Horrible at 1-on-1's

[MyBoxersSayJoe 133]

I'm horrible at 1-on-1's. I've got speed, but I'm very much a point 'A' to point 'B' player. I'm not very tall (5'7") so my reach is fairly limited. No frills or flair. Any recommendations to add to my library of moves? Videos are more than welcome.

What are your favorite moves? What do you have decent success with?

[xrickyb86x 1]

Sometimes there's not much you can do in a one on one. If you got speed... cut wide your backhand and use your body to protect the puck. A nice toe drag never hurts either lol.

[chippa13 1844]

A simple inside out move sounds like your best option. As your approaching the defenseman be angling toward the middle of the ice and then use the room to beat him around to the outside.

[dabeechman 0]

You have to either go through him, or around him. If you have speed and he is flat footed, go around him. If you can't beat him wide, try to make him shuffle and then go through his legs. Toe drags are also fairly effective against less experienced Dmen.

[BarDownGinos 3]

I'm horrible at 1-on-1's. I've got speed, but I'm very much a point 'A' to point 'B' player. I'm not very tall (5'7") so my reach is fairly limited. No frills or flair. Any recommendations to add to my library of moves? Videos are more than welcome.

What are your favorite moves? What do you have decent success with?

Its not really about having a big bag of tricks, a solid toe drag will get you pretty far. It's knowing how to read the D and capitalize when he makes a mistake.

[MyBoxersSayJoe 133]

I find a lot of times, that speed will land me really wide and I have to make a very hard cut to the net. I can protect the puck well, but I never have any sort of angle on the goalie.

I'll either pause or hesitate when trying to make a move and get picked off pretty easily. Once in a while, things click and I can pull stuff off, but it's definitely not consistent. Kind of like having confidence and knowing you've got it.

[xrickyb86x 1]

Yeah, looks like you just have to read the D a little better. But you do have to remember that sometimes there isn't much you can do.

[Speedz98 15]

I'm in the same boat as you. I can pick up speed but some d-man keep a really good angle and frequently just knock the puck away from me.

Depending on what Wing I'm playing on determines the move I try to attempt. As a left-handed player, I prefer the left wing, it's easier to deke into the middle. Basically just forehand with the puck close to the boards then push it under his stick in the direction of center slot. While the puck is moving you can stick lift the guy . This basically should only work in non-checking though because any other time you'd get your ass flatten out.

If you pull it it off you'll be between the circles with only the goalie to beat for a quick shot. If you are right handed you can transpose this to the right wing. This is my go-to movie because I have a really limited bag of tricks.

If I'm on my off-wing i just try to blast by the D-man on the boards and cut to the middle. Hopefully this gives you an idea.

[chippa13 1844]

I find a lot of times, that speed will land me really wide and I have to make a very hard cut to the net. I can protect the puck well, but I never have any sort of angle on the goalie.

I'll either pause or hesitate when trying to make a move and get picked off pretty easily. Once in a while, things click and I can pull stuff off, but it's definitely not consistent. Kind of like having confidence and knowing you've got it.

This is why you need to pull the defenseman inside first before you go for the speed route on the outside. It gives you room to get around and you've got a better angle on the net when you do.

[Scotty 8]

Don't hesitate to go wide and then cut hard back to the slot. Know that a hit may be coming, but if you can take it to get the puck in on net, do so. I like coming down the off wing and doing a quick cut to the middle, then a fast crossover back to the outside and burn around the D. Or the pull it wide on the backhand move. I will keep my top hand on the stick to control the puck and take my bottom hand off the stick to hold low and stop the defender's stick from swiping at it as I cut in.

[empirehockey 1]

A simple drag can get you around the D. Just be conscious of your spacing, if you drag make sure you pull him to your inside. If he gives you lots of space get him backed up enough that he's screening his goalie, a quick shot through his legs will either beat the goalie (good chance of this or catch the goalie awkwardly and give you a juicy rebound.

