coming up the boards

[NJDwoot]

I've been having issues when I'm in this situation... I play left wing and shoot right.

So when the puck is in our D zone and one of my D men has the puck I can see that he is planning on throwing it up the boards to me / out of the zone and I think "Crap how do I handle this". Basicly it turns out to be a very awkard situation where I dont produce much of anything.

I'm wondering how I should react to this situation... Sometimes one of there forwards gets to the puck before it gets to me. Sometimes I face the oncoming puck and catch it, in which case I try to turn around and look for a pass/skate it out, and sometimes I try to skate with it so it catches up to me... atempting to breakout of the zone, but nothing ever seems to work that well..

any suggestions?

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[Marotte Marauder]

I've been having issues when I'm in this situation... I play left wing and shoot right.

So when the puck is in our D zone and one of my D men has the puck I can see that he is planning on throwing it up the boards to me / out of the zone and I think "Crap how do I handle this". Basicly it turns out to be a very awkard situation where I dont produce much of anything.

I'm wondering how I should react to this situation... Sometimes one of there forwards gets to the puck before it gets to me. Sometimes I face the oncoming puck and catch it, in which case I try to turn around and look for a pass/skate it out, and sometimes I try to skate with it so it catches up to me... atempting to breakout of the zone, but nothing ever seems to work that well..

any suggestions?

The best on the off wing in his zone was Steve Larmer. His go to move was a "J" coming back along the boards a little to get the puck on his forehand and "J" his way off the boards a little.

This way he he had the puck on his forehand, huge in your own zone, was facing the middle of the ice and created an angle wherby he could get the puck up the boards on his forehand.

Probably easier for you if you see it a few times. Once you have this down pat, off wing in D zone, you suddenly become one of the most dangerous players on the ice as your stick is facing the midlle of the ice all the time.

Good luck!

 

[Jarick]

If it's "glued" to the boards, I'll try to stop it a ways before the Dman at the point can get to it, make him either back up or come to me. Either way, I'll typically either carry it wide or chip it around him to skate it up. If I've got pressure on me and there's an open man in the middle, just catch the puck and pass it out. Worst case scenario, you can just swat at the puck with your blade sideways and try and chip it out or stop it with your skates and hold it against the boards.

 

[SenzZen]

It's important not to wait for the puck to come to you. You should be moving toward the pass if you can- unless you have nobody around you.

Take a look around before you get the puck- how close is the nearest defender? Is he a forward or a pinching defenseman? Once you understand how much time you'll have with the puck, the urge to panic should dissipate. If you have enough time to cradle the pass and turn your body to the middle of the ice, or up-ice, you can skate with it, pass it up the middle (where hopefully your C should be), or chip it off the boards and out past the pinching D.

If somebody is right on you- you can always "eat it". Protect the puck by putting it in your feet and hug the boards. Once you feel the defender cheating to one side of you more than the other- kick the puck the other way and go retrieve it.

I hope this helps.

 

[trtaylor]

This video will give you some ideas.

 

[nyr33]

keep your feet moving. don't stop and always keep your head up. Try to take a quick look up to get an idea of where your team mates are before you get the puck. If worse comes to worse, flip it off the boards(preferably the glass) dont just fling it up the middle

 

[Trojan35]

The rim around the boards is the easiest breakout to defend because it's either too slow and the defense can react, or it's too hard to pickup clean and the defense can react. Teach your d-men to try and put it on your tape. Yes, lots of plays go along the boards but that's more of an "oh-****" play than what you really want.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O4gkXT3UrE&feature=related

If you're running a very basic breakout like the above with you along the halfboards, here are some options from "most likely" to "least likely", not necessarily best to worst:

• Defender crashes you hard, you one-touch pass it to the center with speed ~10 feet from you, lateral to you or slightly defensive-side of you for a 2on2/2on1.
• Defender crashes you hard, you chip it off the boards out of the zone as the center, with speed, picks it up behind the defender for a 2-on-1 with the other wing
• Forechecker leaves your D continues to you chasing the puck, center is MIA/covered. Chip it back to the D where he can skate or distribute the puck
• Defender stays at the blue-line, you turn and have time to set up a breakout
• Everyone is covered, you are screwed. You chip it off the boards to clear the zone or down the ice for icing. At worst, you panic and throw it to the other team.
• Defender backs up, you pick up the puck while quick-starting to get speed because it's on your tape and you leave the zone (note, if you're doing this, you need to move towards the middle of the ice or you'll get squeezed out along the boards. Also, if you're doing this in a check league, make damn sure you're not going to get clocked Kronwall style)
• You find the far-wing open for a long cross-ice pass tape-to-tape.
• Main options are covered, but the weakside D-man is open for a breakout pass (pretty unlikely, they generally hold hands with the goalie for some unknown reason)

In my limited experience, this breakout depends on several factors. On your side, it depends on the defenseman moving the puck QUICKLY and ACCURATELY on your tape. It depends on the primary wing looking up BEFORE the puck gets there, and having the composure not to panic. It depends on the center actually getting low in the zone (so the pass is easy) and getting close enough to the winger (so the pass is harder to intercept), as well as building speed to force the puck out. It depends on the far wing stretching the ice to create space for the breakout.

On the other side, a team with D and a Center that can anticipate this simple breakout is going to absolutely destroy any slow rim around the boards. Passes should be tape-to-tape.

 

[ponder]

In general the first option when you receive the puck at the half boards on a breakout should be to look to your center, who should be breaking out of the zone and ready for your pass. The cross ice pass to the other wing is risky, and back to the d is counter productive, the standard breakout is 2 quick passes, from the d to the wing at the half boards, then from the wing to the C who should be roughly at your own blueline. If there's no good passing option, skate it out if you have space (often not the case, but sometimes the defender will be out of position), or simply chip it off the boards out of your zone if there are really no other options (better safe than sorry, turning it over in your own zone while your teammates are breaking out can be very costly).

As for how to receive the pass on the off wing, it's best if it's tape to tape (to your backhand if you have good hands, but spin to face it and receive on your forehand if you don't). If the dman flings it around the boards you're gonna have to press your body tight against the boards (get your stick ready for weird bounces though) and stop it with your body, then get it on your stick asap and proceed with the above options.

 

[datsyukianLIKE]

what they are basically saying is slow down yer mind look before the dman is gonna pass it to you look where everyone is its not your fault if you teammates are out of postion i like the suggestion of the "j" though your skating and stick handling practice will help you out alot i shoot right and play left it does take alot more of practice when yer mind is doing the oposite of what it wants to do