Quote:
Originally Posted by New Era
Good insight. As a player growing up I played my off wing and preferred the offensive advantages, no doubt. But to learn to play that position effectively you need to develop a lot of skill with your stick and skates, or you're going to be eating a lot of the boards, where much of the NHL game is played. It is not something you just decide to do. It takes time to learn the tricks of the trade. No different than learning to be a good face off guy. Just takes work and practice, and not something you learn to do on the job in the best league in the world.
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Good point but you also have to remember that NHL/elite caliber defenders should be making clean, tape to tape breakout passes more often than naught regardless of what wing a player in on. This is a huge help to wingers when they are not forced to pick pucks off the boards or from their skates under pressure. It always irks me to no end when coaches allow players to over rely on rimming the puck when they get in trouble. It's a terrible habit to instill in players that this is an acceptable play and more of a last resort.
With that said, I'd roll the dice on playing players on the off wing simply due to the stated advantages in the offensive zone.