Defense Psychology

One thing that I’ve had a hard time developing over the short time I’ve been playing is the right mix of aggressiveness and caution as a defenseman.

It all kind of clicked a few weeks ago as I listened to my head coach explain to another player how a defensive pair should work together to hold the offensive blue line. And as I’ve worked as an assistant coach, I’ve been able to see a more aggressive attitude in defensemen is a good thing.

The thing is that, as defensemen, we get into this “prevent” mode. And sometimes we’re so worried about giving something up, that we tend to fade back instead of pushing up to attackers as they enter our zone.

The result is that we just plain end up getting in the way.

There are two essential ingredients to effective defense. One is that some has to challenge the puck carrier and force him to make a decision…before he’s ready to, and before he can execute what he wants. The other is we have to have a partner that’s covering our backs and we have to trust our partner to do exactly that.

Defensive pairs should communicate throughout the entire game. Both on the ice and on the bench. On the ice, they should help direct each other. On the bench, discuss plays as they happen and what you want each other to do in similar situations.

This communication builds and reinforces the ability of a pairing to work together.

Remember that as a pair, everything your partner does, you should be reacting to and reinforcing. If he takes a player to the boards, you might be looking to cover a passing option or to gain possession of a loose puck.

The partner nearest the puck should generally be the aggressive one, looking to force a play, our keep a puck in the zone. The other partner should be looking to reinforce the play, or back the aggressive partner up if he gets beat. During the course of each shift, both partners should move effortlessly between aggressive and support roles as the plays develop.