Quote:
Originally Posted by Gibson19
All great advice so I'll only just add to it.
Talk to your goalie. If I've got a guy going fairly wide, my goalie prefers I don't try and block the shot as I may be screening him. By the same token when you see the opponent is about to shoot bring your legs together. When someone shoots it through your legs the goalie has no idea where it's going.
Don't let people sit in front of the net. Even if they aren't a threat, most goalies don't enjoy that. While in beer league there are never huge battles in front of the net when the puck isn't there, I still push people out of the way when my goalie is trying to watch the play. If you're bigger than the other guy, get low and put your stick right at their upper leg and just start pushing. Don't make a "hit" but just apply steady pressure. Either they will get pushed out of the way, or you will get them off balance. And you're not gonna get a penalty for pushing someone over with your body, unless of course you accelerate into them like a hit. Just skate up to the guy, and hip to hip slide him away.
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Great tip. Always communicate with your goaltender as a defenceman. You're working for him out there and nobody else, he bails you out and you bail him out. Every goalie has different tendencies and prefers his D-men to play a little different. I had some who preferred me to stay out around the circles and give him lots of room, others who preferred I be almost in the crease to move guys out, some who constantly communicated what he needed, others who needed their mind read.