The Beginner’s Guide to Defense: The Neutral Zone
In our last Locker Room lesson we went over the offensive zone, and how to contribute to your team’s offensive pressure as a defenseman. The remaining area to cover is the neutral zone. Managing the neutral zone is tough. Normally defensemen don’t recognize the benefits of using the neutral zone, and they just see it as the separation of offensive and defensive zones, an area for faceoffs and dump-ins. By having that mindset, those skaters are not taking advantage of all that the neutral zone can offer a team. Here are some important topics to consider when addressing the neutral zone.
Regrouping:
A regroup is a pass or series of cross-ice passes between the defensive pair, normally located in the neutral or high defensive zone, done to relieve pressure from the offense and to retain puck possession. In any situation where the offense is overwhelmed with pressure from the opposing team, they can send the puck back to their defensemen, where the two will pass it back and forth to each other looking to draw pressure away from their wingers and free them up for another attacking play on the opposition. This spreads the opposing team thin, sometimes drawing an odd-man rush. This move is done very often in professional hockey. Watch an NHL game and count how many times a team regroups in a game. Even if the team is bad and has very little time on attack, you would probably see a regroup at least 10 times if not more. For a great offensive team, double that number. For a great offensive team that finds itself on many power plays, quadruple it.
(Above)This is a diagram of a generic regroup. The left winger (L) gets contested by an opposing player (X) and sends it back to the defense (D) to retain puck possession. The defense pass is to each other and look for an open offenseman (L, C, or R) going up the ice.
Offsides:
Offsides is a rule that prevents a team from entering the attacking zone without the puck. It was created to stop teams from having a player camp inside their opponent’s defensive zone, waiting for a teammate to dump the puck in. Consider a team keeping one skater down in your defensive zone while your team is attacking in their offensive zone. One Hail Mary pass from an opponent across the length of the ice surface and they’ve got a breakaway. That doesn’t seem right, does it; hence, the creation of offsides. Some think the offsides rule is confusing, but the only way it can be confusing is if you don’t properly know what it is. So I’ll give you an easy definition.
If your team has puck possession and you enter the offensive zone before the puck does, you are offsides and play will stop.
As long as you have at least one leg on the neutral zone-side of the offensive blue line (also known as straddling the blue line), and enter after the puck enters the zone, you cannot be offsides. If your team has possession and the puck hasn’t entered the zone, neither have you. If a teammate is skating the puck into the zone and you are ahead of them, turn perpendicular and straddle the blue line. This ensures you keep your speed and momentum going on the attack without being called offsides. An offsides call can kill all offensive momentum your team has, so be sure you know where the puck is, and stay on-sides. This is incredibly important and should be learned as soon as possible for players of all ages and abilities.
The Dump & Chase:
There are many methods on getting offensive pressure and strong puck possession when going into the zone. One such method, normally for teams with a fast forechecking offense, is the dump & chase. The dump & chase is done exactly as its name suggests. The puck carrier skates the puck past the red line, as to avoid an icing call, and fires it deep into the offensive zone, where it is pursued by an attacking winger. Winning puck possession along the boards takes time, so when the winger wins the puck, his teammates have already had the time to position themselves for the ensuing attack, making for some dangerous potential scoring plays. There are really only two rules to follow when considering a dump & chase. First, If your team is on a shift change, and wants to keep possession of the puck, don’t dump it, look for a regroup or buy some time by skating it around the neutral zone. Second, if your line mates aren’t that fast, consider skating the puck into the zone yourself instead. The last thing you want is to give away the puck because the strategy you’re using doesn’t fit your team.
(Above) The Bruins puck carrier is the left winger (at the bottom). They are on-sides, because the center (in the middle) still has one leg trailing on the ice behind him, straddling the blue line.
(Above) The puck (denoted by the long, bright green trail) is sent around the boards to an attacking winger, who fights for possession as the rest of the team takes up their proper offensive positioning.
Trapping:
For defense, the neutral zone should be viewed as the first area for preventing an attack; a pre-defense area, where attacks can be stopped before they enter the defensive zone. One of the best ways to utilize the neutral zone in defensive strategy is to work “the trap”. “The trap” is an extremely effective way of managing passing lanes and minimizing puck possession. In the normal set-up of “the trap”, the center will forecheck the opposing break-out and force the puck carrier towards the boards, while the wingers cover open offensemen, cutting-off the puck carrier’s passing lanes. This forces the puck carrier to do one of two things before he loses possession; either dump the puck into the zone for a dump & chase or send it back to the defense and regroup. Unless you’re facing a team full of Kariya-like quickness, either of these moves will be much easier for the defense to handle.
Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ice_Hockey_Neutral_Zone_Trap.gif to see an animated diagram of how a team correctly implements “the trap”.
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