Defenseman steps up - unclear about this phrase

[Les213 1]

Okay, I am thrilled for this post. i am a newbie who is a converted D-man. Love the position but have only been playing for a month at the position and a year in a no-check league. Question. What does it mean to "pinch" a guy at the blue line. i wold imagine it means to block his route out of the zone and/or trap the puck before it goes off sides? Second, while I am not the slowest, I am NOT the fastest going backwards. I find that I'll challenge up near the offensive blue line, or at least at center ice but if my other D-man isn't behind me, I turn and make a dash back to my end. Thoughts?

If your defensive partners are also newbies, there's a really basic golden rule you guys can enforce with each other in the offensive zone to decrease your risk of pinches (moving up to play the puck and leaving your coverage). As you guys move along the blue line in the offensive zone, if one moves forward towards the opponent's end to pinch, play the puck, or just to close the gap on a breakout, the other should be moving the opposite direction. If you move up, he moves back. If he moves up, you move back.

[chippa13 1844]

To add to that, if your partner is pinching then you not only want to drift back a little but you may also need to move more to the middle of the ice, depending on how your forwards are reacting to the pinch.

[akravetz 29]

Thanks for all the information. Like I said, I am pretty new to the postion and still trying to figure out where to go. Basically, I have learned a few things which are pretty obvious.

1. don't clear in front of your goalie.

2. don't pass in the middle.

3. don't let the guy get inside of you

I play in a low-level league so it is great for learning. Thanks again.

[MyBoxersSayJoe 133]

Yeah, that "not up the middle" is a BIG one. I see it more often than not. All the other team needs to do is keep their third forward high in the offensive zone and they'll eat those all night long. If you don't have options but have room, skate it up to create some options. If you don't have options and don't have room, high off the glass/boards or eat it. If you're lucky your other D may be supporting you, you can pass it to him behind the net and he can move it up the weak side.

[Rumblefish 1]

Thanks for the great discussion and for posting the videos. What I meant by pivot in the original post is being called a “90 degree step-out” in the “Skills for Defensemen” video.

I think this may have caused some confusion because I know a pivot is also the term for changing from backwards/forwards or forwards/backwards skating (i.e. the Mohawk pivot) . That’s not what I meant. Hope that didn’t confuse anyone.

Anyway, I really appreciate the comments here and I believe I played a much stronger game this weekend because of them. Many thanks.