what makes a good one on one player?

[nsa97531 0]

As a poor one on one player i spend alot of time watching the older players on my team and also the pros to see what works. So in your opinion what is the most important asset to this skill? Personally i think it is quickness both in the hands and the feet as long as the d cant get to the puck ur in the clear and also i consider a quick release part of this as well. Lastly what have u done to improve on this any suggestions would be great.

[reaper07 0]

see how the d is positioned and go where hes not

if he a weak skater put it around him

other than that make him go one way and move the other

[Cavs019 702]

speed/hands/intelligence

[bobbyorio 0]

D guys hate playing against guys that change their skating speed a lot with the puck and that keep the puck moving. 90% of guys I've played agianst reckon they can just hit a high top speed and skate right by. For any reasonable D these guys are easy to play just dont lose position on them and the pokecheck is your best friend!

Rebel 96 on this forum can be a pain in the ass to defend against but at least its a challenge.

Shouldnt say this but sometimes when you do lose position if you can get away with some sly stick work on the guy its enough to put them off getting a good shot on net. When it happens quickly nothing funnier than when the guy comlains to the ref amd you know the ref probably saw nothing!

[beaucoup_fish 0]

All of the above. Strength on the puck and balance is important, too.

[Deathmoves 0]

I would think, Hands, Speed and Body Positioning. Also you have to have good balance.

[biff44 0]

Watching the world juniors, and the top Dmen on the US team that would get smoked every once in a while, I would say the following was succesful.

If the forward had good lateral acceleration, he was able to slide the puck by on one side, and skate around the D to the other side. Even at this level, the Dmen seamed to be mesmerized by the puck, and did not consistently take the body. You need to have very strong legs to go laterally and then accelerate by the Dman, so squats and lunges are your friend. Interestingly, you do not need to be a good stickhandler to pull this one off. You just shove it off the boards and blow by. It helped if you pretended to be a little intimidated to really draw the Dman closer to the boards, trying to get at the puck before you launched it off the boards.

Shooting from farther out. These forwards would come in very fast over the blue line, make some little move, and take a quick/hard shot before the D could react. Surprisingly, the puck went in a lot, even though the goalie had plenty of time to see and stop the puck! I guess it is mental, the goalie does not expect you to take a shot from so far out so he is not ready.

Be ready for the rebound. A lot of the D seemed to relax after the first shot on net. The sharper forward was there with the stick or body to jam the rebound in. The Dman was staring, with a stupid look, right next to the post watching the puck trickle in.

Anytime the goalie has the puck behind the net, expect a screw up. The goalie typically is anxious to get rid of the puck, the Dman is standing there not knowing what to do, and in the confusion the goalie often sent the puck up to the midboards where a fast forward could get to it and shoot at the open net. This might be mroe of a 2 on one move, where the first forward scares the goalie into shooting and the 2nd forward is moving quickly to intercept the pass.

[Neo5370 132]

I'd say being able to do everything w/ your head up, and the quickness of mind to assess how the D is reacting and then taking advantage of whatever ground he's giving you.

And cat reflexes to respond to any kind of quick poke, body checks/bumps.

After that, the speed/strength/agility to accomplish all of the above.

[bobbyorio 0]

I'd say being able to do everything w/ your head up, and the quickness of mind to assess how the D is reacting and then taking advantage of whatever ground he's giving you.

And cat reflexes to respond to any kind of quick poke, body checks/bumps.

After that, the speed/strength/agility to accomplish all of the above.

I have to agree with that.

For any forwards with decent acceleration if their agility is also very good it gives them a great chance of embarrassing the D man.

[Borsch 0]

As a poor one on one player i spend alot of time watching the older players on my team and also the pros to see what works. So in your opinion what is the most important asset to this skill? Personally i think it is quickness both in the hands and the feet as long as the d cant get to the puck ur in the clear and also i consider a quick release part of this as well. Lastly what have u done to improve on this any suggestions would be great.

Watch Kovalev! ;) It really is as simple as that.

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

lol, nice comment borsch...

[driz86 0]

like bobby said, if you have the ability to change speed that alone can throw alot of d-men off. kind of like a studder step in basketball, you let off a bit then change into 3rd gear and fly by them. a 3rd gear in hockey is a valuable weapon for a forward

[Adam91 0]

I think its all about quickness and agility and being able to "move sideways". You also need good balance and decent hands. To have a few dangles in your back pocket doesn't hurt either.

