Tips on Deking the D

[hockeymom 2]

My daughter wants to learn how to deke better; both at the blue line but also in closer to the net. Specifically, she looking for a different way to handle it so she doesn't end up pushed wide and too deep to get a good shot off.

Example of Problem

Would appreciate any tips and advise on deking in general as well as this specific problem...

thanks very much everyone!

[Edge 0]

nice rush up the ice there for her!

Instead of taking that wide shot, she can learn to use her body to cut in back to the center/slot for a better shot. She easily got the step on the defense. It is also probably a better idea to start off going wide rather than going straight in on the defense. As a defenseman, it is much easier for me to stop a player coming directly towards me instead of making me move side to side.

[hockey3 0]

I know its not a deke but when she has that much speed one on one with a D man she could fake to the inside go to the outside like she does, and when she is about past the dman drive to the crease, and go to her backhand, or if coming from the other side go to the foorhand. I scored a goal last night doing this.

[Fury of One 6]

The best move in that situation is pulling it to the forehand by taking the bottom hand off the stick and then using that hand to block off the defender and drive the net.

[Maka 0]

She should definitely start driving wide. Even if she isn't able to get a shot of, by going wide she'll be able to draw the D with her and most likely open up a passing lane to one of her trailing teammates (assuming they're pursuing like they should)

[Perry94 0]

I play non-checking, so I don't know if this will really help, but I figure I'll give my 2 cents anyways. As others before me have said, she should start by going wide, and then cutting in. This way, you give yourself more options. Why? Because if you drive wide before you "meet" the defenseman, you force him/her to move laterally. That way, a well timed quick side-to-side move followed by a hard sweep to the side is usually more than sufficient to gain enough time to get a shot off. If she's feeling more ambitious, throw in a toe drag and either follow through or snap it between/beside the defence's legs. A lot of the actual deking is confidence as well. I'm labelled by my friends as more of an Afinogenov style player (I add this because I try dumb stuff all the time), and from what I saw in that video, there was enough space for her to cut back to her right. I guess she just has to just go for it. You don't make it every time, but every time you don't you learn how to do it better the next time I guess. Of course, she can always just power in front of the net...

Now getting away from the video. When I need to get past defensemen I go in heads up (yes, even in non-checking) because you need to see where you can go after you get past the defense. Key thing for me is spontaneity: if I think about what I will do to the defense as I skate in, rarely do I manage to get off a shot. You can force the defense to be uncomfortable, but in the end you have to work with what they give you.

[hockey3 0]

Another thing i noticed from that video is if she does end up in a situation like she is at the end, rather than take a bad angle shot where the goalie is in position, she should continue on with the puck around the back of the net, and try and set something up, or she might end up with space to walk out.

[LkptTiger 1]

Your daughter obviously saw that the defense'man' was committing to the sweep-check - she threw the puck a bit farther outside and waited until it was "safe" to drive past her.

The problem is the fact that she drove to the same side to which the D was committing. Had she pulled a sweet little toe-drag, or had she drawn the puck across to her backhand between the D's skates and sweeping stick, then exploded to her right, she would have been in all-alone.

How old is she? I think as she gets older/faster/better with the puck, you'll see her begin to use her imagination a little more and start to throw more "moves" in 1-1, 2-1 and 1-2 situations...at the same time, as she gets older, you're going to find that defense'men' aren't going to commit and swing their sticks like that.

Next time she gets pushed-wide like that, tell her to try to draw contact and drive back to the middle. If she's lucky, she'll get the angle on the defense'man' and be able to get to the net - or she very well might draw a hooking, holding or tripping penalty.

[DangleSpud 0]

I just watched it several times and noticed several things. As a few people said, she could start by going i little wide at first to give her a little room to make a move to the middle. But as I watched it a few more times, and from experience, she should keep it some what simple. I noticed she is left handed and as she drove, and the defenseman swept, she was already on her forehand. If you pause it you will notice that as she takes the first step to her left, the goalie was still coming over. I would suggest her to take the shot at that moment. With a good developed shot, she should could have easily sniped the goalie, near or far side. Moves are fun for show and all, but they will never make up for quick feet and a quick shot release. If she drove with just a little more speed, the deffense was already flat footed, and she could have went right around them just as she did the first.

By the way, she looks to be a good skater and the hands are there.

[DangleSpud 0]

Oh yeah, as far as moves go, I would have jestured forehand, tucked it under the swinging defenders stick, kept driving hard with the puck on the backhand until I exploited that flat-footed defender, then tried to make the quick move and shot on the goalie. But as I mentioned before hand, I thought she made the safest play, and could have scored with a quick shot. If she kept the shot low short side, she might have also tucked in a nice rebound.

