Beginners: Picking your position

[NHL Dude 120]

I`ve recently been thinking about joining a rec league hockey team and was wondering how do you pick the position you play.

right now im on the small side 5`10 and 235(working on losing weight), would it be better for me to play as a defensemen or forward. if i were a defensemen I`m right handed so i`d be a RHD.

If i were a forward my shot tendency would be shoot on the right side of the net , i just feel more comfortable shooting on the right side.

As for goalie im a bit too short for the GK position, plus my hand eye coordination and reflexes suck.

any advice on what position to play. im open to all feedback(just be easy on me )

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[Sean Garrity]

Honestly? It's hard to play defense if you can't skate backwards well. That said, who cares?

Join the league, try them all out, but more importantly have fun and everything will work itself out!

 

[bigbadbruins1]

Honestly it depends on how you see the ice. I do best on Defense because I am most comfortable with everything being in front of me so I can make a good read on plays and players. But as a forward you really can't see all of the ice thus everything isn't in front of you, so for me this becomes a problem because I over think where to pass the puck with limited lanes/ options.
So pretty much what I'm saying is how you deal with pressure and mistakes should play a role, but ultimately should not be the final choice, of where you play.

 

[Bengerm77]

I say it's about personality.

Personally, I naturally gravitated towards playing D. Why? Because I like to ruin things for people. I revel in making life difficult for others on and off the rink. I'm a jerk. The opportunity to ruin the opposing team's #1 scorer's 1 on 1 is awesome. But that's just me.

You on the other hand, may like being the guy that wants to get all the goals, or the guy that likes making killer dangles and passes, or gets off smashing people into the boards. You will find an easier time perfecting skills that work towards a position that you fundamentally enjoy.

 

[mistrhanky]

I would try a little of both. Most guys start at wing as it is the least dangerous place. After you play a bit, switch to D. D is more of a mentality then anything else. I love playing D, but I am more useful to my team, in most cases, at wing. I am a big, fairly slow dude, so I don't handle breakaways and corner sprints all that well. If we play a team that likes to jam the crease though, nobody throws bodies out of there and sticks up for the goalie like I do. To play D, you have to take it personally. There is a lot of weight on your shoulders and every mistake can easily lead to a goal. There is a lot more freedom at wing/center because you can take a lot more risk without so much chance of disaster.

I also found that I became 100 times better as a winger after playing D for a few seasons. I now understand where the D wants me to be and why, and I understand it at a far more organic level than I ever did before I played D.

 

[Goonzilla]

All for trying both forward and defence at training or scrimmages, but not at game time. I'd prefer to play defence, because I like playing what's in front of me and am a stronger passer than shooter, as well as being the biggest guy on the ice, but my shot from the point isn't strong enough and my transitioning from forwards to backwards and backwards to forwards isn't sharp enough, that is my weaknesses aren't as exposed playing forward.

Am working on it but wouldn't advise or want a newer player holding up the other end. Too vulnerable to being exposed. Start up front where there's perhaps a little more margin for error.

 

[intangible]

As for goalie im a bit too short for the GK position, plus my hand eye coordination and reflexes suck.

I know goalies with less, lol.

But, no, really.. 5'10" isn't that short, and you are a bit bigger. You might try your hand at goalie. Cool pads, most ice time of any player. Work on your skating and positioning, and you won't even need your reflexes.

 

[TheGooooch]

I was always a winger growing up on everything I have played (ice, roller). But it also depends on your hockey IQ. If you tend to be a puck hawk then you will be moved to center which happened to me.

 

[moreoutdoor]

I`ve recently been thinking about joining a rec league hockey team and was wondering how do you pick the position you play....

if you're pretty new, I'd be surprised if the 'team' let you pick a position. More likely, after a couple turns on the ice in scrimmage, they'll tell you where they'd like you to play, your preference will have very little to say in that.
Don;t know if I'd want to play on a team where everyone gets to pick...
That aside, I wouldn't 'pick' any spot, go at in any position you can get on the ice in. Make mistakes, learn a bunch. A well rounded player is valuable to any team; and it's way more fun when you have less weak points.

 

[Caeldan]

I`ve recently been thinking about joining a rec league hockey team and was wondering how do you pick the position you play.

right now im on the small side 5`10 and 235(working on losing weight), would it be better for me to play as a defensemen or forward. if i were a defensemen I`m right handed so i`d be a RHD.

If i were a forward my shot tendency would be shoot on the right side of the net , i just feel more comfortable shooting on the right side.

As for goalie im a bit too short for the GK position, plus my hand eye coordination and reflexes suck.

any advice on what position to play. im open to all feedback(just be easy on me )

My experience with new teams is that there's enough people that 'don't care' that one week you can try forward, the next you can try D.

Basically you'll rotate through everywhere if you play regularly enough until you find a spot that you generally like to gravitate towards... and then you just do that when you can.

As far as goalie.. I'm a generous 5'7 and started this season playing net. It's fun as heck to me, but I am definitely relying on reflexes and skating ability while trying to figure out positioning and how not to give up the top half of the net when going down.

Best thing to realize though for goalie too is the 'puck view'... there's some nice instructional videos out there that show really how little space there is from the puck's view even against a smaller goaltender. But be prepared to dump 500+ into equipment just to get started (used) if you were thinking of trying it.

 

[jazzykat]

You'll probably learn the most (skating wise) playing D and generally get more ice time than the forwards which also helps your skating.

Center is an incredibly hard position to play and if you're not in good shape it becomes perhaps overwhelming.

Wing is where you are the least liability but it's fun.

I'm playing D to improve my skating and get more ice time. Doing so has turned me into a mediocre winger with a reasonable ability to pass and involve the whole team in the offense. I'm also very good at covering the point

 

[CunniJA]

Best thing to realize though for goalie too is the 'puck view'... there's some nice instructional videos out there that show really how little space there is from the puck's view even against a smaller goaltender.

http://www.goaliestore.com/board/mi...4-size-myth-three-sightlines-goaltending.html

Yes. The whole "big goalies cover more net" thing is mostly myth. From the puck's eye, the coverage difference between a 5'10" guy and a 6'5" guy is negligible as long as you're playing your position properly. Really, a huge goalie would have to hold his glove oddly to avoid covering wasted area above the net. It's not like soccer where the net is 8 feet high and 24 feet wide.

 

[Caeldan]

http://www.goaliestore.com/board/mi...4-size-myth-three-sightlines-goaltending.html

Yes. The whole "big goalies cover more net" thing is mostly myth. From the puck's eye, the coverage difference between a 5'10" guy and a 6'5" guy is negligible as long as you're playing your position properly. Really, a huge goalie would have to hold his glove oddly to avoid covering wasted area above the net. It's not like soccer where the net is 8 feet high and 24 feet wide.

Yeah, as pointed out in the comments to that - the main advantage that a taller goalie has is that they can play a bit deeper in the net/have a bit more reach.

So if you're a bit undersized you just have to learn to play more aggressively. And stand up a bit taller than you might see as the 'traditional' stance.