For the Defensemen.....

[kovalchuk71 212]

How do you guys go about defending someonewho is a fast stickhandler? I mean itslike the stickhandle and are able to go around you, know what I mean? What do I do to help this

[All Torhs Team 0]

Stick handling means nothing if you can play him right. Of course you cant flat out hit him cause one move and hes gone. but Focus on his chest where he moves you move. Also leave a big enough gap for speed. One thing guys will try to do in order to get around you is stick handle stick handle then a burst of speed while your looking at the puck.

I dont know if anybody here knows of Dan Castanza. Hes a big hockey player in Illinios and he does alot of camps for kids. One of his tricks that he taught us was to put your stick in between their legs and your hand out front in the way of his chest. That way your stick can push him the way you want him to go. ( you know like behind the knees and not letting him crossover ) if he trips, any good ref should know that you did not trip him he tried to crossover and tripped over your stick.

Thats how alot of guys play it around here.

[Chadd 916]

You out your stick between his feet and a lot of refs are going to send you to the box if he's smart enough to keep moving his feet. I always try to keep pretty close body position and if I have to give anything it's the outside.

[All Torhs Team 0]

It may look like a trip but it really isnt if you dont trip him. All my strategy really does is not let him crossover which is the only way of getting around. keeping a close distacne is all about the other guys speed. And usually you can tell his speed when theyre breaking it out.

[Langenbrunner15 0]

If your not sure if you can bring him down, putting your stick inbetween his legs is the only time to do it. Put it between and just try to hit him, if you do it right, hes going down no matter what.

[Finlay82uk 0]

we have a young lad who skates with us, he is pretty fast with both his feet+ his stick, pretty much most the time all anyone has to do is step into him+try and stop the stick with yours, then even if he can step past you hopefully youve disloged the puck enough for him to struggle

[All Torhs Team 0]

o yeah, back checkers always helps too. <_<

[Finlay82uk 0]

o yeah, back checkers always helps too. <_<

yup, you just need to try+ slow the player up a bit so the backcheckers can help a bit+ earn there keep

[Quintin 16]

Pokechecks and tangling him up work well too.

[lee92 2]

one on one's are simple if you are a good skater and have quick feet. just stay in front of him, don't poke your stick at him like a mad man, because he'll just dodge it and you're screwed. just stay in front of him, and watch his chest. pucks going no wheres if he's going nowheres.

[tburk32 0]

if you have him coming down along the boards (lets say the boards to your left), what you need to do is line your left shoulder up with the middle of his chest. Then you have to keep your eye on his chest like said before, and this will keep the faster skaters from cutting to the middle. Once you keep him to the oustide he can't really get a good shot off if the gap is close. Also if you do this and he is beating you along the boards, just go straight to the near post as fast as you can, you will cut him off at some point. (this can also lead to a huge hit lol)

With the stick between the legs thing that was said before, you do this when you are chest to chest, and as soon as your sticks in the position put your hand on his chest and push him or throw a hit. This stick isnt there to trip him, it is there to keep him where he is (or stop the crossovers like stated before). Its just making it easy for a hit or a clean take down. If you push him or hit him the ref wont call you for a trip.

[Edge 0]

The LAST thing you want to do is lunge forward for a poke check.

His stickhandling means nothing if you play him correctly. Keep your stick on the inside so he is forced to take the puck to the outside(if he decides to cut in, that's an easy hit)When you're playin D, keep your outside shoulder to his inside shoulder is the general 'rule' of it, and make sure to keep your gap tight; that is what they want is room, if you dont give it to them, they have nowhere to work their magic. Now you can still easily "sweep" the puck away simliar to a poke check if he has the puck out in front of him going down the boards then close him off.

Sure sounds easy doesn't it? ;)

And of course, don't look at the puck!

[hocckey77 0]

Don't use crossovers because , i guess, good forwards see you do one and then go the way you're not.

[biff44 0]

Yeah, don't do crossovers, since a good forward will go the other way and have a 2 step advantage.

I think the key is all mental. You want him to come down along the boards where you can either pinch him off or he has a tough angle shot. So stay more to the middle of the ice and "invite" him to go around you between you and the boards. When he is commited, then pinch down on him.