[Chadd 916]

Your daughter obviously saw that the defense'man' was committing to the sweep-check - she threw the puck a bit farther outside and waited until it was "safe" to drive past her.

The problem is the fact that she drove to the same side to which the D was committing. Had she pulled a sweet little toe-drag, or had she drawn the puck across to her backhand between the D's skates and sweeping stick, then exploded to her right, she would have been in all-alone.

How old is she? I think as she gets older/faster/better with the puck, you'll see her begin to use her imagination a little more and start to throw more "moves" in 1-1, 2-1 and 1-2 situations...at the same time, as she gets older, you're going to find that defense'men' aren't going to commit and swing their sticks like that.

Next time she gets pushed-wide like that, tell her to try to draw contact and drive back to the middle. If she's lucky, she'll get the angle on the defense'man' and be able to get to the net - or she very well might draw a hooking, holding or tripping penalty.

Confidence is the number one thing she needs. You have to practice making moves before you feel comfortable using them in a game. In the video it looks like a very slow and awkward sweep check on the part of the defenseman. It was the perfect oppoprtunity to push the puck between the stick and skates of the defenseman and drive to the net on the backhand. Especially when you consider that the defenseman already had her weight going to her right with the sweep check.

Changing speeds and changing direction quickly are crucial to being able to make other players look foolish. Just for the record, I would have shot through the defenseman or dropped a shoulder and forced my way to the net, I'm not a dangler.

[kosydar 0]

First off, I think she should have passed to #19 as soon as the clip started, unless of course #19 sucks. But seeing as she didn't, I'm with Chadd and I would have shot. The defenseman played so far back that deking doesn't seem right here. Then again I don't have hands, so I look for any reason to shoot.

[LkptTiger 1]

First off, I think she should have passed to #19 as soon as the clip started, unless of course #19 sucks.

I was thinking the same thing.

Chadd is right, though - changing speeds is big. If she ever happens to find herself with enough time and space, as she had more than enough of in the clip, it would be a good idea for her to vary her pace a little - this will keep a defense'man' from finding "gapping-up" as "They" call it. If the D makes the mistake of moving-in while she's slowing-down, she can easilly turn-on the jets and blow-by without having to make-use of any remarkably fancy stickwork...

...again, referring back to what many others said, this is usually most effective when you attack a defenseman from an angle.

Confidence/comfort is something that is fairly easilly dealt with - just have her work on her stickhandling. On the ice, during practice, she should try fooling-around with a puck at every opportunity - while in-line for drills or during any "free-time" they might be allowed. Off the ice, she can work on her dangles by just stickhandling a golf-ball, a bouncy-ball (my personal favorite - or "favourite" for you Canucks) and/or something like a SmartHockey ball.

[hockeymom 2]

Thanks for your suggestions so far guys (and for the "u" LkptTiger). I'll have her read this after school/practice tonight and post any questions she may have. Knowing my kid, she'll have already read this in school....Diane pay attention in class, don't be lurking on MSH!!! Busted.

Her first thought looking at the video was "this is kind of embarrassing - I should have passed it up" (#19 doesn't suck). Maybe it was a "brain-fart", maybe it was because she'd pushed the puck getting around the first D and once she had it again, thought she was in a better position to just keep going rather than passing it to a slower moving winger at that point. Ahh, she was probably in "rush-mode" LOL.

However, she rarely has problems getting past the first Defenseman, and often is finding herself pushed too deep/wide at the net... so maybe, as people have suggested, she needs to change up how she is getting past the first one so she is in a better/different position to tackle the second defenseman.

Girl's hockey is non-checking (but not non-contact). She was wondering if she had enough time/room to cut hard in front of the net or if she should be continuing on behind the net - and you guys have given some good suggestions for both that she can work on in practice.

Any other suggestions for this type of situation?

Or, moving beyond the video clip, what are your "favourite/favorite" deking moves?

[hockeyherb 1]

As others have suggested, my favorite move is moving out one direction and then slipping the puck back under the defenceman's stick as you quickly cut back across the ice. It works very well with a head of steam and non-checking league because the D man won't be able to keep up usually if he has to spin around after biting on the fake and can't take the body.

Another option, which would take lots of practice, was a move that Gilbert Perreault used to master. As you're skating side by side with a defender (with them on the inside part of the ice) you basically slip the puck inside of them and then sort of jump behind them to grab the inside part of the ice. He could do this without losing any speed. There are probably some current NHLers that do it too but he was the best I saw.

I've tried to find some video on it but can't track any down, maybe some other members know of some.

[Vic 0]

How about rushing up ice to the hash marks, or a bit past that, then hitting the breaks hard. After that make a quick pass or push back a step or two. Perfect shot.

