Ice Hockey Offensive Zone Entry

Puck possession needs to be a key underlying philosophy not only for playing hockey at a high level but also for its enjoyment.

Ice hockey offensive zone entry. Ice hockey diagram entering offensive zone drill. The three players high in the zone can be positioned in a triangle shape and rotate. There are three zones within the ice hockey rink such as those divided by the blue lines. Not turning the puck over when entering the offensive zone is every coach s goal.

Entering the offensive zone in control of the puck is every player s goal. Playing ice hockey you can always make any needed plan of the ice hockey field mentioning the positions of the players for planning the next game and so to be able to discuss the fails of the previous ones. This time the forward who made the drop pass stays in the high slot and gets a return pass. In this scenario f1 carrying the puck should seek the enter the zone wide usually near the dots.

Within the flow of the game especially when entering the offensive zone the objective is to outnumber your opponent create odd man chances and increase your probability for success i e 2 on 1 3 on 1 3 on 2 advantages and so on. Again the puck carrier cuts to the middle and makes a drop pass to the center forward. We play this game to battle for and enjoy possession of the puck. Pass the puck to the outside and outside player escapes to the wall cycles the puck low look for a return pass high in the slot.

As the offensive player attacks they cross over as though they are going to attack through the middle of the ice and then use cross overs to explode to the outside and gain the zone. This creates confusion and opens up passing lanes from low to high. There is a central zone known to be called the neutral one or centre ice. The idea in this offensive zone system is to control the puck down low.

Eventually the puck will go from low to high to an open play but it starts with puck possession and protection down low with two forwards. A player skates with the puck from at least his own blue line and attempts to gain the zone with control without passing it at all. Wide drive f1 f2 f3 the most common type of zone entry is often called wide drive and it is the bread and butter of understanding a systems based offensive zone entry. Pass puck to the outside and drive hard to the net for a return pass.

Zone entries are a sometimes overlooked aspect of the game that often lead to the best offensive opportunities. Pass the puck to the outside and drive to the net outside player cuts to the middle and looks to shoot through player drving to the net or a tip.