Playing Centre

[danielb 0]

Afternoon,

I started playing ice hockey about three months ago since moving to Canada from Scotland and never having been exposed to ice hockey. I have been enjoying myself allot, recently I've been trying to work out which position suits me best and I'm currently leaning towards centre as:

• I like to attack but I also like to defend.
  
• I like to be really energetic when on the ice.
  
• I like passing as well as shooting.
  
• I find have to try and stick to just one side of the rink a bit restrictive.
  
• I like to use my backhand as much as my normal side of my stick.
  
• I'm not just out to score goals...
  

Mostly I'm unsure about:

• Face-Offs: How do I play them and win?
  
• Responsibilities of a Centre: What is expected of a centre?
  
• Being a good centre: what is the mark of a good centre?
  

Can anyone give me any advice on playing centre as a hockey newbie?

Cheers!

[trevor13478 1]

on a faceoff, you want to keep your hands low on the stick, you will be able to sweep quicker this way. you need to know the situation, and know you're teammates. A faceoff is very much a mental game, you need to play to the situation. There are lots of different strategies. If you cannot beat the opposing center, you may want to just try tying him up and maybe use your skates to kick the puck to a teammate.

As a center, your responsibilities extend to both ends of the ice. you want to play your forward game as well as hustling back on defense. your job in the defensive end is to pick up a man in front of the net and get him out of there. as soon as your d-man gets the puck, you need hustle up for a breakout. basically a center is like a midfielder in lacrosse or soccer: you have to do it all.

[hockeyherb 1]

If you're just learning you should ask to try out all positions for at least a couple of games each. As a forward it's really beneficial to understand what the defence go through and vice versa.

I find that forwards that take a stint at defence often have a greater understanding of what it's like trying to make a clearing pass when all 3 of your forwards are all breaking out to the center ice area and you're left alone.

[chk hrd 164]

with only three months in the game you shouldn't try to imit yourself to one spot. To really learn the game you should try to play each position (even goalie). You will learn the game from everyone's perspective and also respect what each player does.

Who knows, center may not be your spot. You might be a better wing or d-man

[N!! 0]

For me, the biggest thing to get accustomed to was taking faceoffs and winning them. What made it a real pain was having an official who wanted everything to be absolutely clean with no contact of any kind except puck on stick...one guy actually dropped the puck six times before a "good" one was done.

The breakthrough came when I was able to look at the opposing center's body language and read exactly what he was going to do. Almost no center practices faceoffs (which is lunacy, considering possession is at stake) so they tend to lapse into habits and patterns. Most have no idea how to do situational faceoffs so they go with what works...which is easily negated by an astute center.

[LkptTiger 1]

Faceoffs are all about knowing what you're going to do, how you're going to do it and committing to it. If you second guess yourself or try to make an adjustment as the puck is being dropped, you're gonna get burned every time. As you go in to position yourself, take a look around and make sure you know where everyone is and try to take your best guess as to what the other center is going to try to do.

As much as you worry about the other center, you have to worry about the ref, too. Believe it or not, there are a lot of ways to drop the puck, and refs have small, subtle variances to each one. Watch the drops early-on in the game and make sure you identify which zebra is dropping the puck before you line-up.

As far as positioning is concerned - I always try to put myself in a position where I feel I am most dangerous/disruptive. The great thing about being a center is the fact that you have the freedom (most of the time) to use your imagination and, more importantly, instincts. A great way to get to better understand the position is to watch those who play it well - go to some good games (Major Junior, NCAA, AHL, NHL) and make a point to follow different centers with your eyes - noting similarities and differences in their positioning/coverage in different situations. That (along with personal trial-and-error), is the best way to learn what is and is not expected of you, where ever the puck is, while you're on the ice.

[mack 44]

This all reminds me of why I loved being put at wing.

