Coaching Setting Goals Developing Winning Plans

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Winning Playoff Strategies for Coaches,
Players and Parents By: John Shorey Author- Hockey Made Easy

Whether you finished 1st or 8th during the regular season, the playoffs are a whole
new ball game. There will be some major upsets and a number of higher seeded
teams will be eliminated if they are not physically and mentally prepared for the
increased speed and intensity of the playoffs.

The good news is, Coaches still have time to fine-tune their forechecking and
backchecking systems, and mentally prepare their players for these very emotional
and stressful playoff games ahead.

You must convince your players of the possibility of losing a series if there’s not a full
100% disciplined team effort from every player, on every shift, for the entire game.

Coaches must also prepare a sound game plan and tell your players who the top
players are on the opposing team. At the very least, know their sweater number
because if you let them skate freely and don’t cover/check them closely, they will
fill your net with pucks like Alexander Ovechkin and you will be eliminated from
the playoffs in the very first round.

Coaches
During the playoffs it is much easier to prevent goals than it is to score them.
The proven theory is defensive hockey wins important games and playoff championships.

If you’re coaching a lower-seeded team, or one that has difficulty scoring goals, try to
convince your players to buy into the defensive strategy of preventing goals first, then
capitalizing on your opponent’s errors/mistakes and you will dramatically cut down your
goals against and still score enough goals to compete against the top seeded teams.

One way of doing this is to play a sound defensive team game in all three zones of
the rink. If over the Red Line, get the puck in deep and begin aggressive forechecking in
the offensive zone. Start backchecking by covering the wings in the neutral zone when the
opposition controls the puck.

In your defensive zone, play a combination of man-to-man on the puck carrier and a
flexible zone defence on the other open players. Be ready to quickly change to man-to-man
when the puck is passed to the man you are covering.

Do not allow any odd-man rushes by covering the wide winger, this allows your defence to
meet the rush outside your Blue Line and will create numerous offsides or loose pucks.

The next thing you must do is to limit the opposition’s quality shots on goal by keeping the
puck to the outside.

Set a goal of cutting their shots on goal from 20 to 15, or by at least a 25% reduction a game.
The fewer shots on goal often result in fewer goals scored against your Team.

If shots can’t be prevented, try to force them to originate from a bad angle near the boards.
This should help your goaltender make the initial save. Block as many shots from the slot
and points as possible and clear any rebounds out of your zone or into the corner.

Backcheckers must skate back deep into your defensive zone and be ready to pick up any
loose pucks and start an offensive rush up the ice and out of your end zone immediately.

For a lower-seeded team playing a top scoring team, you can use a 1-man forechecking
system, but some coaches may want to send 2 or even 3 men in deep to forecheck the
opposition’s puck carrier. By doing this, it reduces the puck carrier’s time to pass the puck
and their space to carry it out of the zone and it will upset their planned clearing/breakout
play causing many turnovers.

The choice is yours and it is usually based on the size of ice surface you are playing on.
On narrow ice surfaces, 2-3 men in deep, on wider ice surfaces, 1 man in deep often
works best. The skating and checking ability of your forecheckers will also have a
bearing on which strategy you use.

Trial and error is one way to find out if a higher-seeded team can be thrown off
their game by aggressive in your face forechecking, or if a more passive defensive
tactic of covering the wings is best used against a top team.

In the 1-2-2 neutral zone trap forechecking system, your closest forward to their
puck carrier must aggressively attack/check him trying to separate him from the puck,
creating a loose puck. The 2 other forwards peel off initially to cover both wingers to
prevent them from receiving a pass. Your 2 defencemen play their puck carrier.

The wingers must be covered all the way back to your goal line. If the winger does
receive a pass, try to angle them towards the boards and a bad-shooting angle.
If you can, try to get your stick on the puck and deflect any pass into the seats or
netting, but prevent them from shooting on goal.

If the closest forechecker was successful in taking the puck carrier off the puck,
the 2nd closest forechecker must be quick off the mark to retrieve the loose puck
in the offensive zone then try to create a 2 on 1 situation for a quality scoring
opportunity, or take a shot on goal yourself.

Good backcheckers must cover their wings, but also watch the success or failure
of their deepest forechecker while at the same time getting ready to pounce on
any turnover or loose puck.

By playing this 1-2-2 system, it allows your 2 defencemen, to play any puck
carrier outside your blue line and force the shooter to dump the puck into your
defensive zone where it can be retrieved by your backchecking wingers.
It’s not pretty, but it can be very effective.

By playing a disciplined defensive system, playing your position, and by not
running all over the ice trying to catch their puck carrier, you will keep the
games close by eliminating dangerous odd man rushes, reduce scoring
chances and prevent quality shots on goal.

Forechecking, backchecking, positional play, short shifts, capitalizing on
opponents errors like odd man rushes, giveaways and big rebounds can
turn the game in your favor. And positive comments and a pat on the back
from the coaching staff for all good offensive and defensive plays are the
keys to building player confidence, team spirit and playoff competitiveness
even against the 1st place team.

On the other hand, if you are a top team with lots of fast skaters, good
checkers and scoring power, a 2 man forechecking system, or the 2-1-2
method, will generate many turnovers in the oppositions end creating
many scoring opportunities.

Coaches must know their own team’s abilities and the opposition’s strengths
and weaknesses. Then they must devise a sound game plan based on this
information to help their team be competitive and get them to the next
round of playoffs.

Remain flexible, and if one system/strategy is not working go to plan “B”.

Getting Players Ready For Playoff Hockey

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