any one part. I must be patient first in my teaching progression and then in my selection. John Wooden, Former Head Basketball Coach, UCLA Nothing is good enough if it could be made better and better is never good enough if it can be made best. Berdy Harr, Hall of Fame Shortstop Ozzie Smith s College Baseball Coach Only a life lived for others is the life worthwhile. Albert Einstein There are high spots in all of our lives, and most of them come about through the encouragement of someone else. George Adams They may forget what you said but they will never forget how you made them feel. Carl W. Buechner Get her next time kid. Big Ed Crnich, Little League Baseball Coach, Butte, Montana If you make every game a life and death proposition, you re going to have a lot of problems. For one thing, you ll be dead a lot. Dean Smith, Former Basketball Coach, University of North Carolina Throughout my coaching career whether we would win lose or tie, when I would come home my dog was always there to greet me. My only goal in coaching has always been to be half the man my dog thinks I am. Mike Sertich, Former Hockey Coach, Minnesota Duluth and Michigan Tech 4

6 Executive Summary This thesis has outlined the fundamental concepts of defense and transition as enunciated by several pertinent authors and presenters at the USA Hockey 2003 National Hockey Coaches Symposium. This also includes the important role of the goalie in both defense and transition. As, well, practice methodologies such as small area games that inherently emphasize transition, high intensity drills of short duration, and a focus on properly training the hockey athlete s anaerobic system are highlighted as a means of developing fundamental defensive and transition concepts. Finally, a focus on developing good hockey defensive and offensive individual skill habits rather than a reliance on rigid team systems, will facilitate the formation of a solid team defensive and transition game. In conclusion, a thorough understanding of these enduring, fundamental and factual principles of hockey will allow players and teams to successfully develop and compete. Corby G. Anderson, Ph.D. Head Coach Butte High School Hockey November 28,

7 Table of Contents Prologue.. 4 Executive Summary 5 Introduction.7 Defensive Concepts 7 Transition Concepts...23 Goaltending and Transition Concepts Effective Practice And Development Concepts Systems For Implementing Transition And Defensive Concepts Conclusion.. 73 Acknowledgements References.74 6

8 Introduction Fifty years ago hockey was largely played on outdoor rinks predominately in North America. The concept of natural training on the pond was prevalent as youth of all ages gathered together with little adult supervision to eagerly play hockey at local outdoor rinks. Coaching resources were limited in scope and availability. Lloyd Percival (1) provided one of the few resources of the time with his landmark coaching resource The Hockey Handbook. Ironically, at the time of publication in 1951, it was eschewed by the North American hockey establishment and only taken seriously by Anatoli Tarasov who then developed the Soviet hockey dynasty using Percival s methodology. Now, in the information age, voluminous coaching resources are available, hockey is played worldwide on indoor rinks and the concept of natural training of youth hockey players on the pond has largely been replaced by highly structured camps in far away locations or at rigid practices run by adults for distinct age groupings of players. So, ironically, while the circumstances surrounding the game of hockey are now different, at a base level, it is still the same game it has always been. This thesis will attempt to dissect the important elements of successful hockey. It is perceived that these are the historical, underlying hockey principles of defense and transition along with effective practice methodologies and good habit development for implementation of these concepts. A such, this thesis does not represent any original research done by the author but represents rather a blending of the author s knowledge and resources along with the information he gained from other experts while attending the USA Hockey 2003 National Hockey Coaches Symposium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Defensive Concepts An understanding of the fundamentals of individual hockey defensive concepts is tantamount to success. Many resources are now available (2,3,4). Constantine (2) provides a thorough review of these with his interactive CD-ROM using interspersed NHL videos. His outline of basic defensive concepts is as follows. DEFENSE AT THE PUCK - CONCEPTS Discussed below are the defense at the puck concepts of ice awareness, counting numbers, reading through the play, identifying, and communicating Have Ice Awareness The defender at the puck must understand exactly what situation he is involved in. Is it a 1-1 or a 2-1? Does the attacking player have a trailer to pass to? Does a forechecker have back up support? To understand each situation, the defender at the puck must see the man with the puck and, also, see the rest of the ice surface. This is called ice awareness. Count Numbers 7

9 Part of being "ice aware" involves counting numbers. The defender at the puck must count how many offensive players are in his area. He must know if he is facing a 1-1, a 2-1, a 2-2, etc. The defender's tactical decisions will depend on the number of offensive and defensive players in his area. Read Through The Play Being ice aware also involves reading through the play. The defender should see.the puck carrier, but also see "through" the puck carrier to what is happening on the rest of the ice. For example, this would refer to a defender handling a 1-1 while skating backwards into his defensive zone. The defender must see through the puck carrier into the neutral zone. By doing this he will understand whether the situation is a 1-1, or if the puck carrier has pass options to a trailer making the situation a 2-1. Identify Players will be more ice aware if they practice identification. Identification means two things. First, it means the defenders "identify" what numerical situation they are facing. Secondly, it means each defender identifies which offensive player he is responsible for. Communicate In all the above instances, as is the case in all hockey, communication is critical. Defenders should be talking to each other constantly - yelling things like "2-2" or "switch". This makes playing defense much easier. POSITIONING Positioning is an important aspect of playing defense. Players can handle defensive situations better with good positioning. Establish Defensive Side Positioning The puck carrier s objective is to move the puck toward the net. Thus, a defender must position himself accordingly. Proper positioning places the defender between the puck carrier and the net. This is called defensive side positioning. A defender should be aware of this as they play a puck carrier. The defender should be saying to himself at alt times, "I must stay on the defensive side." A defender can try to steal the puck or go for a big hit but not at the expense of staying on the defensive side. To stay on the defensive side, the defender should take an "inside out" alignment. This will force the puck carrier toward the outside of the rink where the defender can close on him when ready. The defender can stay on the defensive side whether playing aggressively (finishing a check while fore checking) or while playing patiently (backing in handling a 2-1). Take Away Time and Space 8

10 Time and space are a simple yet extremely important topic. The more time the puck carrier has the better quality plays he will make. Likewise, the more space the puck carrier has, the better quality plays he will make. Thus, it becomes the defender's responsibility to take away as much time and space as possible from the puck carrier, This will rush the puck carrier into bad decisions or force him into confined spaces where he will not be able to make good plays. When appropriate the defender must close on the puck carrier to take away time and space. To close, the defender skates towards and then extends his stick towards the puck carrier. Close and Keep a Tight Gap Closing the gap is one method of taking away time and space from the puck carrier. The gap represents the distance between the puck carrier and the defender. The defender wants to keep this gap as tight as possible. In even numbered situations, the defender should skate as quickly as possible toward the puck carrier, then slow to gain control of his body and maintain good defensive side positioning. From here the defender must decide whether to continue with pressure (pressure checking - discussed below) or be more patient (containment checking - discussed below). Angle to the Boards Closing the gap takes away the puck carrier s time. Angling takes away the puck carrier s space. A defender should always take away the middle of the rink and force the puck carrier to the outside. By doing so the puck carrier will eventually run out of space along the boards or in other critical areas of the ice. In these cases, the boards help the defender by limiting the space available to the puck carrier. Shut Down the Critical Areas When angling, the defender should recognize critical areas on the ice. He will then know when to close on a man. For example, a defenseman carrying the puck will try to get to the blue line so he can pass the full length of the neutral zone and avoid a two-line pass. The defender who can angle a puck carrying defenseman to the boards before the blue line has taken away critical space from the defenseman. Puck carrying forwards and defensemen will try to gain the red line to dump the puck in without taking an icing. The defender should angle the puck carrier to the boards before the red line forcing him into a critical space situation. Puck carriers entering the offensive zone will try to gain enough space to delay and use trailers. Defenders should try to quickly take away that space. Stay Square The defender, whether closing the gap or angling, should always stay square to the puck carrier. This means the defender should never turn his back on, or circle away from the puck carrier. This will require the defender to use stops and starts. The only exception to 9

11 this rule is penalty killing where a defender s skating motion should bring the defender back towards his own end of the ice. Know when to Pressure or Contain Once a defender understands defensive side positioning and knows how to take away time and space, he can decide whether to move forward and put instant pressure on the puck carrier or back off, be patient and simply try to contain the puck handler. A defender must decide whether to check aggressively or patiently. Pressure Checking/Aggressive Checking The defender should put instant pressure on the puck carrier in the following situations: - the puck carrier is in a dangerous scoring area like the front of the net or the slot. - the defender is approaching a puck carrier who has his back turned. - the defender is approaching a puck carrier who is having a difficult time controlling the puck. - the defender has back up support as he is approaching the puck carrier (the defenders outnumber the offensive players). - the defender has angled the puck carrier into a critical area position. Containment Checking/Patient Checking A defender will not be able, in all situations, to put quick pressure on the puck carrier. He may, at times, have to be more patient. He may, in fact, have to retreat back toward his own end of the ice. A very obvious example of this would be an open ice 1-1 where the defender may have to retreat toward his own end. This process is called giving up ice. Containment means the defender is trying to control the puck carrier s decisions and movements without attacking him directly. This can be done by angling, giving up ice and deflecting. A defender should use containment checking in the following situations: - the defender has not established good gap control. - the puck carrier is coming with speed directly at the defender. - the puck carrier has full control of the puck with his head up. - the defender is out numbered by the opposition. FACE THE PUCK/NEVER TURN YOUR BACK/HEAD ON A SWIVEL Head on a Swivel To have good ice awareness the defender away from the puck must have his head on a swivel. In other words he must find his man and then find the puck. His head and eyes should move from his man, to the puck, back to his man, back to the puck and so forth. By doing this the defensive player away from the puck will always know where his man 10

12 is and will always know what is going on with the puck. This is called keeping your head on a swivel. Face the Puck/Never Turn Your Back To be able to see both his man and the puck, the defender away from the puck must never turn his back on the puck. He must be facing the man he is covering and the puck at the same time. This is not always easy, but nonetheless very important. If the defender is covering a man in the slot and the puck is in the comer, the defender should be close to his man, facing both the puck and his man at the same time. In this way, the defender can turn and take his man if a pass is made in that direction, or he can turn and go help in the corner if a loose puck is created. MAINTAIN PROPER POSITIONING As mentioned in the positioning overview of defense, positioning is an important aspect of playing defense. Players can better handle all defensive situations by learning how to position themselves. Keep Defensive Side and Puck Side Positioning Defenders away from the puck should maintain defensive side and puck side positioning. Defensive side positioning (sometimes called net side positioning) means the defender away from the puck is closer to the net than the man he is covering. This insures that the offensive player will never get to the front of the net alone to receive a pass and have a free shot on net. At the same time, the defender away from the puck must maintain puck side positioning. That means the defender should be closer to the puck than the man he is covering. This will allow the defender to get to a loose puck before the player he is covering. The defender away from the puck is in perfect position if he is closer to the net and closer to the puck than the man he is covering. Get in the Skating Lane/Checking without Body Contact Skating lane coverage is a mixture of area coverage and covering a man. A defender stays in the skating lane between the offensive player he is covering and the net. The defender is responsible for an offensive player but does so by taking an area. The defender does not body check (this would be an interference penalty). Instead he gets in the skating lane of the pass receiver. Specifically, the defender stays on the defensive side and takes away the skating lane to the net of the offensive player. Other terms for this include shadowing, checking without body contact, neutralizing. Split the Ice in Half Another example of good defensive positioning is splitting the ice in half. Splitting the ice in half should be done instantly whenever a defenseman loses his defensive partner, to a pinch or a line change, The defenseman away from the puck skates to the center of the rink. By doing this. He instantly covers the most important area of the ice. In addition, by 11