[hapamatt122 0]

The D looked real hesitant, almost basically anticipating for her to cut back to the right.. in my opinion as a Dman, sometimes you just square up to the Fwd coming at u and just have to wait and see what they do keeping your weight ready to shift to either side the Fwd will cut to. as she didn't really cut but was committing to the left I think the D was waiting for her to cut back and when she didn't thats when the awkward looking (almost off balance) stick check came out. I'm thinking, if she faked to the right, the D would have bit on that for sure and then she could continue to the left as the D side steps it out of the way.. especially with a burst of speed to boost just in case the D doesn't bite on your deke.

[DangleSpud 0]

I have to say all this is sound advise, but being from a roller background by majority, and being a "dangler" of sorts, i really stick with my first thought of developing speed and a quick shot. I used to be "captain toe drag" kinda funny that almost all my rec league defenseman knew it was coming, but still couldn't help but bite. I give the success credit to the fact that I had a quick step and the shot release was very fast. If they didn't step up, the goalie was in for a tough save. Amen to the screen of the defenseman. The more I played competive hockey, the more I moved away from the moves and more to the smart play. A bad move on a jail break can lead to an odd man rush the other way.

[BK 0]

I am a little late on this one, but speed is key.

Anybody who is faster than I can skate backwards has me beat. The only thing I can do is drop my shoulder and try and break him up that way. I find that those players are the ones who get the most shots on goal.

Tip 1: What worked for me when I was playing wing is to vary my speeds. I would skate 80% going into the zone and once I got within reach of the d, I would really stride hard. Even if I couldn't break through the d, sometimes I would pull their center and open my other winger in the crease.

Tip 2: Remember to have her keep her body between the d and the puck. Deking doesn't help if the puck is in stick range of the d. A good sweeping pokecheck will almost always break up your play. Have her try putting the puck deep away from her (with her body between the d and the puck), skating as hard as she can and pull it back in when she has the d beat or when she is in range for a good shot. (see picture below).

Hope that helps out.

[DP_57 1]

Tip 1: What worked for me when I was playing wing is to vary my speeds. I would skate 80% going into the zone and once I got within reach of the d, I would really stride hard. Even if I couldn't break through the d, sometimes I would pull their center and open my other winger in the crease.

this tip is not bad if you have time, but you gotta be careful and look if the backchecker is not coming on you or you can get caught if you slows down to much.

[chippa13 1844]

The right thing to do on that play would have been to drop it to the girl behind her for a better angle shot. The way the defenseman was backing in, your daughter didn't have the room to try a move and still be one on one with the goalie. The girl behind her could have one timed a drop pass which would have been a better opportunity.

[sabre09923 0]

There are pretty much 3 good options there:

1) Deke the defenseman by sliding it under the sweep check since she (the defenseman) was already commited and she could've been 1 on 1 with the goalie (I guess it's 1 on 0).

2) Keep skating around the D-Man and drive to the net, trying to get a good backhand off.

3) Pass it to #19 and drive to the net, at the very least setting a screen, or getting open for the back-door pass.

[Storm 0]

I know its not a deke but when she has that much speed one on one with a D man she could fake to the inside go to the outside like she does, and when she is about past the dman drive to the crease, and go to her backhand, or if coming from the other side go to the foorhand. I scored a goal last night doing this.

I agree.

1st ...dribble

then...fake by moving puck to inside and making a shoulder dip.

then...take puck wide outside.

and...drive around opponent.

Called Front Fake.

She should get in the habit of taking a quick look up right after she gets in possession of the puck.

The correct play would have been to pass it to #19 on the break out and not having used that option she should have passed back to # 19 on a trailer once inside the offensive zone.

It's not a question of whether she can go all the way it's a question of team chemistry. Which is in my opinion the most important factor in determining a teams success. I include fun as part of success.

Don't mean to be critical. A coach scouting her will observe whether she elects to make the best play and not necessarily the most (edit: spelling) exciting one.

I know you just asked for a deke but since were all playing Coach's Corner....

[Hockeyman9621 0]

She did a lot of unnecessary stick handling going through the neutral zone. You can pick up more speed when you push the puck in open ice. Watch Paul Kariya, Marian Hossa or any other fast player, when they have open ice they just fly, then when they start to get close to the D they make their move.

[SB39 2]

In that particular situation, I might suggest partially curling off and looking for more options, or shooting through the D's legs (always a great option). In general, I am of the school that your skating and shooting threats amplify your deking potential: when the D has to try to account for all 3 single possibilities (immediate shot, deke, and beating them by skating prowess {speed and/or agility}), it makes whichever you choose have a greater chance of success.

Another thing that took me a while to even start to really grasp: don't plan on anything. If I see the D backing off, I'll curl to the middle for a shot or take what he gives me. If he closes on me, I look pass or to get around him however I can. Try thinking of it as a smoother and calmer state of mind, not to get too zen about it for anyone.