[Neo5370 132]

I think the presence of mind to know how to react then the mental reflexes to execute should come way before physical/technical stuff.

Practicing moves and skills are great but the excellent one on one players can just sense or at least react so quickly to a defensive bid it seems like they are untouchable.

You can learn a lot of tricks and become great at dangling but if you don't when and how to use them outside of a non pressure situation it's useless.

Unfortunately I don't know how to tell you to improve that trait because I don't have it haha.

One way I guess I could describe it is I had a friend I used to play hockey with and he had awesome hands but he couldn't do anything fantastic that I couldn't do. What made him totally untouchable was he just reacted so much quicker and was always aware of what the D man was trying to do. It was as if him and the defense were magnets with the same charge. D would push in on him and he would pull back w/o being touched. D would back up and he would move in.

Sorry, might be tough to visualize. Hope it sort of helps.

[beaucoup_fish 0]

I forgot creativity. It might help. Not just quickness in the hands and feet, but quickness of the mind - being able to think the game at high speed is definitely an asset. If you don't need to think about your moves and they're just reactionary, then you'll already have beaten the defenceman that's thinking about poke checking you while you're busy scoring.

Basically, if your moves are driven by instinct rather than by thought, you're a step ahead.

[Bruin88 0]

i just put one hand on my stick ,give him a shove ,skate like hell ,maybe do a delay. it all depends on the siuation

[teamriot38 0]

I look at it like basketball the best time to attack is in the recovery phase. If a d-man makes a poke check attempt, make a counter move when he's trying to compose himself again. Usually you can catch d-man flat footed or just off balance during this moment. I like to do alot of stickhandling to make the d-man hesitate and set him up as a moving screen to the goalie. Or you could always do the lost art of hockey....pass.

[#28tz 0]

Its just about being able to control your speed so you can keep the puck in a good position and not loose it.

The best thing to do is to skate right towards him and at the last moment put the puck under his stick on your backhand. ;)

[sniper94 0]

I've always been a speedster and if I can I usually do one of three things

1-Put an arm down and speed around him.

2-If you can stop and then accelerate latterly fast you can usually beat the d. I think in this case I have the advantage. I am already facing the net the d-man has to turn around ,usually if I'm far enough out that 1/2 a step it takes him to turn is all I need. And I know what I am going to do the D-man has to guess when I shop.

3-A head fake works great on todays d-men who are trained to watch your chest. After a head fake they usually take a look to see where the puck is if you can get them to commit to it here bang:)

Sniper94

[#94 3]

Puck protection, quick feet, balance, strength, creativity/vision, and recognition.

[Chadd 916]

Confidence, the ability to recognize what the defenseman is giving you and the talent to take advantage of it.

[#94 3]

Confidence, the ability to recognize what the defenseman is giving you and the talent to take advantage of it.

Ah, I forgot confidence. Chadd's a sniper...

[Borsch 0]

OK, I'll add some more:

CONTROLLED RELAXATION - the term is pretty much self explanatory, but if it is not... it isn't very easy to explain. It actually applies to skating/stickhandling in general, but is especially crucial in the one-on-one situations. Player needs to FLOW into (eg) a head/shoulder fake and back. Jerky movements are far less likely to "sell" your fake to the defender... Like I say, watch Kovy :) By developing better CR you would also loose less speed/momentum in the turns (watch Kovy again -he is pure textbook on this, really is)

However, most players do not pay attnetion to this detail and are still (sometiemes)successful...However, If you want to be dangerous one-on-one consistantly then, in my opinion, CR is extremly important.

[echi24 1]

you have to read the situation as previously stated, if the defenseman is standing up right, drop the inside shoulder and go around him, if you see him on his toes leaning forwards to make a check or poke, a quick stickhandle and try to go around. if the defenceman is playing you well, cutting across the middle and firing a wristshot using the Dman as a screen isnt a bad option, or make a gretzky curl to the boards and draw him to the side and try to find a teammate following the play

[Mock 0]

Quick feet is the key to a one one battle. I scored a hat-trick in my Bantm AAA game last night, and 2 of my goals were truning on the jets and burned by the d-men. You have to be able to go from slow to fast and quick in to time at all.

Mock