13 being positioned in the middle of the rink, the defender minimizes the distance he has to travel in either direction to break up a play. Offensive Side Positioning On rare occasions, the defender away from the puck may want to cover his man on the offensive side. This would happen only if the defending team is losing late in a game and needs to create offensive opportunities. The defender away from the puck would cover his man but on the offensive side. He would hope the defending player at the puck could stop the puck carrier and create a loose puck. The defending player away from the puck would then make a quick transition to offense in an attempt to create an odd man attack. TAKE AWAY TIME AND SPACE It is important for defenders at and away from the puck to understand the concept of time and space. The more time the offensive team has, the better plays they will be able to make. The more space the offensive team has, the better plays they will be able to make. Thus, it becomes the responsibility of the defenders at and away from the puck to take away as much time and space as possible from the opposition. A defender away from the puck can take away time and space by skating to or standing in the areas the offensive team is trying to enter. Take Away Passing Lanes An effective way for a defender away from the puck to take away space from the offensive team is to skate in the lane between the puck carrier and the pass receiver. This is called taking away passing lanes. The most effective weapon the defender away from the puck uses to take away passing lanes is his stick. This is why a defender away from the puck should always have his stick on the ice. A defenseman staying between two forwards on a 2-1 is covering a passing lane. Two defensemen staying between three forwards on a 3-2 are covering passing lanes. Good penalty killers know how to stay in passing lanes. Whenever a player is in an outnumbered situation he needs to stay in the passing lanes of the opposition players. Keep Stick in Passing Lane One of the best ways for a defender away from the puck to stop the offensive team is to keep his stick on the ice and in the potential passing lanes of the offensive players. The defender should know who he is responsible for covering and, at the same time, keep his stick in the passing lanes. This will help the defender intercept passes intended for the player he is covering. This tactic is especially important when a team is penalty killing. Since the defenders are outnumbered and must play between the offensive players, it is important the defenders keep their sticks in the passing lane of the offensive players. This will allow the defenders to break up passing plays and clear the puck out of the zone. 12

14 Close the Gap A defender away from the puck should not give the player he is responsible for too much room. This would allow the player he is responsible for, time to receive a pass and get a shot off to the net. Or it would allow the player he is responsible for space to cut back to the middle of the ice where he would become more dangerous. In addition, it may allow the player he is responsible for time to set a pick causing confusion. Whenever possible, the defender away from the puck should stay as close as possible to the man he is responsible for covering. This is called tight gap or closing on a man. This is important when covering a man in front of the net. It is also important when picking up an opposition player while back checking in the outside lane in the neutral zone. Hold the Blue Line This is sometimes called standing up or standing a player up in the neutral zone. Standing a player up in the neutral zone is a matter of taking away critical space from the attacker. It is done mostly by players at the puck, but players away from the puck can assist here also. If the defender away from the puck keeps a tight gap on the man he is covering he may force that player to cut one way or the other to avoid going offside. If the defender away from the puck denies that skating lane through good positioning, he can force the offensive player offside, this is called holding the blue line. Deny the Critical Areas The offensive team will try to gain certain areas of the ice giving them more room to work. For example, once the offensive team gets over the attack blue line, they open up many more opportunities because they no longer have to worry about off sides. This is why holding the blue line is so important. Another critical area a defender can take away is the passing area just before the red line. For instance, an opposition defenseman is breaking out, but will be checked before he can reach the blue line. Because of this, he will only be able to pass to someone on his side of the red line (if there is a two line pass rule). The defender away from the puck can take this area away, and thus make it very difficult for the opposition defenseman to complete a pass. COVERING A MAN IN FRONT This is the most important area for a defender away from the puck to cover. Most goals are scored in the area directly in front of the net. Keep Proper Positioning The most important part of covering a man in front of the net is positioning. The defender should have net side positioning denying the offensive player the chance to get freely to the net. He should have puck side positioning enabling him to be first to a loose puck. He 13

15 should have inside-out positioning enabling him to force the player in front away from the net. Face the Play but Have Stick Contact The defender should not have to turn his back on the puck. Instead the defender should try to position himself so he can see both the puck and the player he is covering. When doing this, the defender should maintain stick contact with the player he is defending. This will allow him the opportunity to keep track of the puck, and maintain a feel for the man he is covering. The defender must stay active to accomplish this. Box Out To box out an offensive player the defender should maintain good defensive positioning. The box out process should start with a finished check in the corner or back wall and continue back to the front of the net. Additionally, it is important for the defender to establish positioning before the offensive player gets to the front of the goaltender. If possible, boxing out (gaining good positioning) should start in the corner. If the defender has not established good body position, before the offensive player is firmly planted in front of the goalie, boxing out will be too difficult or the defender will take a penalty trying to move the player away from the front of the net. Time the Battle/Neutralize the Stick The defender should not continually battle the player he is covering. In fact, he should only tie up with his man when the puck is shot on net or a pass is attempted. When the shot or pass is made, the defender should neutralize the stick of the man he is covering. This will keep the offensive player from deflecting the puck into the net. Know How to Move a Man From the Front of the Net To move an opposition player away from the front of the net, the defender should unbalance the man he is covering. This will make it easier to move him. To do this the defender can: - put his stick between the legs of the man he is covering and twist. - slightly push one leg or skate from behind the player he is covering without tripping that player. - lift the player s stick forcing him off balance. - lift up the seat of the other player s pants tipping him forward. - put his stick between the arms of the man he is covering and twist. Once the defender has unbalanced the offensive player, he can drive him to the side of the net. 14

16 Know How to Play Rebound Situations A defender in front of the net should be able to cover his man and still see the puck. To do so the defender must face the puck and stay square to the man he is covering at the same time. In a rebound situation, the defender should take his man and let the goaltender worry about the rebound. If the defender s man is not an immediate threat to score and the defender has adequate time, he can play the puck and clear it from the dangerous area in front of the net. Know How to Front a Man There are certain situations where covering the area in front of the net is more important than covering a specific opposition player. Penalty killing is one such situation. The defender in front of the net may be responsible for more than just the man in front of the net. In this case, a defender in front of the net may have to front the opposition player in front of the net. This means the defender moves in front of the man at the net. This gives the defender room and freedom to move and cover an area, which may be more important than covering the opposition player at the net. When fronting a man, it is very important that the defender block any shots coming on net. This will prevent the opposition player, who is standing uncovered in front, from capitalizing on any rebounds. COVERING A MAN IN THE SLOT/HOUSE Covering a man in the slot/house is very important. The house is defined as the area formed by imaginary lines running from the goal posts to the end zone face-off dots, then straight toward the blue line five feet past the top of the circles and then horizontally across the rink. Most goals are scored by players directly in front of the net or by players located in the slot/house. Offensive players in the slot generally score by receiving a pass and shooting, one timing a shot off the pass, or deflecting (redirecting) a shot on net. Defenders must be prepared to protect this area. Keep Defensive Side Positioning When covering a player away from the puck in the slot area, the defender should always try to maintain defensive side positioning. Occasionally, the defender will be unable to gain defensive side positioning. For example, a back checker may not be able to catch an opposition player approaching the net. In these cases, the defender should at least try to disrupt the offensive player s stick disrupting his shot on net. Keep A Tight Gap The defender should keep the gap as tight as possible on the player he is covering, especially as the puck is passed into the slot. 15

17 Be Ready to Collapse to Crease and Help The defender in the slot should collapse to the crease on any breakdowns at the net. POINT COVERAGE COVERING THE POINTS If the net area and slot area are covered, a defender away from the puck can move to the point area and cover the point. This is commonly called covering the point or point coverage. Strong Side Point Strong Side Wing Covers Point a defender may be responsible to cover the strong side point or maybe responsible to cover the weak side point, Generally, the strong side winger covers the strong side point, and the weak side winger helps in the slot while covering the weak side point. Inside Out and Defensive Side Positioning when covering the strong side point, the defender should maintain inside out positioning and defensive side positioning. Help Cover Passing Lanes to Slot the defender covering the point has to be responsible first for his point coverage, but also ready to collapse to the net or slot if there are any problems in that area. He should use his stick to cut off passes to the point, but at the same time should be ready to swing his stick into passing lanes toward the slot if an opposition player is wide open in that area. He should anticipate when a pass is going to be made to the point and close the gap between himself and the point in these cases. If there is no danger of a pass being made to his point, he can drop down slightly toward the slot to help congest that more dangerous area. Help on Walk Out to Slot if the puck carrier is coming out of the corner, around the face-off circle and into the slot: and if the defenseman covering that man is beat, the defender covering the point must collapse toward the net and help the defenseman without completely abandoning his point coverage responsibilities. Block Shots when a pass goes to the point man and the defensive player moves to cover that area, he should either block the point shot or finish the check at the point. The defender at the point should block any puck from getting past him toward the scoring area in front of the net. The opposition point man must understand that they will be hit when handling the puck at the point. This will make them more likely to dump the puck back in the corner rather than putting it on net. Weak Side Point When covering the weak side point the defensive player should maintain tight gap control only if a pass to the weak side point is imminent. In most situations though, the defender should slide down toward the slot and help congest that more dangerous area, then return 16

18 to the weak side point as required. While helping cover the slot, the defender should have one shoulder facing the puck and one shoulder facing the point. The defender should watch the puck, watch the slot and watch his point man all at once. While doing this he must not get mesmerized by the puck and let his point man slide down to the back door. Collapsing Defenders away from the puck should collapse to the front of the net if they sense trouble in that area or if they do not know their specific checking assignment. COVERING A MAN BEHIND THE NET Here we discuss coverage in the defensive zone when an offensive player without the puck moves to the area behind the net. Offensive players like to move behind the defending team s net to create time and space to make plays. An offensive player who receives a pass behind the net becomes very dangerous and must be defended properly. Pressure Checking Do Not Let Them Set Up If a defender anticipates a pass going to his man behind the net he should try to get behind the net to cut off the pass or at least arrive at the same time as the puck and take the body of the offensive player behind the net. Stay in Front to Start A defender must not chase the offensive player behind the net when the offensive player does not have the puck. The defender should instead protect the area in front of the net, while keeping an eye on the player behind the net. Containment Checking If pressure checking is not possible and the offensive player gets possession of the puck behind the net, the defenders and the goaltender must work together collectively to minimize the opposition team s scoring chances. Work Off the Posts The defensemen should work off each post. They should have their skates right on the goal line extended and their top hand only on their sticks. They should not attack the puck carrier but rather should pressure him with fake poke checks. If they do decide to pressure, it must be done in a coordinated way which forces the puck carrier out from behind the net to his backhand. A player on his backhand will generally have a harder time making a good pass. A defenseman should only pressure the puck carrier when his defensive partner is ready to pick up that puck carrier at the other side of the net. 17

19 Forwards Must Collapse Forwards should collapse to the front of the net and slot congesting that area and forcing the puck to the outside of the rink. Cut Off the Passing Lanes If the defenseman sees the puck carrier move the puck to his forehand and, thus, prepare to pass, he must cut off the passing lanes to the front of the net. He can do this by extending his stick toward the puck carrier or dropping down onto one knee to block passing lane. Goaltender Should Help The goaltender can communicate, be prepared for wrap-arounds and help cut off passing lanes to the front of the net. GAP CONTROL As a fundamental concept, Belmonte (5) provides a comprehensive discourse on gap control. In essence, this is the basis of applied defensive skills. His information follows. Gap control involves high level of skill, intelligent decision-making, discipline and the proper mental attitude. Perhaps the most important thing can be pointed out to coaches is to create practice environments, which will continually improve the overall skill, level, encourage problem solving/decision making and develop the proper mental approach. It is absolutely essential that a coach gets back to the basics and reviews a few common components influencing gap control. Gap Control: is defined as the special relationship between an offensive opponent and a defensive opponent. Type of Gaps Tight Gap: Loose Gap: players within a stick length of each other. players more than a stick length apart. Governing Principles Pressure (defensive): defensive speed creating pressure on the offensive player reducing the time, space and force of the attack.. Pressure (offensive): offensive speed creating pressure on the defensive player creating time, space and force for the attack. 18

