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Old 10-07-2010, 08:57 PM   #558
Flash Walken
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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Think of the ice like a quadrant.

The right wing plays between the blueline and the bottom of the faceoff circle and right side of the boards to the middle of the ice. The left wing does the same on their side.

The left D plays between the faceoff dot to below the net on the left side. The Right D does the same thing on his side.

The Centre plays where all these points meet, along the same line as the faceoff dots. He transitions into each quadrant as the puck travels, supporting each position to attack the puck, never straying too far from the net.

The offence should also flow through the centre. The breakout ideally starts with the defender passing it to the centre located around the top of the faceoff circles in the middle of the ice to the blueline. From there the centre either attacks with speed or hits a winger only now reaching the redline with speed.

In the offensive zone, if the winger sees a defenseman below the top of the offensive zone faceoff circle, the winger should move to cover that defender's position, at the blueline against the boards waiting to keep a puck in, watching the opposition high forward.

If you just play positional hockey, always keeping yourself between the puck and the net, while staying in your area of play and being mindful of when someone else on your team doesn't (i.e. if the defenceman is pinching in, or if the defenseman or centre is out of position down low), it is fairly easy to beat teams who don't play this way, but have superior scoring skill.
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