[shotty 7]

as a full time defenseman who sometimes finds himself on the other side of a one-on-one, i can tell you this: i have great success beating them on the outside when making them move laterally toward the middle. your body positioning can help make him commit one way or another, and this works especially well if you can time your break with his crossover. i got past a dman last night at the top of the right circle, and was rewarded with a great clean chance on the goalie. too bad i ALWAYS go five-hole ;).. didnt work this time.

it takes a talented puck handler to puck a puck through me, and i bite on toe drags here and there, but my main goal when i'm one on one with a guy coming in on me is to push him to the side and make him either pass the puck into traffic or dump it. if i play the puck at all, its a swipe as opposed to a poke, i find i lose momentum with a poke, and its easier to avoid than a swipe.

[Chadd 916]

Without adding anything to your bag of individual skills there are a number of different things you could do to create scoring opportunities.

If you are faster than the other guy you can go wide on him, drop your shoulder and hold the puck off to the outside as you go around. I prefer working that one on the forehand side if possible. If the other guy is staying right with you, I like to make a move to open up his legs and then take a quick shot. That works well when on your backhand side and you cut to the middle, especially if you make the move and then shoot right away, before he has a chance to recover from the move. You use him as a screen to hide the shot, then drive hard to the net for a potential rebound. The other thing I like to do on my backhand is to fake a move to the middle and then a quick turn to come off the boards on my forehand. It works great if you have more guys coming on the rush behind you as you can then pass, shoot or skate to the middle with the time you just bought for yourself.

I'm all for adding more skills, like a toe drag or crossover, but you still have options while you work on perfecting those moves.

EDIT:

You really need to read the body position of the defender and take what he gives you or know that you can beat him. Way too many guys use the same move, even if they aren't in a position to pull it off.

[flaming_june 2]

Indeed that's the first thing you should do: read the shoulder. If his upper hand's shoulder is facing you on his left side of the ice then you can go wide on the inside. If his lower hand shoulder is facing you then you can juke wide on the inside. However the most important thing isn't to learn specific moves, but rather change the type of player you are. As they say, talent is overrated; Instead of being an A to B type of player, practice lateral movements until you can incorporate A to C to D to B. One drill current NHLer Gilbert Brule did when he was on the ice during the off season was: skate with the puck from the center line, have his coach back up like a defender, at the offensive blueline, fake left or right, then immediately go the other way and skate right to the net for a deke. The college player practicing with Brule did the same thing but instead of going right to the net, he just shot it right away at the top of circle or the hash with an amazingly fast release.

[dabeechman 0]

And the best time to pull off a toe drag is when the defender will do his typical poke/swipe at the puck. Let him make the first move, but make sure you're quick enough to beat him. When he pokes or swipes he gives up his stick position which gives you a clear lane unless he shoulders into you.

[Hradsky 1]

Depends on what level you're playing at, but if you feel you can't get around the D-man what you can do (and it works WELL) is just slow down a bit so the D-man can't reach you, and just shoot one between his legs. The goalie will have much less time to react because he might not even see you getting ready to shoot, just suddenly the puck flying. Of course it's harder to snipe the goalie this way since you might not see where he's standing, but still the surprise factor is awesome. I scored A BUNCH of goals this way since I started trying it. Just a couple of games ago I scored from the blueline with a wrister on the ice this way lol. Was it luck? Probably.. But I'm sure it going through the D-man's legs helped a bunch.

[wrangler 157]

One I like is when the D is skating backwards in front of me, giving a little space, and slides left and right when I do, to keep his body between me and the goalie. A quick slide to my side to put him between the puck and the goal, and I shoot as he slides over to follow my body. Timed properly, a shot right at him will go through that area just as he vacates it, giving me a nice screen. The goalie may never even see me wind up the wrist shot, and the D-man is already moving, so he can't get back in time.