20 Stall/Contain (defensive): an attempt to force an opponent to stop or slow down the speed of an attack to provide time to set up better defensive coverage. Stall/Contain (offensive): an attempt to force an opponent to change the speed of the attack providing time and space setting up superior offensive options. Support (offensive/defensive): players away from the puck involving themselves as an offensive option to an attack or a defensive deterrent to an attack. Transition: the ability of players to move quickly from defense to offense; or offense to defense. Defensive and Offensive Gap Control Gap control applies to all players on the ice (offensive and defensive) from 1 on 1 situations to 5on 5 situations. In the past the talk of gap control closing the gap, etc. has focused too much on the defensive segments of the game, when in reality its influence is equally as important in the offensive segment of hockey. Objectives Control of situation offensively and defensively Influence play offensively and defensively Reduce time-space-force of an attack Create time-space-force of an attack Regain puck possession Retain puck possession Prevent scoring opportunities Gaining scoring opportunities Skill Development Far too often as a coach we become enamored with the overall look of a tactic overlooking the key skills necessary to execute a tactic. These skills (physical and mental) must not be neglected and must be nurtured at every practice. No player is too old, experienced or skilled to not be included from the continual development of individual skills, which are a vital component of an effective athlete. Additionally, these skills mastered by the athlete will create confidence reflecting in the athlete s overall performance. Important Components 1. Skating speed quickness agility 19

21 balance transition acceleration 2. Proper Checking Techniques 3. Play away from the puck 4, 1 on 1 confrontation technique 5. Decision making: when-where-how 6. Proper mental attitude Coach s Question A). Are you we one of those coaches who question the contribution of certain players because they can t execute within the system? B). Are you a coach who knows the value of providing time to develop the skills of your players throughout the season so they may meet the skill necessary to achieve total peak performance within a system? Small Game Activities/Drills One of the coach s major responsibility is to create an environment so the athlete has the opportunity to reach his/her optimum level of peak performance. In developing the athlete decision making skills the coach needs to put the athlete in as many game situations as possible allowing the athlete an opportunity to come up with solutions. Enabling the athlete to realize that there is more than one solution to any given situation and that their decision made will be based on many factors such as: ability, confidence, knowledge, game situation, etc. An excellent way to develop decision-making skills in a hockey player is small area/game activities, which will create an environment challenging players. Players gain a better understanding of pressure, stall/contain, support, transition, and time/space. Later in this thesis, the use of small area games as an enhanced skill development practice tool will be elucidated. Mental Attitude Energy will be used in this presentation to describe a hockey player s degree of mental attitude. Athletes who are somewhat energized will generally perform better and reflect confidence in their overall performance. Peak performance comes when the player has reached their optimum level of energy. Listed below are a few energizing techniques for controlling and increasing a player s mental energy level. Positive self talk Positive mental imagery Psych-up technique 20

22 Goal setting Relaxation technique Deep breathing technique Task focus technique Parking technique Park It Value of Gap Control Winning is the science of preparation and preparation can be defined in three words. Leave nothing undone. No detail is too small. No task is too large. The difference between winning and losing, success and failure, can be the smallest detail. Pat Riley, Head Basketball Coach Miami Heat, NBA Defensively Reducing time/space/force of an attack Limit the speed and velocity of play Prevent penetration to the prime scoring areas Isolate game situations and avoid getting outnumbered Take away grade A scoring chances CONTROL Be pro-active Offensively Creating time/space for your attack Control the speed and velocity of the play Penetrate the prime scoring areas Create outnumbering situations and maximize opportunities Increase grade A scoring chances CONTROL Be proactive Basic Concepts for Sound Gap Control 1. Communication both verbal and visually. 2. Protect or attack critical areas of the ice. 3. Create or eliminate offensive and defensive options. 4. Defensive or offensive side positioning. 5. Angling steering deflecting. 6. Control speed of the attack or creating/controlling multiply speeds of attack. 7. Stick on stick body on body principle. 8. Effective use of body-stick-boards-and areas of the ice. 21

23 Decision Making Success in life comes not from holding a good hand, but in playing a poor hand well. Benjamin Franklin Tight Gap Loose Gap Pressure Contain Factors in Decision Making Angle Direct Penetration There are many factors influencing the read on a particular situation and in making a decision for gap control. Creating opportunities and an environment for your player to experiment and roaster these skills is your challenge as a coach. Below are a few helpful hints and cues, which will assist them in their process: Defensively look through/beyond the attack. Offensively look beyond/through your attack. Know what support you have offensively or defensively. Who is controlling the puck and what type of control do they have. What is the situation in relationship to the ice surface (ice position): close to boards; open ice; ice zone; defensive blue line; offensive blue line; grade A area. Speed and direction of the play. Total game awareness; score; period; type of game; specialty teams; etc. You should take an in your face attitude offensively or defensively regarding your approach to gap control. Based on what system you play there must be a philosophy or attitude established for this component of the game. It is better to be the head of a sardine than the tail of a tuna. Lou Vairo, Head Coach U.S. Olympic Team, 1984 Tight Gap Control Defensive Reads 1. Approaching the backside of a puck earner. 2. When a puck carrier moves across the ice or along your defensive blue line. (i) 3. The skating speed of both players and the situation is the same. 4. The offensive player has not established solid control of the puck. 5. When you numerically out number the offensive opponent. 6. When you have isolated the situation down to I on I. (i) 7. The puck carrier is attempting to penetrate the prime scoring/grade A area. 8. The puck carrier is in a threat to score position. 22

24 Techniques If you know where you are going and know how to get there, you will never be intimidated by the present. Dan Creely, Professor & Team Building Specialist, Northeastern Illinois University The following is a review of techniques for the players to master regarding the tactical component of game control: skating open ice checking play away from the puck 1 on 1 confrontation angling/steering/deflecting body positioning body contact decision-making pinching Conclusion You lose property you do not lose much You lose honor you lose a lot. You lose courage you lose everything. Anotoli Tarasov, Russian National Coach Gap control is a fundamental component of the game, which in many cases will affect the final game outcome. It is the effectiveness of gap control that is often the determining factor. Gap control can reflect or be used by a team to make a overall statement to its opponent. A team s success could be measured in direct proportion to how much time you have spent on developing player s skills, mental attitude and tactics such as gap control. Transition Concepts Hockey is dominated by the concept of frequent and immediate transitions between offense and defense (6,7). Kinding (6) carried out in 1990 a study on the transition game for the Canadian Hockey Association and reported the findings at the international coaching seminar in Calgary that same year. The study was followed up with studies on tactical puck control and objective power play. The results of these studies explain why the trap has been so successful, but they can just as well support an aggressive forechecking and puck controlling style of hockey. The key findings of the studies follow along with what impact they might have on what kind of training today s hockey demands. 23

25 The Character of the Game Ice hockey, like most team sports, has evolved over decades or even centuries, but it has still stayed true to its fundamental characteristics. These fundamentals of the game are guarded by the principle rules. These rules are: - the purpose of the game is to score goals, - the number of teams is two, - you use a stick and a puck, - the surface you play on is ice, and you are wearing skates These fundamental rules create a character that will always be the same. You can invent new your tactics, change the players, but the game s character remains. Hockey will never look like tennis, and tennis will never look like golf. In addition, many supplementary rules influence what will face the decisive factors, skills or strength, offense or defense. In hockey, these small rules tend to favor the team defending their goal and not the team attacking, For example: - On your defensive side, you re allowed to have one extra player, the goalie. - This player can grab and cover the puck, wear oversized equipment and may not be touched by the opponents. - The offensive player must stay out of the crease, but the defensive player may stay inside. - The defensive player is allowed to pass the puck with his/her hands. - The referee allows the defensive team to adjust to the offensive team at face offs. - The defensive player is allowed to body check, box out and pin, but the offensive player may not pick. - A shot that goes over the glass will result in a face-off in the neutral zone, but if a defensive player shoots the puck over the glass, the game restarts where the puck was shot. - A high stick in the offensive zone, brings the face-off all the way back to the defensive zone, but after a high stick in the defensive zone the puck is dropped where the incident took place. - The defensive player may back up over the blue line, but the offensive player has to stay on side. - From the defensive zone you can make a 100-feet play to the red line (in college and international hockey, to the far blue line), but in the offensive zone, you have to congest your play inside the blue line. All these rules dictate the most successful way to play the game. An analysis of games in 1990 from: - the German and Swiss leagues, - the World Championships Pool A and B, - and the NHL 24

26 were broken down into pieces, and every transition were studied. Of greatest interest was the outcome of every transition. What happened, where did it happen, when did it happen and how did it happen. The results of this study should make it possible to determine how many goals were scored on transition, and how many were scored on controlled attack. First the meaning of the word transition had to be classified. Basically the transition is the length of time one team needs to get all its players from their offensive into their defensive positions (and vise versa). This takes for most teams around three seconds, but the advantage of the transition however lasts until the defending team controls the opponents. This subjective norm was not enough to clarify what is within the period of transition and where the border between transition and a controlled attack is. Requested were objective categories. After studying a number of situations it was clear, that this border is somewhere in between the 5th and 10th second after the turnover. This means that all goals scored within 5 seconds after the transition for sure are transition goals, and all goals scored more than 10 seconds after the turn over, are for sure scored on controlled attack. Still left to analyze are the goals scored in between the 5th and 10th second after the turn over. These time intervals made up a norm, with which it was possible to separate transitions goals from the others just by using a stopwatch. To get a little more depth, all the goals were divided into seven different categories as shown. Based on these facts one can say how many percent of all goals were scored on transition, and objectively clarify the importance of the transition in today s hockey. All goals at the 1990 World Championship divided into 4 categories according to the time interval between the transition and the goal and 3 categories of special situations. Key Findings of Goal Scoring The Study. % of # Goals Scored Nature of the goal scored Classification 1 27% Goals scored within 5 seconds after the transition Transition 2 27% Goals scored between 5 and 10 seconds after the transition Transition 3 3% Goals scored between 10 and 15 seconds after the transition Controlled 4 4% Goals scored after more than 15 seconds after the transition Controlled 5 10% Goals scored after winning the puck on a face off Special 6 23% Goals scored on a power play Special 7 6% Goals scored shorthanded Transition Total 100% All Goals After taking a close look at the goals in the 2 nd category (the Twilight Zone), it appeared, that no goal in this category was scored after the defensive team got organized defensively. Therefore one can say, that all the goals in the first and second category are a result of the transitions. By adding up the first and second category, these figures show, that 54 % of all goals were scored on transition. To the transition classification we can also count the short handers, as we can presume, that all short handers were scored on transition. This means, that 60 % of all goals are scored on transition. It also means that almost three times as many goals are scored on transition, than on the power play. Finally (just considering the play with equal strength after the initial play on the face off) it means, that 88 % of all equal strength goals are transition goals. 25

