Defensive moves against forwards one-on-one

[DoubleT96 0]

This could be a dumb question, but I'm a forward, but lately my team has asked me to play D. Im cool with the basics of watching the chest to stay with the guy and playing the body not the puck. I was wondering, however, if any guys have some moves they'll use against forwards in one-on-one situations that involve more than staying in front of him and angling him to the outside, i.e., other more detailed moves that involves the d-man making a move first; either a sly way of poking the puck away, or nice way of playing the body while using a skate to kick away the puck. (minus simply dropping the guy with a shoulder)

I ask because our goalie is not the strongest, so teams can skate the defense while the d-man is making sure they don't let forwards get around them, then the forward will get to the top of the circle and merely put a shot on net and it will go in. Are there any moves that any guys will use to catch the o-man off guard before he gets the shot off? For example, before the NHL started catching him, i believe Lindstrom used a move where he would put his stick between the legs of forward w/out tripping the guy in order to limit the forwards movement and then he would sometimes use his skate to kick away the puck.

[Jeff 0]

I have the armspan of an orangutan, so I do not know if this will work for you. When I am skating backwards with a forward bearing down on me, I like to keep my stick in tight. The forwards tend to think they have more room to work with, then I extend late, forcing them to make a move quicker than they would like to. Don't know if that makes sense, but give it a whirl!

[DoubleT96 0]

nice...Likely won't work for me b/c i'm only about 5'9', but nice bait move. At least it makes the forward have to react to something other than just the dman skating backwards with him.

[Neal 41]

Drop your top hand down the shaft of the stick about 3-4". Sweep it back forth once or twice, to show the forward how short your reach is. Then when he comes into too close, shoot the shaft out until your hand is at the top and poke check all in one move.

Also, if you are ambidextrous enough, switch hands so that your stick is always closer to the puck carrier. So stick in right hand on the right side of the ice and left hand on the left side of the ice.

Those 2 can be pretty tricky to master.

[RecLeagueHero 0]

Equipment wise you're probably going to want to get a longer stick then you were using as a forward. Assuming this is beer league and you can't bump the guy off the puck the key things to remember are:

1.Always protect the inside, unfortunately in rec league a lot of defense comes down to forcing the puck carrier to the outside and cutting off his shot/pass options.

2.Always communicate the the goalie, understandably goalies hate to be screened.

As for little tricks, if you're covering a puck carrier and you have some time suck them in to your body. A lot of forwards can be tricked into thinking they're winning a foot race against a slower defensemen, but in reality you're taking away their time and space. This is where the long stick comes in handy for the poke check. I don't aim for the puck, hit the blade of the forwards stick. The stick to stick contact is usually more than enough to make the puck carrier loose control. Worst case he realizes he has no more time or space and, in a panic, makes a bad shot/pass.

[Ital79 0]

1-on-1 ; pretend the guy doesn't even have the puck & keep the gap between you & whoever as small as possible. This usually slows down the fwd and allows time for the back-checkers. Don't try to go for the kill at the blue-line...you'll get undressed if the fwd has any talent since you're just getting your feet wet,

2-on-1 ; much more common - think of it as a 2-on-2 with the goalie as your partner. Goalie handles the guy w/the puck and you job is to slow 'em down and not allow a pass. Basically, cover the guy w/o the puck or stay between them and stop the pass.

IMO, the 1-on-1 is a bit easier to handle since fwds are either rushed by the opportunity & screw something up -or- are cocky and screw something up. Fancy moves cause players to look down nearly 100% of the time and guys that are in "OMG I HAVE THE PUCK" mode are easy to force into bad angles. 1-on-1s are not what you have to worry about...

1. NEVER pass the puck infront of the net

2. Protect your goalie from people crashing the net

3. Block the shot or GTF out of the way

4. The boards are like women, bang 'em & use 'em as much as you can.

5. Use your feet & strength in the corners

6. Clear anything your netminder coughs up

MOST IMPORTANT: If you have the opportunity to destroy someone b/c they have their head down - line 'em up and knock the bejeezus out of them. Nothing sets the tone of a game & gets your team all riled up like a good old fashioned yard-sale.

