Managing the puck is a term I use a lot with my players.

In the simplest terms possible, it means understanding
when to keep the puck and when to give it up. You can
think of it as the sibling of puck possession.

So let’s go through a few examples of how this applies
in a game situation and hopefully that will help to clarify
what this concept is all about.

MOVING PUCKS AWAY FROM PRESSURE:

This is a big one for both individual players and the team.
How many times has your team finally regained possession
of the puck after battling hard in your defensive zone – only
to throw the puck right back up the wall into the opponent?
Or even better, you finally win a scrum in front of the net
and then you throw it right back into the slot to the other team?
These are all panic plays that result from an inability to identify
where the open ice is.  Ideally, there would be a teammate
who works hard to get open away from all the traffic and chaos
and you could move the puck to them away from the pressure.
But even if you can’t find an open teammate, you are better off
moving the puck into open ice and creating a 50/50 race and battle
for the puck than you are simply giving up full possession to your
opponent.

SKATING YOURSELF OUT OF TROUBLE:

This is a skill that desperately needs to be addressed. It’s far too
common in the girls’ game that a player panics and gets rid
of the puck as soon as she comes under pressure. It could be a
defenseman who is under attack from a forechecker on the
breakout or a forward who is being closed in on when they have
the puck in the offensive zone. Girls need to spend more time
working on protecting the puck when they have it and moving their
feet to create space for themselves and time to move the puck
to an open player. Panic plays where you give up possession
simply because you’re not confident enough to manage the puck
under pressure are simply unacceptable. And as you move up in
age groups and levels, the speed and intensity of that pressure is
only going to get bigger and bigger.  Spending time on winning 1 on 1
battles by moving your feet and finding time and space is critical
for every player at every age group and ability level.

SKATING INTO PRESSURE & DISHING IT OFF:

This might be a ‘next level’ skill for you depending on where you’re starting
from. But it’s an absolutely critical one especially when you’re looking to
generate more offense.  Let’s use the power-play as an example.
Your team has clear possession of the puck in the opponent’s end on the
power-play and you’re moving it around to your teammates without too
much trouble. Possession is great, but the power-play is all about scoring.
So how to you generate more quality scoring chances? You have to skate
the puck into pressure and pass it off to an open teammate. If you are standing
on the hash marks against the wall with the puck, a pass up to your D
or a pass low to the player supporting you below the goal-line isn’t going
to cause the penalty-kill unit to have to adjust much. On the other hand,
if you skate hard off the wall with the puck into the middle of the ice,
you force them to have to make a decision. Either they let you walk right
into the slot for a prime scoring chance, or one of the penalty killers has
to come out of their defensive position to come take you. In that moment
when they make that adjustment, you create a moment of confusion where
you can then dish it off to an open teammate who will have a better chance
of creating a scoring chance due to the chaos you created by skating the
puck into pressure.

There are many more instances of managing the puck in the game
including dumping it in strategically, freezing it along the boards
on the penalty kill and losing face-offs on purpose in order to generate
offense. We may cover those in a future newsletter, but in the meantime,
feel free to share this one with any friends, teammates or coaches that
you think might benefit from the information.

Have an awesome week on the ice and keep working hard & dreaming BIG!

 
Your friend and coach,

Kim

Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS

Director & Founder, Total Female Hockey
www.TotalFemaleHockey.com