27 In short: The transition is the most important offensive part of today s hockey. Three times as many goals are scored on transition, than on the power play and 88 % of all equal strength goals are transition goals. Reflections: If three times as many goals are scored on transition than on the power play, one could argue that transition attacks should be trained three times as much as the power play. If 88 % of all equal strength goals are scored on transition, maybe the transition attack should be given 7 times as much attention in training as is given to controlled attacks, such as cycling and breakouts. Transition is not a major part of the game. Transition is the major part of the game. Transition is time wise the major part, (Studies shown, that the average time one team can keep the puck is 4.7 seconds and the average time in takes to regroup from defense to offense is 3 seconds. There is actually not much time where you re not playing transition.) Transition is for the outcome of the game the major part (Most goals and most penalties are caused during the transition). Transition is tactically the major part. Any part of your tactical game (for example the breakouts, the attack on the rush, offensive play, the fore checking, the back checking etc.) has to be based on the facts of transition to be effective. Hockey is the name of the game. Transition is the game. The Importance of the Transitions According to the Scoring Chances Just analyzing the goals, are not always the best way to get a clear picture of a game. Scoring chances occur almost ten times as frequently as the goals, and are therefore a more objective tool, Scoring chances can also be divided into different levels, which gives more detailed picture, of what actually happens on the ice. So what the statistics on scoring chances tell us about the importance of the transitions, is most likely more accurate, than what we learned studying the goals. Figures 1 and 2 illustrate this. These figures not only confirm the importance of the transition (as documented by the analysis of the goals). They even state an increased importance. As the two first categories indicate the scoring chances on the transition, it tell us that as much as 94 % of all first class scoring chances are created on transitions. These two analysis from the World Championship shows the importance of the transitions very clearly. 26

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29 One can, based on facts, claim: If you want to be GOOD at the GAME OF HOCKEY you have to be GREAT at the GAME OF TRANSITION It s already been documented that the transition is the most important offensive part in today s hockey. Consequently must the capability of playing the transitions right in all three zones be very important. Furthermore if there are some areas, where the transitions are more likely to lead to success, it must be tactically wise, to force the opponent to a turn over in these areas. Logically it must be easier to score, the closer to the opponent s net you win the puck. The following analysis will try to clarify if this logic also is confirmed by what s actually happening on the ice. The figures are a mixture of facts from North American (NHL), European (Germany and Switzerland) and International (World Championships Pool A and B) Hockey. The analyzed games showed no distinguished difference between the different leagues, so one can say that the figures below are representative for modern ice hockey. The Analyzing Method Every time the puck was turned over, the actual place was marked down. Additionally, what ever happened on that specific play was documented as well. The outcome of every play was thereafter divided into two basic groups: Offensive Advantage Goal Scoring Chance Power Play Nothing Gained Puck was turned over again Puck out of play(off side, icing, over the boards, etc.) Based on these facts the likelihood of an offensive advantage was calculated for every area on the rink. The results in Figure 3 show that the most effective transitions are the ones taking place in your own end, or in the neutral zone! Advantage Zones of the Transition Again, Figure 3 illustrates the potential of leading up to an offensive advantage, such as a goal, a scoring chance or a power play. The numbers indicates the percentages if the transition took place in a given area. Reflections: If the best chances to create a scoring opportunity are generated from transitions in your defensive zone, the purpose of the defensive zone coverage has to be to launch an attack. 28

30 If the corners in the offensive zone are least productive areas to regain puck control and start on attack, consequently the fore checking strategy must be to force a turnover less deep in the zone. To form your strategic team play, so it responds to the reality of today s hockey, there is no other way, than to form it so it responds to the reality of transition. Playing tactically smart, means that your players know exactly what to do in the transition situations. There are five necessities which are decisive for how effective your transition play will be. These are; 1. Time 2. The First Play 3. The Pick 4. The Goaltender 5. Positions of the Players The first fundamental factor is Time. As seen before, 88 % of all goals (equal strength only /not considering goals scored on the faceoffs) are scored within 10 seconds after a turnover has taken place. But the time interval of the factual transition only last for about three seconds. Three seconds is the time a top-level team needs to regroup from offense to defense. If you ll get an advantage it depends on how well you can surprise your opponents. Surprise them, by attacking when they re still in their offensive positions. This means, you have a three second limit to make a decision and an action, which will determinate the success of the whole attack. As shown in Figure 4, one can say there is a Three Seconds Rule in ice hockey, If you play right right in the first three seconds of every transition, you ll play right in the whole game. The second fundamental factor The First Play. If playing right in the first three seconds of each transition is so decisive for the outcome of the game, the first play must be very important. To make that first play right means to make it in a way that surprises the opponents. This makes it possible to maintain the advantage from the turn over all the way to the net. One substantial component of the first play is the direction of the puck. If the puck is moved up the ice, across the ice or towards your own net, will influence the success of the whole transition. The importance of the direction of the first play is documented in Figure 5. This shows very clearly, that moving the puck backwards after a turnover, reduces the chances to score (or getting a good scoring chance) to less than two percent. However by moving the puck forwards or sideways the chances to score increase almost ten times. The third fundamental factor is The Pick. At the moment of the turn over it is essential that the balance between offense and defense is kept. Just because your team has the puck, doesn t mean your whole team should attack. On the contrary, teams who finish their defensive duties carefully, are more successful in the transition play. The keys are to finish the checks and pin, pick or screen the opponents. This way the potential back checkers are delayed, and the puck carrier has more time for the determining first play. 29

31 By holding back two back checkers, you give your forwards more space to maneuver. More space is probably the reason why, it s offensively better to play three on three than five on five. What s more, in case there s a new turn over, you already have two of their players covered. The fourth fundamental factor is The Goaltender. The one man advantage your goalie gives you in your end is a major help for a good transition. In addition the goalie is the player, who gets the most occasions to make the first play, as he stops around 30 shots every game. Even though it will be difficult to make a great pass on most shots, the passes the goalie does make, are often very surprising for the opponents, and surprise is what we want. The fifth fundamental factor is The Positions of Players. As the game is shifting back and forth from defense to offense and vise versa, there s no time for major changes of positions, Therefore it is of great concern, to have each player s offensive and defensive positions as identical as possible. This will guarantee an ultimate quick transition, to either start an attack or to stop the opponent. Besides making it possible to make the first play in the right direction, it s preferable if the positions could force the turnover to take place in a high percentage advantage zone while still being organized, to take advantage of any turn over in any zone. We ve already stated that you have 5 to 10 seconds to create a scoring chance and score a goal. The initial play, after the transition, therefore appears to be crucial. Figure 5 has shown the direction of the first puck motions and the outcome of that attack. Thus, it seems logical, that if you have a very limited time to attack, moving the puck further away from the net will be wasteful. Changing the point of attack with a lateral play seems to be a good investment of the time. As previously stated, 88 % of all goals are scored within 10 seconds after a turn over has taken place, but the time interval of the factual transition only last for about three seconds. Three seconds is the time a top-level team needs to regroup from offense to defense. If you ll get an advantage, depends on, how well you can surprise your opponents. Surprise them, by attacking when they re still in their offensive positions. As before, this means, you have a three second limit to make a decision and an action, which will determinate the success of the whole attack. As in Figure 4, one can say there is a Three Seconds Rule in ice hockey. If you play right in the first three seconds of every transition, you play right in the whole game. 30

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33 It seems pretty easy for a coach of a 100-meter dash track-team to figure out what he/she wants the athletes to do. They have to be trained to run 100 meters as fast as possible, not sideways, not backwards, not avoiding checks, not carrying a puck. Just run. For a hockey coach it s different. The game is so complex, that no hockey player can ever reach his/her potential in every aspect of the game. The same can be said about the sprinter, who will never reach his/her potential in long-distance or shot put. The difference is, the sprinter doesn t have to, and hockey players do. Hockey players have to make choices and except compromises. Are puck carrying skills more important than passing, should I refine my slap shot or my wrist shot, should I be fast or agile, are questions we coaches often answer, on behalf of our athletes. The way we answer these questions dictates the way we compose the training and directly restricts which talents our athletes will be allowed to develop and which areas will be left behind. The choices have to be made, but they have to be made wisely, so the player develops to be successful in the following profile of today s game. 7.7 times every minute the possession of the puck changes from one team to the other. 4.7 seconds is the average time a team can keep possession of the puck. On average 2.1 players are individually possessing the puck, each time their team has gained puck possession. 1.7 seconds is the average time one player can keep or choose to keep puck possession seconds is the average time one player can keep puck possession in the offensive zone. 29% of all individual puck possessions are one-touch possessions. 42% of all individual puck possessions in the offensive zone are one-touch possessions Passes are made every minute % of all passes are plays in to a safe area, and the chance that a team mate will gain puck possession is 19 %. 0.7 times per minute someone is trying to beat an opponent with a dribble, and the chances that he/she will still possess the puck after the dribble are 8 %. 32

34 The puck possession changes from one team to the other 7,7 times every minute. That is equal with 450 times a game. Which means our opponent will possess the puck 225 times. How can we control the game, if the opponents possess the puck 225 times every game? The above situations are mirroring the character of today s hockey. These are the situations that will encounter the players in the games, and which he/she has to be trained to deal with. It is well understood, that even if some situations only occur rarely, they might still be decisive for the game. The skill to beat an opponent one on one, might only succeed sporadically, but when is does happen, it might create a scoring chance and a goal. Shooting is another example. Even if it takes 15 passes to make one shot, one could certainly choose to make 15 shots for every pass in training. But, what one should strive for is to develop one-touch passes and shots, since over 40 percent of the plays in the offensive zone are made with one touch. The Tactical Puck Control has to be based on these facts. It is naive to believe that each time we have the puck, we should all attack, and each time the opponent has the puck we should all defend. Since the average time a team can keep puck possession is 4.7 seconds, and the average time for a team to regroup from defense to offense (and vice versa) is 3 seconds, we would do nothing but regrouping and regrouping, if the whole team should react on every turn over. Luckily we do not have too. Since only 2 players (average 2.1) are participating in each puck possession, the game is not really played 5 on 5. Today s hockey is played one on one and two on two in small areas, in which the players are always reading the play, to get in good position for the next situation. In other words even if your teammates are in possession of the puck, and attacking, you might yourself still be in a defensive battle knowing that your opponent will most likely possess the puck within the next 4.7 seconds. So, the best thing you can do for your team right now, is to get yourself an advantage for that next situation. Unfortunately all our players do not read all situations right. That explains the following situation, which we have all experienced: Our forward has a break away. Their goalie makes a save, and their defenseman passes the puck up the Ice. All of a sudden they have a two on one. They score. In this play our opponent took advantage of our offensive positions at the time of the turn over. That sometimes happens, because of a good offensive play, but mostly it happens because of a bad defensive read. The bad read in this play was that all but one player were thinking offensively, even though only the player on the break away and maybe one more player had a chance to score on that play. The other three players should have read the play, and gotten themselves in a good position for the next play, 33

35 Controlling the Opponent. Effective Hockey Thinking Most likely we will not score. Most likely they will get the puck. Most likely they will attack. So I better start right now to control the opponent. This phrase is the most important part of the reality of puck control. No matter if you possess the puck or not, you have to control it. By controlling the opponent, you also control the puck. You can therefore add an extra phrase to the theory at the beginning of this chapter. If you control the opponent you control the puck. If you control the puck, you control the game The facts tell us the players possess the puck on average 1.7 seconds. But what do they do with the puck? Do they try to attack? Do they just try to keep it? Do they give it away? Do they pass it, skate with it, or do they dribble with it? What is effective, and what might backfire? The following facts will answer these questions. Further Facts of Puck Possession: 13.0 Passes are made every minute, 36,8 % of all passes have an offensive intention, and a 70 % chance of being received by a teammate % of all passes have a defensive intention, and a 95% chance of being received by a teammate % of all passes are plays in to a safe area, and the chance that a teammate will gain puck possession is 19 %. 0.7 times per minute someone is trying to beat an opponent with a dribble, and the chances that he will still possess the puck after the dribble are 8 %. 34

