Oct 13, 2017 | bantam1 | 539 views
10 Tips: How to Protect the Puck off a Rim Pass
by Leslie Global Sports
- When you get a puck on the boards in your own zone under pressure, you may need to protect the puck. Just pretend you are a Sedin.
- Keep your butt between the player and the puck.
- Watch for their stick and body positioning out the corner of your eye to see from where they are reaching, and fade away the other direction.
- Under pressure from a pressing F3 forward or pinch by the other team's defenseman, your goal should be to try to make a short quick pass to the closest open player as quickly as possible.
- If you can't get your feet up ice and get out of the zone or make a play because of the pressure, consider chipping it back down into the corner back to the D, or even harder around the net to the far side.
- Only chip to your centerman in the middle if you are 100% sure you can make the pass as you don't want to give it away in the middle.
- If you are totally unsure, just try to counteract the pressure from the pinch, and 'eat' the puck on the board, shielding it with your body and stick, while you call/wait for help. That is protecting the puck.
- Don't be afraid to literally yell 'HELP' so your centerman or Defenseman can be your eyes and give you direction.
- If you are up high much closer to the blue line, rather than the hash marks, the defenseman is much more likely to pinch, so you can actually 'counter-pinch' and try to knock their stick away or control it, allowing the puck to get over the blue line and out of harms way. If you have a bit of control you may be able to chip it 12-18 inches off the ice on the boards past his/her leg.
- My best advice again, is to simply watch the Sedins, they are the best in the world on the boards!!