Tip of the Week: Driving
the Net
Too often when I watch games I see teams struggling to
get any quality opportunities or scoring chances off
their rushes and entries into the offensive zone. This
is usually a result of the lack of a center lane drive.
Instead of the forward in the middle of the ice closest
to the puck carrier driving the middle lane between the
defensemen, they are just sagging behind the puck
carrier waiting for a drop pass wanting to be the
shooter. The usual end result is being stuck on the
perimeter without a quality scoring chance.
By having that forward drive the center lane between the
two defensemen you can create a number of better quality
scoring chances and open up the middle of the ice where
you want to get your shots from. Three possible chances
are as such; 1- a shot off the wing in which a rebound
may be available for the middle forward driving the net;
2- the defenseman doesn’t pick up the middle forward
going to the net and they end up wide open for a pass;
or 3 – by driving the net the it opens up the middle of
the ice for the third forward from the weak side to
delay and come across into the middle of the ice late
for a pass and quality scoring opportunity.
Every player wants to be the forward who gets to shoot
the puck. However, there are times in which they must
simply do the work and not be the shooter. Consistency
in driving the center lane by every player on a line
will create numerous scoring opportunities for each line
mate and increase your teams quality scoring chances.
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