Feature Story
Power plays (part I)
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist
It has been some years since I’ve gone
through basics of power plays.
Power plays and penalty kills are an
important part of virtually every game. If two teams are reasonably even and
one team is better than the other at special teams, they will gain at least a
one goal advantage each game. This can mean the difference in 25 percent of
games. So, if a team is playing 24 games a season, six can be won by very good
special teams. If the schedule is 48 games, then 12 games might be decided by
special teams.
I have in the past described power plays
as “primarily the creative and intelligent conversion of the man advantage
through breaking it down to the 2-on-1 situation.” If players start
understanding how to deal with 2-on-1’s at an early age, I believe their power
plays will evolve reasonably well. It is surprising how few youth players deal
properly with 2-on-1’s even at the high school/midget level, however. In all
three zones, as the power play attack unfolds, creation and conversion of
successful 2-on-1’s at different points on the ice are paramount.
The first step in coaching power plays is
to make certain that the players understand what is to be accomplished on an
overall basis at different stages, and why. After they have this understanding,
the teaching process will become much easier. The key basic understanding areas
involve:
• Gaining
control of the puck in any area of the ice. Players must know that two players
must pursue the puck (when opposition has control) and the other players move
one-on-one to the other opposition players. This is the quickest way to force
the opposition to give up the puck. The most important concept of a power play
is to have control of the puck in the offensive zone for as long as possible.
• Moving the
puck quickly and surely up the ice and into the offensive zone. Players must
know that well-planned passes get the puck there more quickly and with less
risk. Any one-on-one stickhandling, especially in the
defensive end of the ice, is not only risky, but also fails to take advantage
of the penalty man advantage. The puck should be dumped into the offensive zone
only when specific plays have been developed to gain control based on the dump
in.
• Setting up
under control in the offensive zone. Players must know that the best chance for
scoring is in a pre-set pattern in the offensive zone. Set power play patterns
are designated to take the best advantage of the man advantage situation. Shots
on net before the pattern is set up, unless excellent scoring chances, are likely to turn control of the puck over to the
opposition.
With this basic understanding in place,
the coach is now ready to set up some patterns and rules for moving the puck up
the ice and attacking in the offensive zone. The following general rules
are what make power plays successful. They must be followed by coaches when
they set up their patterns and critique practices. They also must be followed
by players during power play execution:
1. Having established patterns for all
three zones, the coach must decide how the puck is to be moved out of the
offensive zone, through the critical neutral zone and over the offensive blue
line, and set up in the offensive zone.
2. Having players that know their roles
in each zone — and play their roles properly. Sometimes, the role of decoy is
the most important, for example.
3. Having a good “quarterback” for each
power play unit. These key players are the ones that the power plays rotate
around.
4. Putting two players hard on the puck.
5. Turning the puck around and moving it quickly
into the offensive zone; under control but quickly.
6. Slowing the puck down and setting up
the pattern in the offensive zone (unless an imminent scoring chance exists).
7. Moving the puck quickly and accurately
in the offensive zone. Quick and accurate passing “disables” the box.
8. Working toward the 2-on-1 advantage in
all three zones, but especially in the offensive zone.
9. Attacking the net whenever good
opportunities exist.
10. Pushing the puck back “outside” (to
the points) to regroup and restart pattern attacks
in the offensive zone.
11. Practicing
patterns (constantly monitoring overall rules) often.
Next week we will look at patterns and
concepts for moving the puck in the defensive and neutral zones. We will also
start looking at offensive zone patterns and get into specifics of power plays
in Part 2.
John Russo, Ph.D., is founder and
director of the