36 These facts tell us two things very clearly: The best way to keep puck possession is a defensive pass, and the best way to lose it is a dribble. They also tell us that a player with puck possession often (more than one third of the time) chooses to play the puck into a safe area instead of making a pass to a teammate. In doing so, he knows that his team will most likely lose the puck possession, since the chances of keeping it after such a play, are only 19 %. It seems like the players find it to be a disadvantage, to possess the puck in certain situations. For some reason they prefer to give it away to the opponent. It seams paradox, first they work so hard to get the puck, and once they have it, they willfully give it away again. If puck control so is important to win the game, and if puck control is what they try to obtain, why do they give it away? The answer can only be, that very often: It is easier to control the puck, if the opponents possess it. There are many reasons to prefer giving the puck away. First of all in today s hockey there is mostly no space and no time to be constructive with the puck. The puck carrier can seldom make his own decisions. He can only choose from the options the opponents give him. In other words he can only do what the opponents want him to do. He possesses the puck, but the opponents control it. If his options are to give the puck away in a high-risk area (i.e. in front of his own net) or a low risk area (i.e. behind the opponent s net), the choice is pretty clear. Figure 6 illustrates this concept. Instead of losing the puck right in front of his goalie, every player prefers to ice it. However most of the time the options are not so easy to evaluate. Is it better to make a low risk pass right inside the offensive blue line, then to spot the puck into the comer? The skill level and the experience of each individual player together with other factors (i.e. the score of the game, how late into the game, etc.), will finally decide which play is the right one. Still to play the puck control tactically right, there are some facts and general rules your players should know. Puck Control is something you are trying to obtain all the time, regardless of who possesses the puck. Your objectives with the puck control however vary a lot depending on the situation. Let us take a look at an extreme situation, to understand the different objectives: It is one minute left of the game. Team A is down by one goal, but has a 5 on 3 power play. Their objectives are: As quick as possible establish puck control in the offensive zone. Get a clear puck possession in the slot. Score! 35

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38 Team B, who is winning by a goal, has other objectives: Keep the puck outside the blue line for as long as possible. Keep the puck outside the slot. Cover the net. Team B can very well achieve their objectives without possessing the puck. Furthermore in case of a puck possession they would most likely give it up right away, by using the boards to get the puck out of the zone or icing it. Team A needs puck possession to execute their objectives. Still even for them it can be an advantage if the opponents possess the puck for a short time, but cannot control it. For example if they shoot it on goal, and put their goalie under pressure so he cannot control the rebound. This extreme case, was just an example to demonstrate that you may have different objectives and priorities in different situations. From now on however, we will focus on the objectives of tactical puck control, in the five on five situation where both teams are trying to score, without giving up a goal themselves. What makes the task so complex, is the fact that you want to do two things at the same time. You want to attack, and you want to defend. With smart tactical puck control you can accomplish both, Sometimes you want to possess the puck to make a move. Sometimes you want to control your opponent, and force him to make a move to your advantage. In a way you should see the game of hockey like a game of tennis. Figures 7 and 8 illustrate this. To approach the tactical aspect of puck control from the best angle, I believe the following words are a good guide: PLAY HOCKEY, but THINK TENNIS! Puck control serves many objectives, Scoring goals is only one of them. In fact it s the least executed alternative. On the contrary, by far the most common play is, to prevent the opponent from scoring. To place the puck in a safe area, and deliberately give up possession of the puck, is a play made three times as often as an attempt to score. This again underlines that possessing the puck is more often a defensive risk than an offensive advantage.. That s why the tactical puck control should always be balanced between the two considerations: 37

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40 What do I gain? And What do I risk? The successful teams in today s hockey seem to believe in a not very logical solution to obtain this balance: Don t risk anything, and you ll win everything. Their success proves they re right. As already mentioned, to hinder an opponent from scoring is the most common play, but there are a number of other goals to achieve. Besides scoring the players are also trying to get the following advantages by playing puck control tactically correct: Line changes: If you can get a safe line change and a fresh unit and match up against their tired players, you might have gained a decisive advantage, Face Off: If you can get a face off in the offensive zone, you re statistically more likely to score, than if you try to create a scoring opportunity 5 on 5 in the offensive zone. Power Play: If you attack, you have much better odds of getting a power play, than the defending team. Momentum: If you possess the puck a lot, you ll get the feeling of being active and many players need that to get into the game. To reach these important goals, just controlling the puck won t be enough. This is illustrated in Figure 9. You have to master the art of keeping safe puck possession. Safe puck possession means, not to lose the puck in a way which will cause an advantage for the opponent, So when you possess the puck, your major concern has to be not to lose it stupidly. Your greatest challenge though will always be, to score a goal, To master all these game situations we call the Art of Keeping Puck Possession. As documented earlier, a defensive pass is by far the most effective way to keep puck possession. This means, that if you don t support your teammate carrying the puck, he has to dribble, and you will only have 8 % chance of keeping the puck within the team. But if you give him an outlet for a defensive pass, your chances to keep the puck wilt boost to 95 %. Keeping puck possession is not an individual skill. It is teamwork. Six Key Points of Keeping Puck Possession 1. Close Defensive Support: A defensive pass is a pass, which goes in the direction away from the opponent net. 95 % of these passes are successful., The first necessity to maintain puck possession is consequently: close defensive support. 39

41 2. Move the Puck: Secondly it is important to keep the puck moving. It s easier to avoid a check if you don t have the puck. Furthermore, it is statistically unlikely that one player will keep the puck for more than three seconds. A good player is not signified by how long a time he can keep the puck, but how many times he keeps it. 3. Motion: It s relatively easy, to check a receiver who s standing still. Therefore the puck supporter should be in motion skating into an area where he can receive a pass and rotating positions. 4. Options: Have at least two players alternatives to give the puck carrier support. This will give him more options to choose from, and the defending team more options to worry about. 5. Picks: One of the most effective supports is the pick. It s up to the referee to decide which level he ll tolerate, With a referee who allows a high level, the pick should be considered to be the first priority. 6. Defensive Security: Always make sure, you have enough players, to secure the defense, if once in the offensive zone our objectives are to gain clear puck possession in the slot. The most risky and least effective play to get into the slot is made from the half boards. The better options are to make the plays from the points or from behind the goal line. Our strategy in the offensive zone is based on keeping the puck possession with picks and defensive passes, until we gain clear control at the point or behind the goal line. From there we make the offensive play or shot. If we re under pressure, and about to lose the puck, our goal is to get the puck deep first. It s better to lose the puck deep in the zone than at the half boards, in the slot or even worse at the point. It can even work out to our advantage if the opponent possesses the puck deep in their zone, and we put him under pressure. The chances are good that he will make a weak play, and we can profit from his mistakes. Our best play is a great play made by us. Our second best play is a weak play made by them. No matter if we possess the puck or not, we feel that it s to our advantage if the puck is deep in the zone. Either we can make a great play there, or force them to make a weak play there. Since that area deep in the zone is the area we re aiming at, we call it the Green Zone as shown in Figure 10. Green, like a traffic light indicating that the road is free, should tell the players, that a play into that area is always a good play. For that play the road is free. The Green Zone also refers to the green in golf. If you want to score in golf, you have to get to the green first. We want our players to think the same way. If you want to score in hockey, get the puck to the Green Zone first. On our way to the Green Zone, there are two crucial zones we have to pass. These crucial zones are the blue lines. Just inside or outside the blue lines it s more important 40

42 than anywhere else, to make the right decision. Losing the puck there, can result in a dangerous counter attack. On the other hand, a great play there can result in a goal. Sometimes an offensive play is the right thing. Sometimes it s better to dump in the puck. What s right and wrong in these zones are not as clear as black and white. That s why we call these zones the Gray Zones as shown in Figure 11. This gives us two factors to focus on. The Green Zone in which you may give the puck possession away, and the Gray Zones in which you should never risk a turn over. In today s hockey puck control is the key to success. It s something you re trying to obtain all the time. Tactically it s a balancing act between possessing the puck and controlling the opponent. As such, a hockey game is like a tennis match. The possession of the puck, or the ball, will change back and forth constantly. So, it is important to give it back in a safe area, in which you can put the opponent under pressure, and take it back in a way, which opens up a chance to score, Transition Team Play Strategies In analyzing games this wav, it appears as if all the good plays are always made by the great players. They see to sense how to make the first play, when to go for a break away option, and where to position themselves. It also apparent that most of their good plays are not very difficult to do. No extreme skill or speed is required. Of course they sometimes do spectacular plays too, but most of their good plays are within the skill level of most players. Somehow they read something in the play, which make them react in a correct way. If we could figure out what makes them react, we could train all players to react the same way (and all players would play like great players). This is the approach we use, to make our players adjust to the reality of transition. First of all we make all our players realize the importance of the transition. Teach them the key points, and train them to act, and react, based on those principles. Finally we try to get them organized in a team play concept, which tactically take advantage of the transition situations. The concept is based on the five fundamental factors and is focused on a quick transition attack from any spot on the ice. Its principles are: 1. Stretch the transition time interval, to give us more time to execute a transition attack, and to regroup back into the defensive positions. 2. Pull the opponent team apart, to avoid playing 5 on 5 offensively, and to create 3 on 3 (or better) attacks, and to have one man advantage in the defensive play. To succeed with both the first and second principle, the keys are: Finish All Checks: If we physically neutralize two of our opponents, they can t forecheck and they ll be too late back checking. 41

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44 Besides they are already covered if a retransition attack should occur. The disadvantage is of course, we ll have two players less in our attack, but the purpose is to create a 3 on 3 (or better) attack that creates more space. Get The Puck Deep: If the puck is always in front of us when it s turned over to the other team, they have to attack 5 on 5 and we have time to get our defense organized. Even if your team dominates the game, and controls the puck one thing is guaranteed, sooner or later the opponent will get the puck. Statistically they ll get it over 200 times every game. 200 times when they might surprise you on the transition. A surprise is something unexpected. So their chances to surprise you don t depend so much on what they do as it depends on what you expect. Different players react on what s happening in different ways. But generally speaking, there are two natures of characters: The Calculator Now, we might lose the puck, but I m ready. The Consequentor Darn it We just lost the puck. Now what? GOD BLESS OUR GOALIE! We all have both these characters on our teams, and we all need them. We need the Consequentors intensity and working ethic. We need the Calculators smart thinking and coolness. But most of all we need to get those qualities united under one philosophy. To make the Calculator explode and go, when the chance occur, may be a challenge for most coaches, But to make the Consequentor think ahead and be aware of what most likely is going to happen, is by far a greater challenge. Actually it s pretty easy to figure out what most likely is going to happen since a turnover is always the most likely thing. But the player s capability to read that and play the game one step ahead in their minds is still a tough skill to teach. To often it tends to make the players passive (thinking instead of working). It takes a lot of drilling and concentration, until they learn; to be ready for the next step, to prepare the next step, but still give it all in the present Attack intensively Defend intensively, but think defensively. Or but think offensively. If the transition already has taken place in your mind, you re ready when it takes place on the ice. Of course you can t give it all in the present, if you consistently worry about all the things that might happen. But since the game is played in small battles (like one on ones and two on twos), three or four players aren t fully involved in the present play and can prepare themselves for the next situation. Also, the knowledge of where the risky areas are makes it possible to sometimes be more cautious and to sometimes just give it all. 43

