Coaching Ice Hockey: How to Play Shorthanded in the Defensive Zone

In ice hockey, a situation that comes up fairly often is being shorthanded. A team is shorthanded when one of the players on their team is given a penalty. When this happens, one or more of the players must leave the ice, so that the opposing team has an advantage in the number of players on the ice at a given time. The opposing team will often run a power play strategy that will make it hard for the defensive team to cover all of the other players. It is very important that if you are coaching ice hockey that you teach your team how they should properly defend this power play when in their defensive zone.

The basic idea when a team is shorthanded in their own defensive zone is to form a box shape. Two players should be up between the tops of the circles and the face off dot, and the other two players should be below them in front of the net. It is very important that the players maintain their general position, because if they don't they will open up potential passing lanes that their opponents can exploit and potentially score a goal.

When coaching ice hockey shorthanded play, you will want to explain to your players that they should attempt to keep their opponents on the outside of the box that they form. It is much harder for a player to score from a bad angle, so by keeping them on the outside they will have a much harder time getting off potentially goal scoring shots.

Defending players should allow the opposing team to pass the puck around on the outside with little resistance, as that is where they should want the puck to remain. However, players should also capitalize on mistakes and seek to clear the puck out of the zone if the opportunity arises. For example, if an offensive player mishandles a pass and the puck is loose, the defensive player should leave his or her zone and attempt to gain control of the puck. Since icing is not in effect for shorthanded teams, then he or she should shoot the puck back down the ice and get ready to regroup and continue working off the power play.

Sources:

USA Hockey
Ice Hockey Helmet