[thejackal 46]

theres a great vid on cbc's think hockey about faceoffs, check it out. basically the most important thing they mentioned was to keep the "arc" of your swing short on the draw, and to not completely face the other centerman (rotate a bit in the direction you want to win the draw to)

[davis 0]

I concur with the idea of playing some other positions before sticking to center. Defense would be a good place to start because as they say "the best offense is a good defense" (or something like that :D)

Get a feel for the defenseman's role and how they effect the forward's play before completely concentrating on playing just the offense.

I played defense my entire life until this year. The new team I joined suggested I move forward, so I tried it and it's been working out pretty nicely. But I know that if I didn't completely understand what the defense were attempting to do in each situation, and the proper play to make out of our zone, then there's no way I could know where to be while playing center/wing. This is especially true when playing in the offensive zone when it comes to cycling the puck and the point man dumping it into the corner from the point. I believe that if you don't already know how to appropriately play each situation, then you'll lose posession much easier.

When it comes to being a good centre you kinda have to be everywhere in a sense, and normally not afraid of gettin in front of the net seeing as the wingers will most likely be moving the puck in from the boards, and you may be required to get a little scrappy. Get used to being slashed/hacked, work on setting up a screen for the goalie. Tipping shots is another big thing if you're gonna be in front of the net. Practice that whenever you can, both lateral as well as tipping them high.

I'm stil working on the face-off thing myself, so I don't really have any tips there, haha.

[Hockeydog 8]

I find that forwards that take a stint at defence often have a greater understanding of what it's like trying to make a clearing pass when all 3 of your forwards are all breaking out to the center ice area and you're left alone.

I love that too, especially when they are not even looking back !

I totally agree that you should play all 3 spots - even if your goal ( so to speak) is to play centre. Right now I am playing with a group of players that are fairly new to organized hockey. They chase the puck a lot because they don't know who is supposed to be where, or what area each player is responsible for in their own zone. They don't know so they don't trust that the other player will cover his/her zone.

[Jarick 5]

Couple that "everyone chasing the puck" with the defense pinching at the blue line and getting beat EVERY TIME and that's my team. It's about as frustrating as it gets.

I say go for it. The only things holding me back from being a center are that I've never done faceoffs and I don't have the stamina to go end to end over and over again.

[hockeyherb 1]

The only things holding me back from being a center are that I've never done faceoffs and I don't have the stamina to go end to end over and over again.

I second that - you really should be a good skater and have the stamina like Jarick says. You have the most responsibility end to end so be prepared to skate a hell of a lot.

[Chadd 916]

The only things holding me back from being a center are that I've never done faceoffs and I don't have the stamina to go end to end over and over again.

I second that - you really should be a good skater and have the stamina like Jarick says. You have the most responsibility end to end so be prepared to skate a hell of a lot.

A faceoff is the only time it should matter what position you are playing. The first forward back should take the low slot with the other two covering the points. It's unrealistic to expect the center to skate end to end in every situation.

[Hazard14 0]

[srv2miker 0]

The only things holding me back from being a center are that I've never done faceoffs and I don't have the stamina to go end to end over and over again.

I second that - you really should be a good skater and have the stamina like Jarick says. You have the most responsibility end to end so be prepared to skate a hell of a lot.

A faceoff is the only time it should matter what position you are playing. The first forward back should take the low slot with the other two covering the points. It's unrealistic to expect the center to skate end to end in every situation.

Is that how it's supposed to work? It sounds glorious- my forwards usually just float in the neutral zone while the d-pair takes on the entire opposing team.

[danielb 0]

Thanks so much for all the replies so far, to clear things up I've mostly been playing as a winger but I find myself in the middle ice allot and I've tried some defence too but I found that due to my lack of high speed backwards skating I had to hang really far back to be effective in defence but that cost my team an extra man on offence.

Centre seems to be a good blend of offence and defence for me as it involves lots of skating which I already do, I like to be in the first one or two guys on the attack or first one or two coming back for defence. The tips are great, keep em coming and that video is a great help too :)

Are there any good sites, articles or books on the fundamentals of play for hockey? There seems to be lots of stuff on individual skills but very little on the fundamental ways to attack or defend as a team...

