The RinkFor the not so ready for prime-time players, coaches, referees, and the people that have to live with them. Discuss experiences in local leagues, coaching tips, equipment, and training.
One of the challenges I've been having is as a play develops where the "D" is passing up ice into the neutral zone is when they are directly behind me, and pass to me in a line.
I am trying to avoid stopping and turning around so as to not lose momentum or speed, but if you look backward (underneath your legs?) you will lose sight of the other team's forwards coming at you to disrupt the pass.
I've found it quite difficult to try and catch the pass between my legs or on the side even with the stick on the ice; it seems very tough to line up and catch a pass from behind, and given how little real coaching I've had, it's not something I've seen addressed in a beginner's clinic.
I had an issue with receiving passes from behind in full stride too. YOu need to turn your blade sideways to the ice and hope for a good tape to tape pass. It just takes practice to get it right and you need to be able to skate heads up. I'm still not good at taking a bad pass from behind but I am getting better.
Usually I don't catch suicide pass but what your gonna wanna do is turn your body horizontal at the waist so your blades are still facing down the ice but your shoulders are as far horizontally as they'll go, that way you can get your stick nice and tight to your outside blade without losing speed. Simultaneously stagger your feet outside foot infront of the inside foot.
Warning** Very dangerous to take a pass like that if you play contact.
Takes practice for sure. But definitely when breaking up the ice that shouldn't be a play you should be making unless you really need to.
Right D getting it up to Right winger maybe bank of the boards to your side. Or pass across to left winger or centre try to hit em on the forehand as well.
Playing a wing i'll usually turn sideways while stopped or pacing slowly then when I get the pass I make a quick pass to the middle.
Ideally the D should be banking the pass so it loses some velocity while getting near you.
I have had great success this year by trying to not catch the pass so much as get a stick on it. I try and deflect it so it loses velocity and changes direction. That screws the D up way more than catching and stopping a puck clean, because then they have to make turn to see the puck while I just keep going forward.
You do have to turn slightly and use your peripheral vision. And I can see getting blown up frequently in checking hockey.
Skilled/advanced dmen can hit your tape (or very close to it). If you're not playing with that caliber of player you have to make adjustments, recieving a poor pass blindly is a very high risk play & will more times than not cause a turnover or at least a broken play. You may have to advance somewhat diagonally away from the dman, turn around somewhat or stay lower in your end along the boards & take the pass earlier in the rush/breakout. If you're a winger it's your responsibility to give your dman a clean open target for an easy pass, ideally your position starting the breakout is between the blueline & the hash marks in your own end (also giving the dman puck support). If you're forcing long, high risk passes, you're probably getting too far ahead or staying too high in your end.
Last edited by sanityplease: 02-23-2012 at 10:54 AM.
Don't do it, and tell your defense not to pass you the puck in that situation. They should be chipping it up the boards to you and letting you skate to it. Those type of passes are a great way to get yourself knocked out cold if you're playing in a checking league. How often do you see guys in the NHL get passes like that? Pretty much only on breakaways or if they're ahead of the defenders. In a proper breakout the defense should never be in a straight line behind you anyway. You should be crossing towards the other side of the ice, and his target should be the forward on the off-wing, and the guy at center ice. There are very few situations where a pass like this is a good idea, and most of them involve zero defenders in front of you, or you standing still along the boards, turned towards the middle of the ice.
It's a bad habit and your defense should be broken of it immediately. IMO of course.
i have played D my entire life, and I will not pass to a player headed up ice from behind. just like checking a guy if I can see your ##'s I'm not passing you the puck for 2 reasons.
#1 its a head hunter pass, even in no check leagues this is how you get your clocked cleaned.
#2 if you are in front of me with your back turned headed up ice, I don't feel that is a "team" type play. near (or strong) side winger needs to support the play not fly the zone.
if anything you should be skating backwards or I guess sideways crossing over with your stick down pointing up ice, showing your dman where you want the pass.
For sure as a D-man don't make that pass. We have a guy that bolts up ice all the time and nobody passes to him because he will always miss it and it will be an icing. I tell our guys to skate east-west with your stick on the ice showing a target and yelling for the pass, not to skate north-south trying to look behind you.
In non contact hockey, make sure there's not going to be any sort of accidental collision, and then go ahead and look over your shoulder. At full stride I can very consistently take a pass cleanly from behind if it's going to my right side (my backhand, as I'm a right handed shooter), and can fairly consistently take the pass on my left side/forehand, but if it has to come through my legs, there's a guaranteed blind spot, and that makes it way harder to receive cleanly. If a pass is going to go straight through my legs, I normally turn to face it, which kills your speed, but at least it's not a turnover, and you can still make a pass to another forward on the rush.
In contact hockey, these passes should not be made unless you're truly open, as in you've split the d and there's no way you're going to get hit. I've been truly blown up by huge hits trying to take suicide passes, was lucky to avoid major injury, but it's definitely a good way to get yourself hurt. Not to say that there's no room in the game for passes up the middle straight from behind, cutting to the middle for a pass when the dmen are out of position is IMO the best way to get breakaways, but you need to make sure there's a lot of space so you're truly in the clear before turning your head to receive the pass. If you're not a player who naturally has a good awareness of where the defenders are, it can be very dangerous.
