Is your game more north-south or more east-west?

In the north-south game, the puck usually moves up the ice quickly
and gets straight to the net quickly. On the breakout, the puck usually
comes out on the side the first pass was made on. And on the attack,
the player who has possession as they cross the blueline typically
ends up as the main offensive threat. If they run into pressure, the puck
carrier usually has to give up possession by dumping the puck in and
the team must work hard on the forecheck to gain it back.

The east-west game is sometimes seen as being a bit more risky.
On the breakout, it might mean that the winger who gets the puck on
the strong side wall looks for their net front D as a lateral outlet. Instead
of just carrying the puck in the down the wall on the attack, it might mean
making a little chip pass to the middle to a supporting player or looking
for the late D as a trailer on the weak side. You might choose to think
of it as more of a puck possession game. But it requires a certain level
of individual skill and hockey IQ to be able to execute effectively.

The north-south game is more straight-forward. Although you do risk
giving up possession by forcing the play down the strong side, you typically
have support on that side of the ice which allows you to put quick and effective
pressure on your opponent.

With the east-west game, you have more risk and more reward. That quick
chip to the middle might have a spectacular result if your opponent doesn’t
have good back-checking support and you get a quick attack to net.  But if
it doesn’t work, you might have 3 or 4 players skating in the wrong direction
when your opponents counterattack.

I’m not here to tell you that one style is better than the other but I do know that
girls’ ability to play the east-west game isn’t where it should be.  I’ve seen far
too many players with great speed, strength, athleticism just play up and down
their side of the ice – almost like they have blinders on.  They seem to have
tunnel-vision glued to the strong side of the ice.

Getting your entire team to commit to and execute the east-west style effectively
can be very challenging.

But teaching your individual players how to skate more of a east-west game is
much easier to do and can have terrific consequences on team play.

Let’s start with an important one – GETTING THE PUCK OFF THE WALL

Getting the puck off the wall to the middle of the ice is a critical skill on both
the breakout and on the attack.

How many times have you seen your D skate straight up the wall on the breakout
right into pressure or your winger pick up a breakout pass and turn up the wall
only to run straight into the other team’s D?  It happens all the time. If that winger
and that D had the right skating, game awareness and puck protection skills in
place, these turnovers on the wall wouldn’t happen. They would make a sharp
cut towards the middle of the ice, away from pressure, and have many more
options of what to do with the puck.

Similarly, on the attack, forwards often play right into the hands of the other team’s
defensemen.  Ds are taught to keep the forwards to the outside, so when you skate straight
down the wall all the way into the zone, you give the D control of the 1 on 1 situation
and you limit your options. If you are able to “cut the seam” laterally between the top
of the circle and the hash marks, you make that D work much harder by making her
move side to side.  And the goalies don’t like it when you attack by skating
east-west because they need to constantly adjust. When you skate right down
the wing, the goalie has plenty of time to set up for the shot.  It’s no different than
when your D gets the puck along the wall in the offensive zone and shoots from
there instead of walking the puck to the middle to create more options and to
force the goalie to adjust.

The first thing I teach players when working on their east-west game is the
LATERAL CUT.  It starts with getting them comfortable with the concept of
skating the game with their toes pointing towards the side boards instead
of north-south.

In my next newsletter, I’ll include a video showing how I teach the lateral cut,
and it’s many progressions with and without the puck, so that you can start
learning how to develop your east-west game.

Until then – Work Hard, Dream BIG and Think East-West

Your friend and coach,

Kim

Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS
Director & Founder, Total Female Hockey
www.TotalFemaleHockey.com