Good Ice, Bad Ice

This is some stuff that came from a e-mail exchange between myself and the coordinator of one of the I-League teams I coach.   We were talking about break-outs when the defense has the puck behind the net and isn't being heavily pressured:

One thing to think about, when someone sets up behind the net,
the other players have to think about skating to a position
for a good pass.  A lot of times, folks  tend to stop and wait
for something to happen.

You can make things happen just by skating to the
right places.  Being in the right area, at the right
time often opens up opportunities that you wouldn't
expect at first.
> It's just a matter of finding open ice right?Partially...

The other thing is to understand "good" ice and "bad"
ice.  You can be in open bad ice and, well, it's
just not going to do you any good.

But if you're open in "good" ice...then your odds are
vastly improved.

To understand good/bad ice, let's look at a typical
game situation.

Offensive zone.  Your team has the puck.  Puck
carrier is in the corner.

Most guys try to pass the puck to the area right in
front of the crease.  The thought is that you have a
guy in front of the net, so he's got a good shot,
right?

But the job of the guy crashing the net is not to
take a pass and shoot.  His job is to screen the goalie,
maybe deflect a shot, try to fire in a close
rebound, antagonize the defense and generally create chaos so
as to disrupt the defense and goalie.

There is too much traffic in this area to really
make anything happen with purpose.  Most of the time, the
defense snags that pass and they start breaking out.

But, the high slot, above the hash marks.  That's
prime real estate.

1.  The Defense don't tend go up there becasue then they
are out of position.

2.  In many cases, in this league, no one picks up
that guy.  Even if someone does, circling back and
forth along the tops of the face off circles will
open you up.

3.  The person in the high slot is also positioned
to help out defensively, this may even free up your Defense
to be more aggressive about holding the blue line.

So, the puck carrier looks to the high slot.  A team mate
is wide open, another team mate is being a real
nuisance in front of the net.  A shot into this mess may have
a better chance of finding it's way to the back of the net.

Plus, the player in the high slot can still look to clean up rebounds.

Here's another thing to think about.  At higher
levels, there is less time available to decide what to
do with the puck.

To quicken the decision-making process, more
experienced players will scan certain areas where they
expect people to be.

For example, when I come from behind the net, I look
along the boards starting at the hash marks, looking
for the wingers to be ready for a breakout pass.

So, if someone is skating in, to, or between these
"good" areas of ice, and their stick is on the ice, in
front of them, the more likely you are to be on the
receiving end of a pass that will allow you to advance
the puck with momentum or have a quality scoring
chance.

The key is to be open, and be looking at the puck
carrier so not only can he see you, but with eye
contact, he knows you are ready.

That's why skating horizontally is so important, it
places your stick blade at a good angle to catch the
puck, makes a good target and most importantly, makes
possible the rink-wide eye-to-eye communication.

Sometimes, a quick glance and good eye contact will
say more than a thousand words.