A Soundbite for Offense
Simple Cue to Paint a Picture
“Draw 2, Play Through.”
It could be the name of a childhood nursery rhyme involving hockey players.
But it’s for processing fluency. If something rhymes, your players will be more likely to remember it.
In an earlier post called Offense Made Simple, I conducted a thought experiment.
How can we shorten up feedback or cueing to make it stick with players?
My buddy Tanner linked these articles in a January Newsletter to his subscribers, check these out to go down a serious rabbit hole on concise communication.
Then one day recently I was watching a play where it happened.
A player caught the puck in space with his check skating out at him, he caught the pass and immediately started skating at a different opponent, drawing his attention as well.
Draw 2, play through.
Attract the attention of 2 defenders, make a play through that pressure to space.
How:
Play between 2 checks
Getting the puck in space between two defenders is confusing for the defense, they have to quickly communicate or just decide who will take the player coming into possession. If you’re in a dangerous enough area, oftentimes both players will try to defend you. Get the puck out of this newly compressed space to a teammate and let them play the advantage. (this pass doesn’t connect but a lack of skill execution doesn’t take away from what this player was trying to do)
24 draws the weak side winger to him allowing space for his weak side D to attack prime real estate.
Skate to another defender
Think about why the “cross and drop” or “overlap play” is so difficult to defend on the rush?
The players employ this tactic without much thought of it. Once you see that you can influence space, you can’t unsee it.
Skating across lanes or even just threatening to do so brings the two defenders closer together. Where space is compressed in one area, it must exist somewhere else.
Check it out in action:
Draw 2, Play Through.
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