45 It sounds like a paradox, but statistically if you possess the puck, the opponent is more likely to score than you are. Not to mention, if you possess the puck in the offensive zone and even worse if you ve already kept it for over ten seconds, then it really gets absurd. In those situations the chances the next goal will be a goal against are over ten to one. It s a paradox, it s absurd, but it s true. One of the reasons for this reversed logic is that the puck carrier doesn t only want to control the puck. On the contrary, he is more than willing to take risks with it. In other sports, like football for instance, you don t take such risks. A Short Comparison of Ice Hockey verses Football In football There s no worse thing the quarter back can do, than to throw an intercepted pass. In ice hockey. We see those intercepted passes all the time. You don t try anything fancy Your last play before the transition on your last play. is often an attempt to a dribble. You bring your kicker, to make sure the Statistically are the chances only 8% of ball ends up way down the field. keeping the puck after a dribble Even your offensive line up only includes 3 or 4 offensive players. The rest are blocking, screening and picking the opponents. There s often one passer and four players all trying to be receivers. The basic idea of both sports are very similar, so why should hockey players take risks when football players doesn t? I don t know why. But I do know, that if there was a little quarterback and a little kicker in every hockey player, the transitions wouldn t be so dangerous. So if we could teach our players to think a little in football terms, we would achieve a better balance between the two considerations of What do I gain versus what do I risk. Three Hints to Prevent Transition Surprises. Hint Number One The Gray Zones When you already have the puck there are areas where you definitely don t want to lose it. No Risk Zones or Gray Zones as we prefer to call them. The Gray Zones are the areas around the blue lines shown in Figure 11. In these zones one should never risk a transition. On the other hand if you can get through these zones you might get a scoring chance. That uncertainty, of what s the right thing to do in the gray zones, is the reason for their name. The play it safe and go for it situations are not as easy to separate as black and white. One has to read the details to make the right play. 44

46 Hint Number Two The Green Zone There are also areas in which you can allow yourselves to give the puck away. We call these low risk zones for Green Zones illustrated in Figure 10. Green (like a traffic light indicating that the road is clear) indicates that it s OK to play the puck into these zones. For instance, it s better to put the puck into the corner, than to lose it in front of your own net The ultimate Green Zone is the area behind the opponents net. Even if they control the puck there you still have your whole team in between the puck and your own net. So giving up the puck in the Green Zone is always a safe play. Hint Number Three The Logic of Passing Directions Figures 12 tells us that forward or sideways are the two favorable directions of the first play. We also know that the time interval we have to make this play is three seconds. The worst turnovers must logically be, when the opponent intercepts a pass going across or towards our net. An inaccurate pass from behind the net in the offensive zone into the slot can turn out to be a great transition play against us. Further more all passes going across the ice have a high potential of being intercepted. For example, as shown in Figure 13, 29 times out of 30 a penetrating pass from the offensive zone half board will lead to a puck possession for the defending team. One risk with these three hints is of course, that the players focus too much on what not to do. This tends to make any player passive. Setting up priority lists, is one way to create directed action. Below is an example of such a priority list. Example Priority List. Priority # Break Out of Defensive Zone Offensive Attack Zone 1 Always give up the puck smart. Always three players high. 2 Get the puck over the blue line. Get the puck into the green zone. 3 Get the puck over the red line. Keep the puck deep 4 Get the puck into the offensive zone Support the puck carrier. 5 Score Score Conclusion Transition is not a major part of the game. Transition is the major part of the game. Transition is time wise the major part, (Studies shown, that the average time one team can keep the puck is 4.7 seconds and the average time in takes to regroup from defense to 45

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48 offense is 3 seconds. So, there is actually not much time where you re not playing transition.) Transition is for the out come of the game the major part (Most goals and most penalties are caused during transition). Transition is tactically the major part of ice hockey. Any part of your tactical game (for example the breakouts, the attack on the rush, offensive play, the fore checking, the back checking etc.) has to be based on the facts of transition to be effective.) Hockey is the name of the game. Transition is the game. Goaltending and Transition Concepts Goaltending is the single most difficult and crucial position in sports. The evolution of this endeavor has been well documented and many coaching and developmental systems are now prevalent (8,9,10,11,12,). As such, due to limitations in scope and space, this thesis will not attempt to cover this topic in detail. However, this is not to say that one needs to be a specialist to train a modern goalie. Again, hockey goalies are the single most important position in all of team sports. Many coaches are uncomfortable working with their goalies. We have all been to clinics and listened to great discussions regarding the technical aspects of goaltending, hopefully that discussion will give you some concrete practical applications. There are basic ways any coach can help their goalies (13). A coach can always facilitate the development of any goalie by the following five steps. SKATING 1. Skating 2. Positioning 3. Make practice "goalie friendly" 4. Help your goalie evaluate his game performance 5. Develop a work ethic "Skating is the key. Goalies must be able to move in all directions, as quickly as possible, to react/recover and make an abrupt, balanced transition from one move to another, while staying in their stance ready to make a save." Mitch Korn, Goalie Coach The single most important skill for playing goal is skating. Work on your goalies skating every day. Your goalie must move while maintaining a good "ready position", minimizing any holes. Concentrate on quality repetitions to create proper muscle memory. 47

49 POSITIONING When I am on my game, I only need to move an inch in either direction to make a save. If you see me making spectacular saves I am struggling with my game." Bernie Parent, Philadelphia Flyers A well positioned goalie has the most likely chance to be hit by a shot. A well positioned goalie has the most likely chance to be hit by a shot. You want your goalie to be centered, square, and out on the angle. You must be constantly aware of your goalies positioning during games and practices MAKE YOUR PRACTICES "GOALIE FRIENDLY" Skill as it pertains to basketball, is the knowledge and the ability quickly and properly to execute the fundamentals. Being able to do them is not enough. They must be done quickly. And being able to do them quickly isn't enough either. They must be done quickly and precisely at the right time. You must lean in practice to react properly, almost instinctively." John Wooden, Former Head Basketball Coach, UCLA A proper warm up is important. Make shooting drills as game like as possible. Provide traffic, rebound opportunities, shooters under pressure with options, and competition. Your whole team will benefit from practicing in this manner. HELP YOUR GOALIE EVALUATE HIS PERFORMANCE Experience is a cruel teacher, it gives you the test first and the lesson after." - Goals against often offer great lessons, take advantage of them. -Develop measurable standards or goals for each game. -Encourage an honest dialogue to get your goalie thinking about and questioning his thought process. -Analyze situations that arose in the game, what did the goalie see, what IF anything might he have done differently. DEVELOP A WORK ETHIC " How does a goalie go about gaining confidence? There is one and only one way. And that is from working hard; hard enough to realize you are giving maximum effort and can't be expected to give more. If you cheat on yourself, if you are giving less than your best, you know it. And with this knowledge, it is very difficult to feel confident. There are no short cuts. No magic." Joe Bertagna 48

50 A goaltenders work ethic is often overlooked, many times coaches allow their goalies to be lazy. -Demand consistency in terms of effort. -Your goalie must be the team leader in setting the work standards for the team. -By competing hard for every shot, your goalie challenges his teammates to be better every day. In today s modern game, the goalie plays a crucial role in the transition game. Elderbroom (14) has studied goalie transition in a recent video he produced. The important elements are as follows. The modern goalie is an active participant in the transition game. On average, a goalie will individually have 30 shot/save opportunities a game which can directly lead to a transition. Thus, his ability to save time in defensive to offensive transition is crucial to team success. A modern goalie must be able to stickhandle and pass. A curved stick can help facilitate this. The goalie should be able to readily rim the puck, or put it off the glass to get it out of the defensive zone. Also, a goalie must be able to skate effectively in order to move behind or along side the goal net while retrieving a puck for transition. Effective Practice and Development Concepts Gone are the days of the outdoor rinks with players of all ages feverishly playing hockey until the sun goes down. Yet, there is a move a foot to rekindle those days and the important lessons learned and transport them to our modern indoor facilities (15,16,17). This thesis will review these. First, Constantine (18) outlines important practice concepts from his CD-ROM as follows. Stated Objectives: At the beginning of each season, the coach must institute a team philosophy concerning practice. He must discuss with his team the importance of practice. He must communicate the fact that players must practice at a pace fast enough that playing games becomes easy. He must state his rules regarding meetings before practice, attendance at practice, promptness, and the rules and guidelines for drills. Get Excited About Practice: For a practice to have energy, for a practice to simulate game conditions, for a practice to achieve objectives, the coach must bring excitement to the practice. This can be done through the selection of drills, but is most effectively done through the personality of the coach. The coach s passion for the game of hockey and his energy to make practice important must be visible. This will create the proper upbeat and energetic environment for practice. The Importance of Practice: The following are tremendous quotes for coaches to share with their team at the beginning of a season to communicate with their teams the importance of practice. 49

51 The will to win is easy, but the will to prepare to win is more difficult. Practice without improvement is meaningless. The more I practice, the luckier I get. How you practice is how you play. Perfect practice makes perfect. If I don t practice for one day, I know it. If I don t practice for two days the critics know it. If I don t practice for three days, everyone knows it. The best skills are developed by players repeatedly performing and perfecting drills with a smile on their face. Anatoli Tarasov, Russian National Coach SKILL DEVELOPMENT The road to success is always under construction, Bob Green, Head Football Coach, Montana Tech The following three ingredients are necessary in drills designed for rapid skill development: 1. High tempo. 2. Short duration. 3. A confined area. A coach must examine the drills he is using for skill development and be sure that these three ingredients are part of the drills. Occasionally, a drill designed to teach skill technique will not have these ingredients, but once the technique of a certain skill is learned, these three ingredients should be added if skills are to be developed quickly. High Tempo the best way to develop tempo in practice is to add competition to a drill. Rather than having players go through a drill on their own, have them race against a teammate. Note how the addition of competition adds tempo to the drill. The second best way to add tempo in practice is to make a drill fun. Learn to conduct games in small areas of the ice. If you watch the beginning or ending of most practices, you will see players competing at a very high tempo in games they have made up themselves. There are many fun drills/games shown in the drill section of the CD-ROM. These are just a sample of fun drills. A coach can make up his own set of fun drills and mini-games. The third way to create tempo in drills is to teach players the importance of practice and the need to create a game like atmosphere during practice. 50

52 Short Duration players will learn to play at the same level that they practice. If players practice at a slow pace, they will play at a slow pace. If players practice at a fast pace, they will be comfortable playing games at a high pace. Because of this, players must practice at the highest tempo possible through the duration of each drill. If the length of a drill is too long, the players pace will slow and they will be practicing at a slow pace, Thus, it is preferable that the duration of each drill is short. This will allow players to perform the drill at maximum tempo and thus learn to play the game at that level. If conditioning is needed, drills related to conditioning can be conducted on or off the ice after the main practice is completed. Each repetition in a skill development drill should be about seconds in duration. This will allow players to perform at maximum tempo throughout the drill. Confined Area the skills of hockey are performed easily when a player has an enormous amount of time and space to operate on the ice. Skating, passing, shooting and stick handling in wide-open ice is relatively easy compared to performing these skills in a tight area under significant checking pressure. The game of hockey is a game of stops and starts, quick turns, transition from offense to defense to offense, as well as the quick decisions required to perform under such conditions. Skill development drills should be conducted in confined areas. This forces players to develop their skills in adverse conditions. Once learning to perform in confined areas under pressure, playing the game in more open ice will be relatively easy. Drills that give a player the entire ice surface to operate will not develop their skills nearly as quickly as drills that are conducted in a small area, like a face off circle, which forces players to make quicker decisions and moves. Many different markings on the ice help the coach pick confined areas on the ice for the players to work in. Some examples include the defensive zone, the neutral zone, a face off circle, the area below the goal line, the area below the tops of the circles, the corner of the rink, or the area behind the net. Additionally, a coach can bring cones or tires on the ice to mark off confined areas for drills. Again, small area games can be of great benefit in skill development (19,20,21). Willett (19,20) says that before examining the reasons for using small-area games in practices and the benefits these games provide, we must first define what a small area game is. Small-area games are game-like competitive drills that utilize a playing surface that has been reduced in size. A typical small-area game will be played in one end of the ice and can be played cross-ice, between face-off dots, in one comer, below the face-off dots or in any other number of areas, including the neutral zone. The area of the rink being used is dependant upon the skills being taught. Most games are designed to teach a combination of individual skills and are most easily played in a cross-ice format. However, some games will be moved into a much smaller section of the rink to create a smaller playing surface while other games will take advantage of a much larger area to teach team skills such as breakouts or power plays. The number of participants is lowered in small-area games. Any combination of players can be used. Again, it depends upon the situation, the level of play and the skills being taught. Teams can have anywhere from one to four (or more) players and will compete against other teams that may or may not have the same number of players. Coaches can choose to add support players or station themselves in a 51