Here's an example;

[dontdumpdangle 0]

A few basic things that I do (note: I am also a forward 5'10", but i played D in high school because we were in the same situation). I don't know how quick you are but if I find my self in a situation where the puck carrier and I are skating at each other open ice, I usually throw a shoulder fake at him before he makes a move, its a natural reaction for him to go the other way. generally try and force him to his backhand when doing this because it will be more difficult for him to make a move and it will be easier to lift his stick. Another open ice thing that you touched on is the stcik between the legs thing. When you try to line a guy up, point your stick between his legs and if you do it correctly he wont be able to go anywhere (this goes hand in hand with the shoulder fake thing). Another trick: my favorite move as a forward is to go under the stick until the D makes a move. I played against a guy who picked up on this and he would just simply keep his stick back (two hands sometimes) and when I got close enough he would whip his stick out trying to poke it, I also do this now and its pretty effective. The last thing might seem basic but nobody really does it. When most guys poke check they poke blindly at the blade and puck. When I poke check, I poke soley at the puck. You can also take the puck right off a guys blade and have controll of it if you try and put your blade inbetween the carrier's blade and the puck. (very effective when trying to get the puck from behind a guy IE the back check.)

[Bravada 442 0]

I've played a lot of soccer as a kid (from about age 6 to 16) so I am very comfortable with my feet and using them. Therefore, one of my favorite defensive plays is to sweep my stick side to side in a 1 on 1 situation and force that player to attempt to make a move around me instead of using me as a screen. I'm pretty sure I could count on my hands the number of times I've had a guy get past me by trying to go through my feet or around me closely because I'm able to pretty much play the puck with my feet quickly and get away from the rush.

Another thing I like to do is similar to what was said above in terms of keeping my stick close to me, choking down maybe 4 or 5 inches on the shaft, and keeping it between my legs so that there are no fair away shots through my legs and then as a player gets closer, shoot that stick out and make the poke check.

The final thing for me is just learning to be very crafty with my off hand. If I'm trying to push a player wide, I will put the stick in my upper hand and with my inside arm I will lean on the player trying to get around me. Usually you'll get a call if you give the guy a good push or a shove or anything, but I've found that it is usually equally effective to grab onto the player and keep him real close to you and use your stick to knock the puck away. It's almost impossible for the ref to see and the player has basically zero space to do any sort of move.

[DoubleT96 0]

The final thing for me is just learning to be very crafty with my off hand. If I'm trying to push a player wide, I will put the stick in my upper hand and with my inside arm I will lean on the player trying to get around me. Usually you'll get a call if you give the guy a good push or a shove or anything, but I've found that it is usually equally effective to grab onto the player and keep him real close to you and use your stick to knock the puck away. It's almost impossible for the ref to see and the player has basically zero space to do any sort of move.

Nice little move...i may have to try that if I get a chance.

[ncbrock 0]

i used to play defence and now play offence, first im going to explain what i would do on a one on one playing offence. If i see the defenceman flatfooted ill go around, if hes skating even ill try and pull a move.

1: my first move that i always do and get everyone with is when the defenceman has his stick out on his weak side and one-handing it ill put the puck through it and get the puck while he is behind me.

2: if his stick is strongsided ill go through the legs and pass him on his weak side and get the puck.

defensive:

to prevent the puck through the stick move (1) watch his stick when you think hes going to do something tricky, either 1 stop and block it when the puck releases from the stick or if he makes it through you, before he gets around your stick to the puck just turn around and sweep the puck away.

for 2 if your quick with your feet 90% of the time you can block it by putting your feet together.

[dumbpolak9 1]

i keep my stick in my left hand (im a lefty) and i put my free hand up around my shoulder to use a distraction for him i some times shake it to make him look at it. i usually go for a lil shurg to lt him think that im going for the hit but then i poke it away. if he dumps it in and is rushing for it near the boards and your near the puck just use you body from him getting the puck.

[DoubleT96 0]

All good tips. So far, I've been pretty solid regarding my angles and form. I haven't gotten beaten one one and I'm able to either keep the guy in front of me, or stay with him no problem if he's trying to go around me. If he tries to pull a move and go around, I've been giving the guy shove in the chest/ nothing hard that's going to knock him to the ground, but just enough that it disturbs his footing and he doesn't get around me clean, or it gives a teammate to come in and help out.

The problem I'm finding is that opponents are scoring by just putting the puck on net. So, I think at times i'll have to be a bit more aggressive in attempting to bait him into make a move first and then trying to counter the move with a poke before he gets the shot off. It's hard because I don't want to bite on a fake-slap shot, but I also dont' want the slap shot to get off b/c more than, the pucks in the net. We'll see. Thanks again for all the tips.

[dumbpolak9 1]

when the opposing player is winding up get you stick in front of it and angle it so you deflect the puck into the mesh. if u get faked out put your body into him

[fieldofdreams 0]

2 words.... GAP CONTROL

[dontdumpdangle 0]

Never Cross Over unless you absolutely have to, thats how guys get undressed