How to play a team thats alot better

[LetsGoWings13 0]

Ok the next 2 games my high school roller hockey team plays are going to be the 2 hardest of the year. Our team is decent but we have 2 or 3 players that just kill the team and the next 2 teams we play are very very good. Is there anything special we could try or something so we could at least keep the game close. One of the two teams lost one game in 2 years of being together and they have a kid from team mission on it and a kid who played the highest level of varsity at one point is there anything we can do to shut those kids down? lol sorry for all the questions im just very worried about these games and i hate loosing so im just looking for some stratagies.

[cause4alarm 6]

forecheck like crazy?

[BC_Boy 0]

Hockey is a team game, so unless the entire team is using the strategy, to shut down the other team, then it's going to be quite useless developing one for yourself alone. Maybe ask your coach if you can try a new breakout, or forecheck in practice better suited to shutting them down, then the less talented teams.

[Nick23 0]

PLaying against a good team you cant let them play their game and just hope you can defend it, you have to take your game to them, they are probably not used to it, catch them by surprise, and hit, get their heads out of the game. Good luck!

[crutesie 0]

PLaying against a good team you cant let them play their game and just hope you can defend it, you have to take your game to them, they are probably not used to it, catch them by surprise, and hit, get their heads  out of the game. Good luck!

they key to a good offence is a good defence

Just Stay in their face. have a two man forecheck down low in their zone all the time pressing the play. and keep a high guy between the two circles up high.

^^thats jus one for your forwards.^^

my line does this every game and it works

NATIONALS HERE WE COME B)

[All Torhs Team 0]

Just Stay in their face. have a two man forecheck down low in their zone all the time pressing the play. and keep a high guy between the two circles up high.

If theyre better then you theyre prob. gona be faster then you therefore that strategy would not work because your backchecking would serve no purpose.

When we play teams better then us we try to get it less crowded.

If its in our zone then we send one of our guys deep and that gets one of theyre guys to chase him. Now its 3-3. Less crowded, easier to play man on man. If your plaing man on man they cant pass and they shouldnt be able to take it in and shoot.

Also you have to execute your rushes and shots. You may get into theyre zone four times all game and youll need to score on those. If they got a good goalie, you can only hope that your goalies hot that game too.

The toughest game Ive ever had to play would be TMD or Tour Breakaway.

And assuming that we're talking about roller here, if your playing at a high level, the refs will let alot more go and youll be able to play body and stuff in the corners. Even if theyve got more skill doesnt mean theyre gona stay of you like 2 opposite magnets.

[technophile 0]

The only way to beat a better team is to outwork them. Get to pucks first, never give up on a play, skate hard every shift, and hope for a few lucky breaks.

Play your position, play the angles, try to make sure everyone has backup so that if you get beat someone else can help out.

[Jim A 4]

its sorta like the NCAA BB tournament, you have to hang around and then be opporunistic in your chances when they come up..you're not going to beat a team that's better with one shift..but you can sure as hell lose a game with one bad one..

one of my teams is a mix of players..from A-D (most of the league was like that til recently when it pretty much became a B league) so we feel your pain..

we have to balance improving our players with winning enough games to make the playoffs (4 of 6) ...

we have installed old school modified Y defense to help hide some of our deficencies while on defense ..

it's pretty much like it spells out...you have 2 D down low, 1 forward more in the slot (on side away from the puck) and one on the point (near puck)

the forwards don't come below the hash marks unless the other team is crashing...D for the most part don't chase behind the goal line...staying out of the areas that are high risk reward..

we use a forward to break out..(often a give ' go with a D) to open up some room as the other F stretches the floor a little..and we regroup in the middle of the floor..(area between the 4 offsides dots) with another pass or 2...

finally when we lose the puck the F's have had drilled into their heads that if they are oppositte the puck..they just turn and bust ass towards back..3-4 good quick steps to get them going..also..we go one deep on the forecheck..and oftentimes can pick that long wide pass and counter..at the least it keeps them coming up the same boards with the puck..which is what we want..

[driz86 0]

play a trap, then just dump and chase with 2 men deep. skate hard too, and clutch and grab. this approach has allowed lower skilled teams in the nhl great success against better opposition for years.

[Chadd 916]

play a trap, then just dump and chase with 2 men deep. skate hard too, and clutch and grab. this approach has allowed lower skilled teams in the nhl great success against better opposition for years.

If you have two men deep, it isn't a trap.

[EndBoards 0]

Keeping the score low is your best chance. If you get into a run & gun shootout with a superior team, you probably won't win.

One of the best things you can do is get your lower level players (which I assume are wings) to learn the value of contributing defensively.

Lots of times teams will stack at least one or two really strong players on their defense. If you can get one or two of your lower level wings to take on the task of shutting these guys down, you'll at least keep the score low and have a fighting chance. Put it to them this way - if they shut down a guy that normally scores 2 goals in a game, that's just as valuable as them scoring 2 goals in the game.

Another thing - lots of times forwards will forcheck pretty well, but they stop skating once the puck works past them. Even if the puck carrier has a step or two on them, if they keep skating hard they take options away (a turn across the slot or stop & pass) and make the defenseman's job much, much easier.

[steve66 45]

Have a tight defensive team plan and stick to it, keep your head on the swivel to pick up open guys and to close passing lanes. win the 50/50 battles.

for your weaker players focus in practice on staying close to their defensive assignment, or at least maintaining separation to avoid the 'pylon' effect..

if your coach can at least pick up on a couple of their favorite plays or induvidual moves, it can always be valuable. Maybe even if you can watch them play just observe their flow and tendancies.

[JSchultz 25]

PLaying against a good team you cant let them play their game and just hope you can defend it, you have to take your game to them, they are probably not used to it, catch them by surprise, and hit, get their heads  out of the game. Good luck!

they key to a good offence is a good defence

Just Stay in their face. have a two man forecheck down low in their zone all the time pressing the play. and keep a high guy between the two circles up high.

^^thats jus one for your forwards.^^

my line does this every game and it works

NATIONALS HERE WE COME B)

I think this strategy can be sucessful. How much worse are you guys than the team you're playing? Up here, it's not about 'skill' level as much as discipline and playing an intelligent game. We played against a team that we thought was infinitely better than us, but learned that once we started gettting very agressive on the forecheck deep in their zone, we took away a lot of options, and forced more individuals to make more plays. This worked well for us, as individually, the team was much easier to handle than as a functioning system.

I can tell you, with inline..if your 2 forwards can forecheck a bit deeper into their zone, they lose A LOT of options. It's frustrating for me as a defenseman to get pressed by 2 men deep in my own zone.

[awall 0]

My new I-League team is always playing better teams so we've learned a lot about losing. When we play defence we find that when we are playing our position we slow them down and really make them work for their points, if we are out of position they get those nice beautiful passes that lead to good scoring chances. One of our biggest problems is we (I) don't always stay on point when we're defensive. Offensively we're not doing that great because we are either not getting shots on goal by either not taking them or we are trying to get that perfect shot lined up and take too long and miss an opportunity.

[gavin 0]

Hey awall, is your nickname derived from your tendancy to wander from your point? lol as a defenceman that likes to carry the puck and scores goals from between the circles, I can relate. Make sure that you cycle. The whole team should be very natural at cycling the puck, so when you leave your point, a winger is already cycling into your position, so no odd-man rushes ever occur.

[driz86 0]

play a trap, then just dump and chase with 2 men deep. skate hard too, and clutch and grab. this approach has allowed lower skilled teams in the nhl great success against better opposition for years.

If you have two men deep, it isn't a trap.

haha your very right.