53 position to become part of the game to receive and give passes or create any number of potential odd-man situations within a game. Special rules and conditions are applied to small-area games. It is important to mention here that small-area games are created to mimic different situations that are seen in a regular game. While games can be played without any special rules or conditions, it is usually these small modifications that keep the games fresh and allow players to see many different offensive and defensive situations. Small-area games are designed to focus on multiple skills and situations, increasing puck touches and situational repetition. During a small-area game, players will have more puck touches because of the reduced size of the playing area, the reduced number of players and the special conditions placed on each game. At any level of play, an average player may only have control of the puck for a few seconds during the course of a game. Depending on the game being played, that same player may have over a minute of competitive puck-possession time while taking six or seven shifts in just one ten- minute game. Within every small-area game, players are also placed in more tight situations and have more attempts on net than in any traditional drill all while competing and having fun. An often overlooked benefit of small-area games is the positive effect they have on goaltenders. Goaltenders, arguably the most important part of any team, are often the most neglected players in practice. Most drills provide shots that either don't challenge the goaltenders, come so quickly that the goaltender does not have time to recover properly, or come at a pace that does not adequately duplicate conditions seen in a real game. Goaltenders thrive in small-area games because they are seeing live competition and - much like a skater getting quality puck touches - can face as many shots in one ten minute small-area game as they will see in an entire regulation game. So who uses small-area games, anyway? Small-area games are nothing new to the Europeans, They've been successfully using competitive games in their practices for years. Recently, small-area games have become more commonplace in North America as well. They are used extensively in many professional organizations, colleges, junior programs and USA Hockey's National Team Development Program. Many successful high school and youth programs have implemented small-area games as a major means of teaching skills and team concepts as well. The reasons for using small-area games as the main teaching tool in youth hockey practices are numerous. Before looking at those reasons, though, we must take note of the fact that while using small-area games in practices is a relatively new concept, smallarea games are not a new concept. Kids have been creating small-area games forever. Pick-up or shinny games on outdoor rinks or ponds have rarely featured the nets set nearly 200 feet apart. Street hockey games rarely cover half of a city block. These games, whether on ice or land, have traditionally taken place in a small area. Not coincidentally, when long-time hockey coaches or enthusiasts discuss what is missing from today's game, the discussion often centers around the lack of shinny or street hockey that exists in today's society. Kids have interests and options outside of hockey and the world is a much different place than it was even twenty years ago. With that in mind, coaches must 52

54 find a way to bring the fun and skill development from the outdoor rink indoors. Smallarea games are the most effective way to accomplish this important goal, Here's why: Small-area games promote creativity and experimentation. Too may of the drills we use today are scripted and include a pro-determined outcome. Nothing in the game of hockey is predetermined. Full-ice 1 on 1 drills, 2 on 0 or 3 on 0 drills done at half speed and any number of other drills that are commonplace in our practices do not replicate actual game conditions. Through the continued use of these drills, we eliminate the thought process and decision making skills of our players. Small-area games produce situations that our players will see time and again in competition. Through trial and error, they will develop many different options to create plays and experience success. Small-area games create a more competitive practice environment. Competition is fun. More than that, small-area games push players to work harder, compete at game speed and learn to succeed against competition. Small-area games eliminate the need for traditional conditioning drills. Hockey is a game comprised of short, explosive bursts of power. Shifts are short-typically anywhere from 30 to 50 seconds - and are followed by periods of rest two to three times that long. Logic should tell us that we should train our players in the manner in which they will play. Unfortunately, that's rarely the case. Many coaches insist on their players skating a variety of lengthy endurance drills we know them by many names - such as Herbies and sideboards that force players to attempt to skate at top speed for up to two full minutes. Of course, we know it is physiologically impossible to skate at top speed for this long. Without going into a detailed discussion, what actually happens during these drills is that players will gradually lose knee bend in the skating stride, bend their backs and lose the ability to fully extend the stride leg at a proper angle. Thus, through the continued use of these endurance drills, coaches are actually creating slower skaters by systematically destroying skating mechanics. Small-area games provide an intense environment in which to train while maintaining a proper work-to-rest ratio for players. Coaches using small-area games in place of traditional conditioning drills will find that their players are more willing to "work" in practice because they are having fun and competing. Players will almost always ask for one more shift in a small-area game. How many players are begging their coaches for a chance to skate six sideboards one more time? Small-area games keep more players moving. Have you ever witnessed a hockey practice during which a drill is run with one player at a time skating through the drill while fifteen other players stand in the comer and watch? What are these drills accomplishing? The game of hockey is not played one player at a time. More than that, hockey is a sport in which skills can only be gained through continuous proper repetition. How many quality repetitions can a player gain in a twelve minute drill when only one player at a time takes part in the drill? As we've already discussed, there was a time when players could overcome this type of practice structure by going to the outdoor rink to sharpen their skills. Players rarely visit the outdoor rink anymore. Therefore, practices must be designed to allow players the quality repetitions they need to improve. A twelve minute 3 on 3 game played with eighteen players can give each player upwards of six competitive shifts in which they could have more than fifty puck touches and perform every skating 53

55 maneuver imaginable. This is all done within a system that develops teamwork, camaraderie and hockey sense. Small-area games develop and improve individual and team skills. Players can develop and improve every skill related to the game of hockey through the use of smallarea games. This thesis will take a look at a number of the skills that small-area games can be used to teach. Players learn to excel in tight situations. The modem game of hockey is played in small areas and in tight situations. As players continue to get bigger, stronger and faster, the rink continues to shrink and there is less room to execute, Training to play in these situations through the use of small-area games will strengthen players and teams by practicing for these tight playing conditions on a daily basis. As players get more comfortable playing and practicing in small areas, they are better able to execute skills and systems in competition. Your players will develop game strategies, make better decisions and have greater enthusiasm for practice. The bottom line is, when players see a situation develop in a game that they have seen hundreds of times before, they'll know how to handle it. Players can't be expected to make proper decisions and go to the right place on the ice during a game if they have never been trained to do it. Where does hockey sense come from? For some players it may be an inborn trait, but for most players hockey sense comes through experience. If they 're not on the outdoor rinks playing pick-up hockey, where is that experience going to come from? It has to be built into practices. Another common complaint from coaches is that kids don't want to practice; they just want to play games. "Practice is boring and the kids just want to have fun. The kids won't work hard at practice, so nothing gets accomplished." This may very well be true for a number of coaches and teams. It's true; if the kids aren't having fun they won't work as hard. If your players want competition, give it to them. Give it to them on a daily basis in the form of small-area games and watch as the attitude and the level of play consistently improves. Players of all ability levels improve. Combined practices are another concern. How can coaches challenge all players and keep practices flowing? By using small-area games and pairing players of like abilities together, all players will be challenged, but not overwhelmed. Small-area games are an outstanding option for both highly talented teams and in-house youth teams. Why? Better players are able to flourish and improve more rapidly when placed in competitive situations against other highly skilled players. They're constantly challenged to do more because of the small space in which the games are played. In small-area games, weaker players are going to be involved in the play more often and have an opportunity to develop their skills in a competitive situation. They'll improve over time while having fan and feeling more like a part of the team. Players of all skills levels will be challenged, competing and having fan. Small-area games foster a love and enjoyment of the game because players and coaches have fun! Hockey is the greatest game in the world and it should be an 54

56 enjoyable experience for everyone involved. Implementing small-area games in your practices will raise the enthusiasm level of your players and give them something to look forward to in each practice. Happy players fall in love with the game and will want to continue coming back to the rink. It's no different for coaches. You're a better coach if you're having fun and enjoying yourself. Teams model themselves after their coaches. A happy, hard-working coach with a great attitude will produce a team with similar traits. As coaches, we all have our tried-and-true methods of teaching specific individual skills. In no way is it being advocated that we dismiss traditional individual skill training and the drills that are used to teach those skills. Rather, it's what we do in addition to our traditional drills and teachings that will have the most profound impact on our players. That's where small-area games come into play. Virtually any individual or team skill can be taught through the use of small-area games. Of course, just as in a real game, virtually every skill imaginable is needed and will be practiced in a small-area game. This is accomplished in a learning-friendly environment in which the players are having fun. As a coach, have the courage to allow players to figure things out for themselves and let the game teach the game. Here's a very brief look at some of the skills commonly taught through the use of small-area games: Skating: Every skating maneuver is needed in small-area games. Lateral movement, stops and starts, tight turns, transitions, crossovers and the forward and backward stride will all be practiced in virtually every game. Passing: Nearly every game incorporates passing as an integral part of the game. Rules can be applied to games requiring a number of passes prior to a shot on net or require players to give and receive passes from support players. Shooting: No traditional drill will allow players to attempt as many shots under competitive playing conditions as a typical small-area game. Players are encouraged and required to use a variety of different shots, including the nearly-ignored backhand, and attack the net to capitalize on rebounds. Stickhandling: Every player has the opportunity to handle the puck a great deal in small-area games. More than simply handling the puck, they're required to do it in tight areas and under pressure. In my experience, this is the optimal way to become a better puckhandler. Cycling: Many small-area games can be designed to give players the opportunity to work the puck low in the offensive zone. Competitive games allow players to develop the ability to work together to control the puck deep in the offensive zone while under the same type of defensive pressure they would typically face in a real game. Transitioning: One of the trademarks of small-area games are the continual transitions players must make from offense to defense. Forwards and defensemen alike are put into situations that they would rarely, if ever, see in a traditional drill; yet routinely have to 55

57 face during actual competition. Angling: Because defenders are placed into a variety of real-game situations in small areas, they team to close gaps and cut angles with a great deal of skill. Breakouts: Games can be designed to incorporate breakouts and forechecks. This creates an excellent opportunity for teams to practice specific plays during a live, competitive situation. Power plays: Many small-area games provide odd-man situations that closely replicate typical power play alignments such as the overload and the umbrella. Conditions and rules regarding the number of players on each team and their positioning can be implemented to meet specific needs. Puck support: To achieve success in most any small-area game, players must learn to properly support the puck carrier and position themselves to receive passes, anticipate turnovers and run interference for teammates. Hockey sense: Hockey sense is a skill that a coach cannot teach. Players only gain hockey sense through experience and repetition. Over the course of a season, small-area games can give players hundreds of quality repetitions in various situations that are commonly seen in real games. Traditional drills are all too often scripted, eliminating the thought process and decision making skills. Outcomes of small-area games, while containing specific guidelines and rules, are never predetermined. These are just a few of the numerous individual and team skills that may be learned and practiced through the use of small-area games in your practices. Two examples of small area games are shown in Figures 14 and

