Hockey games are won and lost on the wall.

And your ability to win battles along the boards
is continuously tested throughout the game.

If your team is breaking out and you just keep bangin the puck back up
into pressure on the strong side wall, the odds are that you’re eventually
going to give up a scoring chance. If your Ds can’t move pucks away from
pressure or your forwards can’t make smart puck management decisions
on the half wall in your own end, it usually means that you’re going to spend
far too much of the game behind your own blueline.

Let’s say that your opponent likes to play the ‘dump and chase’ style of
entering the zone.  That means your Ds are going to have many chances to
pick up the puck off the back wall.

In order for Ds to execute this skill effectively, they have to:

Do a good shoulder check well before getting to the puck
Come at the puck from an angle so that they can maintain their speed
Know where the pressure is coming from so they can make a quick decision
Use their stick and body properly to protect the puck from a forechecker

If your D can’t execute these skills effectively in a game, odds are that
your opponents are going to end up regaining possession and you’ll be
playing defense instead of starting the offense with a breakout pass.

Being able to play well on the wall when you don’t have the puck is also key.

Most teams ask their players to go hard into 1v1 puck battles even when
they don’t have the puck.  Most players love this moment of intensity and
competition. But sometimes they go a bit too hard and instead of containing
their check or getting a pin, they overcommit on the play and end up glued
against the wall while their opponent walks off the wall with easy possession.
This happens to Ds and centres when playing along the wall in their own end
and it happens to forwards and pinching Ds who overcommit on the forecheck.

If you really take the time to watch the game being played, a lot of it happens
around the perimeter of the ice.

But how often do we practice those “wall skills”?

Being able to beat an opponent off the wall with the puck is essential to
your offensive game and being able to contain an opponent along the wall
when you don’t have the puck is critical too.  So we need to practice it often.

We tend to do a pretty good job of this when we work on breakout drills.
Typically the drill starts with a puck being dumped in and the D has to start
the play from off the wall.  But how often do you start drills with the offensive
team having to win a puck battle off the wall first before attacking? We start
a lot of our attack drills with the defending team having possession along the
wall. So our attackers must start with a quick forecheck to gain possession
before transitioning to offense.

In all of our Total Female Hockey camps, we work on attacking off the wall.
Ds need to be great at it in order to start the breakout effectively and Fs
need to be great at it to generate offense in the attacking zone.  We also
work on how to defend the puck carrier along the wall. Whether you’re in
your own end, stepping up along the wall in the neutral zone or pressuring
an opponent with the puck in the attack zone, being able to put effective
pressure along the wall when you don’t have the puck can really change
the game.

So work on these ‘off the wall’ skills from both the offensive and defensive
side of the puck. I promise it will help you win more battles which will help
you win more games.

Work Hard. Dream BIG. Win The Wall.

Your friend and coach,

Kim