[pg-1000 0]

Hey man, on a side note, where in Scotland did you come from?

I started playing about a year ago, and one good point a coach told me, which is probably basic positioning to all the guys on here:

When play is in the corners/behind your goal, the forwards should be in their own zone at the points (center back helping D), as play goes up and the D advance the forwards should push to the centre ice, then D moves up, forwards go up to blue line and so on. Kinda like how the 2 line pass used to work.

P.S. I hate you already, I wanna be in Canada! :D

[Chadd 916]

The only things holding me back from being a center are that I've never done faceoffs and I don't have the stamina to go end to end over and over again.

I second that - you really should be a good skater and have the stamina like Jarick says. You have the most responsibility end to end so be prepared to skate a hell of a lot.

A faceoff is the only time it should matter what position you are playing. The first forward back should take the low slot with the other two covering the points. It's unrealistic to expect the center to skate end to end in every situation.

Is that how it's supposed to work? It sounds glorious- my forwards usually just float in the neutral zone while the d-pair takes on the entire opposing team.

It does take a good deal of communication on the ice, but I never shut up so it works out pretty well.

[Wolfpack_1986 154]

just dont puss out on the back check. because you know your wings are going to.

[Chadd 916]

just dont puss out on the back check. because you know your wings are going to.

And back check down the middle of the ice. Nothing is more useless than a back check along the boards.

[Jarick 5]

A faceoff is the only time it should matter what position you are playing. The first forward back should take the low slot with the other two covering the points. It's unrealistic to expect the center to skate end to end in every situation.

What happens when you routinely beat the center AND the D on the backcheck? <_<

[Clark12 0]

with only three months in the game you shouldn't try to imit yourself to one spot. To really learn the game you should try to play each position (even goalie). You will learn the game from everyone's perspective and also respect what each player does.

Who knows, center may not be your spot. You might be a better wing or d-man

Can't agree with this more. When I started playing hockey about 6 years ago I played as a d-man as my team were short in that area and they thought someone of my physical size would be best back there.

I played d for 2 years before moving to another team who were of a lower standard than what I had been playing. They struggled to find the goal and moved me to a position on the wing to give me more opportunities at the net. I averaged around 2 points a game that year and was top scorer in my team, who unfortunately finished bottom.

Having played as both a forward and a d-man I now understand offensive and defensive aspects of the game and I feel that it has made me understand the game a lot more. It also gives my coach a bit of flexibility as he knows that if a d-man goes down with an injury or a suspension that he can drop me back and I won't be a complete fish out of water.

[danielb 0]

just dont puss out on the back check. because you know your wings are going to.

And back check down the middle of the ice. Nothing is more useless than a back check along the boards.

I try to be working all the time on the ice, so I back check as much as I can as coming from a water polo background (were everyone attacks & everyone defends) it is the natural thing for me to do. I want to get in the habit of getting off the ice if I find myself coasting along during play, as I've noticed allot of people will stay on for too long and end up having a negative impact on team performance just so they can have more ice time...

[Gwyren 0]

T

Are there any good sites, articles or books on the fundamentals of play for hockey? There seems to be lots of stuff on individual skills but very little on the fundamental ways to attack or defend as a team...

A great question and I am anxiously awaiting hearing an answer as well.

[qmechanic 17]

T

Are there any good sites, articles or books on the fundamentals of play for hockey? There seems to be lots of stuff on individual skills but very little on the fundamental ways to attack or defend as a team...

A great question and I am anxiously awaiting hearing an answer as well.

The only book I know of is "The Hockey Handbook" by Lloyd Percival. It has a mix of discussion on both individual and team play. The book appears to be out-of-print, but you can buy it used at Amazon marketplace and other sites.

I haven't read much of the book, but it seems well-written and it got good reviews on the Amazon website. Maybe some other MSHers can chime in on their opinion of Percival's book.