58 3v2 Gretzky Game A 3v3 game except one player (Gretzky) must remain behind opposition net. The attacking team can not play to net until they pass to Gretzky. Gretzky can be replaced by a teammate through close support, pick or scissors. O X G O Coach O X G X Figure 14. Example Small Area Game. A ll T ouch 3V 3 X s play 3V3 against O s half ice. X s shooting at one net, O s shooting at the other. All three players must touch puck before they can attack net. S hifts 30 seconds or so! X O O G G O X X X X X C O O O TACTICAL DEVELOPMENT Figure 15. Example Small Area Game. Transition Drills are Necessary for Tactical Development for players to improve their tactical thinking (hockey sense) drills must contain transition, or at least, the potential for transition. Too often, coaches conduct drills that are one dimensional, meaning the offensive players play only offense during the drill, and the defensive players play only defense during the drill. The game of hockey, unlike football or baseball, is a game of transition. During the course of every shift, the puck changes possession many times. A player will have to go from offensive to defense back to offense, and so forth, many times during each shift. This transition element of the game of hockey must be present in drills, 57

59 if players are going to develop the quick thinking necessary to perform in game situations. The addition of transition to a drill helps the player develop tactical thinking and thus, gain the hockey sense necessary to make quick decisions during a game. When analyzing the modem game of hockey, more often than ever before the end result has been decided on these elements: transition control pressure isolation of situations and confrontation resolution. These are the types of elements in a hockey game, which will put your system of play in the spotlight, and you better make sure it is efficient and effective. The greatest happiness for us was to find unexpected solutions in any situation, however standard. To me, improvisation for a hockey player is the same as a jazz musician. But for a whole line to improvise, it is possible only when every player is strong, well versed in his tactical scope and rich in technical repertoire; when all together they understand one another with half a word and half a glance and even without one or the other. It seems tedious only to move according to the plan of a hockey textbook. Anatoli Tarasov, Russian National Coach As seen, small are games naturally offer opportunities for transition development. As well, The Mitron Training System (22) offers these elements. Some important aspects as outlined by Mitron are as follows. TRADITIONAL PRACTICE PLAN To improve, players need to practice. But how they practice is as important as how many times they practice. If you want your players to perform all offensive and defensive skills at top speed, during every shift for an entire game, you must practice specifically in that manner. By practicing at the highest possible speeds, under the most complex conditions conceivable, you will improve the chances of your players reacting "correctly" and executing "properly" during their hockey games. A typical hockey practice usually contains the following practice components: an overall warm-up, a goaltender warm-up, an amount of time allocated to the development of technical skills, an amount of time allocated to the practicing of offensive and defensive systems, and finally, high intensity skating sprints devoted to increasing physical fitness, followed by a cool-down and recovery period. TRADITIONAL PRACTICE PLAN Practice Component Overall Warm-Up Goaltender Warm-Up Technical Preparation Tactical Preparation Description To stretch ligaments and muscle tissues and to raise general body temperature. To show goaltenders to "feel" the puck for and for general orientation. To develop the skills of skating, checking, shooting, passing and receiving, etc... To learn breakouts, forechecking systems, power plays, penalty killing, etc... 58

60 Physical Preparation Cool-Down To develop muscular endurance, power, energy systems, etc... To recover from the intense training prior to going off the Ice. This type of practice design does not allow for consistent "intensity" throughout each practice component except for physical preparation which is situated near the end of the practice. Intensity is very important because without any intense players it's difficult to compete successfully. FULL-ICE HIGH TEMPO PRACTICE PLAN High tempo practices allow players to execute offensive and defensive skills at game speed and develop a more specific hockey conditioning effect. If practices are intense and players are expected to perform with intensity at practice, the chances of intense performances during games are increased. How Do You Create High Tempo? Speed of foot. Speed of hand. Speed of mind. You must practice them all! Anatoli Tarasov, Russian National Coach To create high tempo in practice, Mitron recommends the use of full-ice and/or half-ice "laps" throughout and immediately after each practice component. You should also keep the work-to-rest ratio at one-to-three, or less, during the execution of drills, and you should use skating patterns that allow for a minimum of one offensive and defensive transition throughout each drill sequence. Full-ice and/or half-ice high-speed laps are inserted within a practice component at various intervals to increase physical exertion, which in turn, helps to change and to adjust the chemical balance of the mind and body of the players during the practice. The Benefits of High Tempo Laps! (Physical Exertion) High speed laps, as a form of high intensity exercise, function as a stimulant causing an increase in the production of neurotransmitters, or chemicals, in the body, such as epinephrine, norepinephrine, serotonin, and various endorphins. These natural moodaltering drugs are part of every human nervous system and they play a major role in increasing positive physical and mental energy to enhance performance. 59

61 Where Are These Chemicals Made? This chemical production takes place in the center of the brain by way of a group of glands known as the limbic system. All the nerve impulses from throughout the body must pass through this system. A hockey player's mental and physical ability to perform is heavily based on the amount of neurotransmitters in the limbic system. This "chemistry" will affect the transmission of thoughts and accuracy of actions, and therefore, will ultimately affect each player's athletic performance. How Do I Insert These Laps? In order to implement high tempo laps in a practice, Mitron recommends that you administer each drill in three distinct phases. Phase One Once the drill has been explained and demonstrated by the coaching staff, the players quickly place themselves in their appropriate lines within the various locations around the periphery of the rink. On the coach 's signal, they begin to execute the drill and they contine to perform this drill for about four to five minutes. Phase Two To signal the start of the lapping sequence, the coach blows two short bursts with a whistle while the players are still executing the drill. Upon hearing the whistle, the players quickly locate the coach to find out in which direction they must skate. The coach simply points in a particular direction and the players begin to skate around the outside of the face-off dots and complete as many laps as possible in the allotted time. Remember to respect the anaerobic thresholds of each player. Phase Three When the lapping time has elapsed, the coach again blows two short bursts with the whistle. All players quickly return to their original lines (the lines where they first placed themselves to begin the drill) and immediately begin to execute the drill again. After performing the drill for another four or five minutes, the players will execute another series of high tempo laps m the opposite direction. Therefore, players simply move from a drill sequence to a lapping sequence every four or five minutes, within each practice component, as they progress through their practice. This training method allows players to experience more game speed and better game conditions while attempting to execute the various skills and skating patterns within each drill. CREATING HIGH TEMPO WITHIN PRACTICES High tempo allows players to execute offensive and defensive skills at game speed 60

62 and develops a more specific hockey conditioning effect. To create high tempo in your practices, Mitron recommends the following three (3) methods: Method 1 Skate high-speed "laps" throughout and immediately after each practice component. This method has already been thoroughly explained throughout pages 4-4,4-5, and 4-6, and forms the basic training method used by Mitron to create tempo in all the practices. Method 2 Keep the work to rest ratio at 1:3 or less during the execution of each practice drill. Making sure players do not stand in line for very long is also very important because waiting too long before re-entering the drill sequence will reduce the intensity of physical exertion. Players should be allowed to rest for no more than three times the amount of time it takes them to execute their skating patterns to complete the drill. For example, if it takes ten (10) seconds to complete the drill, then players should wait in line for no more than thirty (30) seconds before they return to the drill sequence. Method 3 Design drills that allow for offensive and defensive transition to occur at least twice within the drill. Also, If within drills, players perform an offensive skill followed by a defensive skill, or vice versa, they will spend more time in the performance of the drill. This creates a higher skating tempo, which will increase their physical exertion and intensity. By practicing al the highest possible speeds under the most intense conditions conceivable, you will improve the chances of your players reacting correctly and executing properly during a game. Figures 16, 17, and 18 illustrate the Mitron Training System methodology. Even at the highest levels of hockey these principles are advocated today. Figure 19 illustrates a similar core drill for the USA Hockey National Development U 17 Team (23). In NTDP practices, one of the program's core drills is the "All Purpose Drill." This up-tempo drill uses both ends of the ice and incorporates at least five passes. CREATING HIGH FLOW WITHIN PRACTICE High flow of player movement is very important because it produces game-like responses, ensures maximum participation, and creates a higher quality and quantity of repetitions for effective player skill development. To create high flow movement in your practice, Mitron recommends four (4) key strategies that will allow your players to practice exactly what they will face during actual game competition. 61

63 Strategy 1 Have three (3) or more players involved in the execution of the drill. The first high flow strategy is to have three (3) or more players involved in the execution of the drill. Having at least three (3) players participating in a drill will create enough traffic and skating patterns to ensure players apply basic offensive and defensive concepts constantly. This helps to increase the level of player confidence in game situations. Strategy 2 Include three (3) or more passing patterns in the execution of the drill. The second high flow strategy is to include three (3) or more passing patterns within the execution of a drill. A lot of passing will increase the amount of repetitions and will allow for the simulation of many different passing situations that occur throughout a game. The passing patterns should also allow your players to practice passing and receiving skills while skating forward and backward and should teach pass receivers to support the puck carrier and create the optimum passing angle. Strategy 3 Design skating patterns that create space, time, width, and depth. The third high flow strategy is to design skating patterns that create space, time, width and depth. This is achieved by having your players skate a variety of patterns that will increase their acceleration and speed as well as move them around the ice surface to void an area or fill a vacated area. These skating patterns make it more difficult to check players and create more offensive opportunities. It also allows for the execution of more varied tactical strategies such as increasing pressure by "overloading" an area in order to have more offensive or defensive players in that specific area on the ice. Flow movement will improve the chances of your players reacting correctly and executing properly during a game. Strategy 4 Start the groups simultaneously or slightly staggered from both sides. The fourth high flow strategy is to start the groups simultaneously or slightly staggered from both sides and both ends within a drill. The way in which players are allowed to start the drill will determine the work to rest ratio and the flow of movement within the drill. Simultaneous and quick staggered starts will increase the number of players moving within a drill sequence and will force players to keep their head up and "read and react" to the flow of interference caused by players traveling in the opposite direction. Drills must be very challenging and rewarding whereby both effort and concentration are required on the part of all players. How your players perform in any game situation is directly related to how and what they have been practicing. Game day is an opportunity to see the results of your teaching. 62

64 Figure 16. Mitron High Performance High Tempo Practice Plan. 63

65 Figure 17. Mitron High Performance High Tempo Practice Plan. 64

66 Figure 18. Mitron High Performance High Tempo Drill Example. 65

67 NATIONAL TEAM DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM DRILL OF THE WEEK U17 TEAM ALL PURPOSE DRILL FF F2 F3 FF D2 D D D D1 FF F F1 FF Drill Mechanics: Opposite sides go together on the whistle. D1 gaps up to blueline, pivots to backwards and receives pass from F1 at the red line. D1 stretches with speed to the top of the faceoff circle, steps out and passes to F2. F1 times his skating to receive a return pass form F2 in the middle of the ice, then gets outside the dots. F1 immediately head mans the puck to F3 for a quick give and go, then shoots on net. Once F2 makes his pass to F1 he moves to the middle and provides back pressure on F1. After the first shot on goal, F1 retrieves a second puck in the corner and passes to D1 who has followed up the play. D1 quickly moves to the middle and shoots with F1 looking to screen or tip on the play. F2 attempts to box out F1. Points of Emphasis: Players should under handle the puck, eliminating the extra stickhandling prior to passing. Movement should be timed but with great speed. Passes to the point should be done immediately low to high. The D should begin wide and move explosively towards the middle to improve shooting angle. Figure 19. USA Hockey High Tempo, High Flow NTDP Core Drill. On-Ice Physical Preparation 66