For: Minor and Youth Hockey coaches, parents, players, executives and webmasters.
From: John Shorey – Author “Hockey Made Easy” Canada’s Best Instruction Book
Playoff Tips - Forechecking creates Turnovers and Chances to Score
Minor and Youth Hockey playoffs will be starting any time now and for your Team to be competitive; you will need to forecheck aggressively and apply constant pressure on the puck carrier in order to create loose pucks and create chances to score.
For the past 40 + years, I have been studying all levels of Minor, Youth, Junior, World Cup, Olympic and NHL playoffs.Teams executing an aggressive, “in your face” and a “constant puck pursuit” forechecking system will stymie the best Teams. This has become the new modern method for winning Playoff Games even against higher seeded Teams.
If players can reduce the time and space to get to the puck carrier, s/he will have less time to think and less time to look for or find an open receiver. By reducing their skating space they will have no area to carry the puck to and no room to stickhandle it out of their defensive zone.
If coaches can convince young players, that the one or two closest players to the puck carrier must forecheck deep in the offensive corners and along the boards, separating him from the puck,
this will create loose pucks and turnovers leading to numerous scoring chances.
The third forward should remain high in the slot for a pass, for a shot on goal or to go to the net for a rebound. Or, if anything went wrong, to either forecheck the puck carrier or to backcheck, by covering the wide winger. This aggressive playoff forechecking can be used in bodychecking and non bodychecking or stick checking youth hockey to separate the man from the puck.
If the opposition happens to chip the puck out into the neutral zone, the closest player must go after the puck carrier as quickly as possible and pressure him to create a chance for a turn over.
Minor and Youth Hockey coaches will know if they have the skaters to use this aggressive playoff forechecking system and if they do it will bring good results. If you try this approach - and are or not successful, I want to know. Please e-Mail me with your comments or questions.
Turino Winter Olympics and our Hockey Made Easy e-Book Offer Men and Women's Olympic Hockey starts on February 10th and the gold medal round is on February 26. You have the opportunity to see some of the best men and women hockey players in the world and coaches of minor and youth hockey Teams have the opportunity to see what strategies winning coaches use.
Check out your local TV viewing times in the US on NBC and in Canada on CBC.
Note: The IOC has hired CBC to be the host broadcaster for hockey.
The men’s grouping will be very competitive with no less than 5 countries vying for the gold medal. Canada, the Czech Republic, Russia, Sweden and the USA are listed as potential gold medal favorites.
In the women’s group, I predict that Canada and the USA will end up competing for the gold.
Injuries will also play a big factor as to who wins the gold medal.
This has already taken a toll on several NHL players who were slated to play in the Olympic games.
Watch how the teams use different forchecking systems.
I believe the Team that forechecks the best usually wins the gold.
e-Book Offer During the Torino Winter Olympic Games February 10 - 26, we are offering our Hockey Made Easy Instruction Manual and the Parent’s and Coaches Teaching Guide, in our e-Book format, at about 50 percent off the listed price.
For just $9.95 Cdn. (regular $19.75) or about $8.50 US you can get “Canada’s Best Hockey Instruction Manual” consisting of 200+ pages, 2000 tips and 200 diagrams plus the 25 page Parent’s and Coaches Teaching Guide in e-book format until the end of the Winter Olympics. These books contain everything you need to know about playing hockey and how to teach it for your son or daughter to become a competent and skilled 2-way player, or a successful Youth or Minor Hockey coach.
To get this offer of your copy of Hockey Made Easy e-mailed to you in minutes after we process your order, simply go to
https://www.tdc.ca/secure7/orderebooks.htm#Hockey , fill in your contact and credit card info into our secure form and where you see "Promotional", just type in " Olympics " then SUBMIT and we will process your order within 48 hours or sooner.
Wishing everyone the best of luck in their playoffs.
Yours in hockey,
John Shorey-Author
Hockey Made Easy – Canada’s Best Learn to Play Hockey Instruction Manual
www.HockeyMadeEasy.com
