Systems and Situations
How five players act as one
Team structure in every zone and every situation. Where a system determines your job, the system is named and an alternative is given — because most breakdowns are two players working from different assumptions.
The 10 documents in this section
BreakoutsA breakout is your team's organised exit from your own end. You run it several times a shift. It is often called the most-run play in hockey, though no published count ranks plays by…Zone EntriesA zone entry is your team bringing the puck across the opponent's blue line into their end. Coaches often say attacks are won or lost there.Offensive Zone PlayOnce you have the puck at the other team's end — carried or dumped in, or won back on the forecheck — the problem changes shape.Forechecking SystemsForechecking is the pressure your team applies at the other team's end of the rink while they have the puck and you do not — the opposite of racing back to defend your own net.Neutral Zone SystemsThe neutral zone is the middle third of the ice, between the two blue lines — fifty feet of it, and about three seconds for a strong skater.Defensive Zone CoverageCoverage is the agreement your five skaters have about who protects what while the other team has the puck in your end.Defending the RushA rush is an attack that arrives before the defence is set — the goalie is still moving and nobody has picked up an opponent.Special TeamsSpecial teams means the two teams have different numbers of skaters. A power play is when you have the extra one; a penalty kill is when you are one short — written "5-on-4", counting…FaceoffsA faceoff, or draw, starts and restarts play: an official drops the puck between the sticks of two opponents.Game ManagementGame management is the layer above systems: how the score and the clock change the risk you take.