Ice Hockey Defense Position

The rink inside the rink.

Ice hockey defense position. This beginner s guide to playing good defense in hockey is a perfect place to start if you re new to the position of defenseman or if you re just. The following list describes each of the hockey positions. They also tend to be the quarterback or general of the offensive play as a team moves the puck up the ice. They are often referred to as defencemen d d men or blueliners.

An ice hockey team is made up of six players each with a specific position and job. Exceptions include overtime during the regular season and when a team is shorthanded in which two defensemen are typically joined by only two forwards and a goaltender. In national hockey leagu. Centers are usually strong skaters who can skate well with the puck and have very good instincts on the ice.

Generally speaking forwards are shorter than defensemen and are usually quicker and shiftier on their skates in order to get past the defensemen on the opposing team. The center has several responsibilities. The forwards center and wingers are attacking positions and have a goal of shooting on the other team s goal. But learning how to play defense in ice hockey isn t as easy as it sounds.

He or she is responsible for taking faceoffs and for covering the middle of the ice in both the offensive and defensive zones. They were once called cover point. Playing the center position requires excellent skating and stickhandling skills but a center needs to be a thinker too. Perhaps the toughest position in all of sports the goalie is.

Defence in ice hockey is a player position whose primary responsibility is to prevent the opposing team from scoring. The main objective for a forward in ice hockey simply put is to score on the opposing team s goaltender. There are six different positions in hockey called the goalie center left winger right winger left defenseman and right defenseman. In fact it s one of the questions i hear most often from readers which is what pushed me to write this post.

The job of offense is to score goals and the defense is there to protect the goal. In regular play two defensemen complement three forwards and a goaltender on the ice. Center is a demanding position as they are expected to help on defense carry the puck up ice frequently and be a leader on the ice. Each position has a different role on the ice and set of responsibilities.

Diagram of hockey positions hockey forwards. The idea when defending in hockey is to keep body positioning between the man and your net often referred to as keeping the defensive side i like to refer to it as a net you man relationship with the offensive player.