Swedish women's PP

[himself 0]

The Swedes got their only goal of the gold medal game on a bizarre power play.

Forwards set up behind the net and played catch, trying to draw the Canadian defense back. A quick pass to the point, and Boom! they score.

Has anybody ever seen this before? It worked once, but is it realistic to think this could work consistentely on the PP? Canada was clearly baffled the first time, but the next time they pressured and kept Sweden from getting a good setup.

[Project824 0]

It's a variation of a box +1 PP, but based on puck movement from behind the net. It works alright on a 5 on 4, but is most effective on a 5 on 3. On a 5 on 4 it is too easy to cover and pressure with a tight box PK unless you're really good at feeding the puck through the box. It creates a lot of one timer opportunities from tops of circles in when 5 on 3. Running this PP from behind the net also forces the goalie to move pipe to pipe, while having to look over his shoulder to find the puck. Basic idea is lots of movement, lots of shots. This is much better than running an umbrella on a 5 on 3, which I saw the US women try to do. Unless you have two phenomenal wing shooters, the umbrella doesn't create as many rotation problems for the PK.

[Project_2501 0]

Yeah, that was pretty wild. Confused the hell out of Canada.

[himself 0]

Yeah, that was pretty wild. Confused the hell out of Canada.

Yes, but only the first time!

I'd love to see what would happen in the NHL if somebody tried that.

[Chadd 916]

You have to make good passes to the point. You can't have passes tipped or bouncing past the defenseman.

[yipperzz 28]

Yeah, that was pretty wild. Confused the hell out of Canada.

Yes, but only the first time!

I'd love to see what would happen in the NHL if somebody tried that.

canada figured it out the 2nd time but they still got a good opportunity to score on the 2nd time around..

[hockechamp14 0]

I've heard it called an invert, and a couple other things. It's basically set up behind the net, verses from the blueline. It's very fun to run in games.

[ktang 34]

The way I saw it:

If you can get one or both of the PK Ds to go below the goal line (like the 2nd time the Swedish women ran it), the slot would have to be protected by a PK F, who is usually smaller. Then a PP D could crash the net for a goal-mouth play.

If neither PK D leaves his/her goal post, pass to the point and the PP forwards behind the goal line come out and pin the PK D against the goal posts (like the 1st time the Swedish women ran it, leading to the goal), the 3rd PP forward sets a screen, and the take the point shot. The PK D won't be able to get to the rebound because they are pinned against the goal posts.

[himself 0]

You have to make good passes to the point. You can't have passes tipped or bouncing past the defenseman.

True. It's got its risk factors.

It was fun to watch, at any rate. If nothing else, it got under Canada's skin.

Out here in the WHL, the Everett Silvertips do something similar on their break out. (Similar in terms of being unexpected and unorthodox.) They'll just park behind their own net and wait. And wait. And wait some more. It forces the opposing forward(s) to come in deep, which often opens up a nice outlet pass.

It drives my home town (Portland) crowd nuts, but unless Everett's opponents are willing to commit on the forecheck, they're gonna pull this stunt. As much as I love seeing a team play with desperation and emotion, I love watching patient, disciplined play even more.

[Chadd 916]

I hate to see a team just wait and run the clock instead of breaking out. That's a play that has really working for some inline teams, it just sucks to watch.

[McCabe24 0]

Seems pointless to me unless you can do more than just confuse the defenders and "put them to sleep", while it was happening it looked like they kept throwing it back and forth because there was no movement from the other three players.

I guess it could work if the defence were to pinch in and take a pass but the way it was done by Sweden I see it only working once, even that would require a penalty killer losing their assignment too. Regardless I am sure it would only work once before people caught on.

[PJLime 0]

I saw Rob Blake get a delay of game penalty once when he just waited behind his own net for a long time. He was running off the clock something like 20 seconds at the end of a period. I think he also put his stick upright and put his chin on it. I suppose one shouldn't be that bold about it.

[purple_haze 0]

does anybody have a video of this, i actually wanted to see it, but i had class >.<