[asdfa 0]

practice moving laterally on the ice and if he's really slick/fast, stay well on the inside and just play him into the corner, you don't have to stop him or hte puck, just neutralize him. your backcheckers should be covering guys going to the net etc, so if you get your man into the corner/behind the net, he can't really do much

[CardinalHcky19 0]

just dont watch the puck and watch his chest and keep your feet moving

[echi24 1]

alot of things mentioned are helpful, but keep yourself low and balanced on the balls of your feet. a pokecheck or anything puts your momentum in the wrong direction. if the player is skilled enough, your best call is to stay with him, and try to give him the outside lane. dont over commit or go for a big hit, force him to the outside, if he tries to go around the net you can go to pin him, if he makes a stop at the outside hashmarks, he loses all his speed. just stay balanced and ready for contact, some players anticipate contact and initiate it even on a 1v1 to catch you off balance.

[chippa13 1844]

Stick handling means nothing if you can play him right. Of course you cant flat out hit him cause one move and hes gone. but Focus on his chest where he moves you move. Also leave a big enough gap for speed. One thing guys will try to do in order to get around you is stick handle stick handle then a burst of speed while your looking at the puck.

I dont know if anybody here knows of Dan Castanza. Hes a big hockey player in Illinios and he does alot of camps for kids. One of his tricks that he taught us was to put your stick in between their legs and your hand out front in the way of his chest. That way your stick can push him the way you want him to go. ( you know like behind the knees and not letting him crossover ) if he trips, any good ref should know that you did not trip him he tried to crossover and tripped over your stick.

Thats how alot of guys play it around here.

That is known as the famous can-opener that Bryan McCabe used to live by until refs got wise and starting calling it. It's a dirty play because you can toss a guy on his back and he has no way to protect himself since your stick is pulling his knee forward at the same time.

If the guy goes down after you put his stick between his feet that is tripping, even if it is because he tries to skate out of it. A smart winger will keep moving his feet and make you take the penalty. It is no different that if you pin a guy on the boards. If he stops moving his feet, you don't get the call, if he tries to skate out of it then its usually two for interference or holding.

Your best bet with fast movers is to angle them to the outside and force them to take the long way to the net. This gives you a chance to recover and force him to the corner.

[Cannon12 0]

Force him to the outside. My coach always said the puck can make it past, or the man, not both. If you try to play the puck with a slick stick handler 9 time out of 10 he will make you look silly.

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

Stick handling means nothing if you can play him right. Of course you cant flat out hit him cause one move and hes gone. but Focus on his chest where he moves you move. Also leave a big enough gap for speed. One thing guys will try to do in order to get around you is stick handle stick handle then a burst of speed while your looking at the puck.

I dont know if anybody here knows of Dan Castanza. Hes a big hockey player in Illinios and he does alot of camps for kids. One of his tricks that he taught us was to put your stick in between their legs and your hand out front in the way of his chest. That way your stick can push him the way you want him to go. ( you know like behind the knees and not letting him crossover ) if he trips, any good ref should know that you did not trip him he tried to crossover and tripped over your stick.

Thats how alot of guys play it around here.

If you give him a big gap, a good player will fake and then shoot or there are more options cut in the middle and then back where you were, the d won't be there any more(aka kovalev on chara). I like when defenseman give a big gap.

[Cheechoo 0]

just dont watch the puck and watch his chest and keep your feet moving

I agree! I actually usually do better gainst more skilled forwards than less skilled ones. When I'm up against the danglers, I just know I have to pretty much forget about the puck and focus on containing the player. But when someone less skilled comes along, I often feel too confident that I can get the puck off him and I lunge forward for the poke check. Sometimes it works, often it doesn't. So I've been working on completely ignoring the skill levels of players and just playing with sound fundamentals, i.e. stop the player first.

[Cheesehead 0]

line up your outside hand/ arm with his inside shoulder. this is a great way to protect the center fo the ice becuase if they try to go to the center, they have no where to go. if they go to the outside, u can still cover them. try to push them outside the hashmarks.