[maxamillion 3]

Watch Jamie Benn undress Cam Barker. He takes him with speed to the outside, gets barker to turn, and then brings it through him. if you can get the defenseman to turn towards you as your about to go by it can be easier to beat him. I scored one almost exactly like it at drop in today

[MyBoxersSayJoe 133]

Thanks guys.

I'm lefty, but usually play on the off-side. I find if I'm on the forehand, I have a much easier time dropping the shoulder and cutting hard to the net but never feel I have enough time or space to do anything with it. Once in a while on the forehand I'll be be able to deke wide to the left, if the D bites, I'll pull it back through their legs and cut to the middle. On the off-side, I find a lot of times I'll go wide, and instead of going behind the defenseman, I'll cut very hard, almost a 90-degree turn to the middle and shoot short-side with the D as the screen. I just really haven't had much success with anything I'm trying. I'm a defenseman, so this is usually on a rush where there was no pressure on me and I just take off with it. I usually try this stuff on the lower division team I'm on. My other team is fairly competitive, so I don't rush it nearly as much. Once in a while.

[Chadd 916]

One I like is when the D is skating backwards in front of me, giving a little space, and slides left and right when I do, to keep his body between me and the goalie. A quick slide to my side to put him between the puck and the goal, and I shoot as he slides over to follow my body. Timed properly, a shot right at him will go through that area just as he vacates it, giving me a nice screen. The goalie may never even see me wind up the wrist shot, and the D-man is already moving, so he can't get back in time.

I had one tonight where the D man was right in front of me, my body on one side and the puck on the other and I let fly with a little snapper that beat the goalie to the corner from just above the hash marks.

[wrangler 157]

I had one tonight where the D man was right in front of me, my body on one side and the puck on the other and I let fly with a little snapper that beat the goalie to the corner from just above the hash marks.

I'm too slow to do anything but a snapper in that position. Fortunately for me, it's close enough my shot doesn't have to be that strong, if I'm lucky enough to put it where I'm aiming.

Mostly I'm just annoyed that you got to play, and I haven't had a chance for a couple weeks.

[ibeck 38]

This should heIp if you are small and fast,works best against a tall guy. You come in (off wing) pretend like you are going to put your shoulder down, protect the puck and driving the net when really you put the puck under his stick and shoot from the other side.

[heybrady 0]

Depends on what level you're playing at, but if you feel you can't get around the D-man what you can do (and it works WELL) is just slow down a bit so the D-man can't reach you, and just shoot one between his legs. The goalie will have much less time to react because he might not even see you getting ready to shoot, just suddenly the puck flying. Of course it's harder to snipe the goalie this way since you might not see where he's standing, but still the surprise factor is awesome. I scored A BUNCH of goals this way since I started trying it. Just a couple of games ago I scored from the blueline with a wrister on the ice this way lol. Was it luck? Probably.. But I'm sure it going through the D-man's legs helped a bunch.

I agree with this method completely. Granted I just play mens C league, but a little toe drag with a quick shot through the D's legs is a surprisingly effective move. The goalie is not ready for the shot, and he can't get a good read on the release since it comes from under/through the D man. I play off-wing quite a bit and find it works better on the off wing since your stick is towards the middle of the ice and give a better angle on net.

[theelite 1]

forehand or backhand, when I try to make a 1-on-1 move I always make the defender go to their backhand. I find it easier to exploit their weak side stick

[interpathway 9]

Small and fast? Never underestimate the space that a quick stop will give you once you enter the zone. Think of guys like Nicklas Backstrom pulling up at the circles after entering the zone with speed. Speed pushes D back, stopping elongates the space you're given. Once you're there, it is a matter of scanning positions to determine the most effective route to the net, whether that is to drive hard, pass wide, or bide your time for help.

When you lose the puck standing still, you're 100 times better off than losing it while skating full speed into the offensive zone trying to dangle and having the defense start a quick breakout with you curling around your own offensive zone.