Scoring Strategies For Hockey

When deciding when and how to take a shot, a lot of decisions must be made, and the quicker these decisions can be made, the better a chance you have of scoring. However, since there's very little time in the moment to analyze what must be done, a lot of the analysis should be done before you're in a scoring opportunity. You must rehearse your scoring strategies in practice until they become instinct. Every tenth of a second you spend analyzing the scoring strategy in the moment gives the goalie an extra tenth of a second to react, so it's important to understand your scoring strategies before hand.

Some of the common questions are:

• Shoot or deke?

• High, middle or low shot?

• Top of the slot or near the goal?

The answers to those questions require the asking of more questions, the sum of which is your scoring strategy, and that will be different for every goalie and every game. Your scoring strategy will change depending on how the opposing team plays defense, what style their goaltender plays, and of course, whether you're on your game or not.

Are you a better deker or a shooter?

Most goals are scored on shots, rather than dekes, so unless deking is your strong suit, it's best to take the shot.

How does the defense play?

Do you have time to come in close, or is there a checker headed for you necessitating a quick shot?

Does the goaltender stay in his crease or come out to challenge?

If he stays in his crease, it's going to be harder to deke him. On the other hand, if he comes out to challenge or cut down the angle, it may be more effective to deke.

How's your shooting and puck control?

If your shooting has been off, it may be better to go in for a deke, and if you can shoot and score at will, it may be better to take the shot. If you're fighting the puck, it might be better to shoot, rather than risk losing it by going for the deke. Also, if you've been taking shots all night, the goalie might be expecting shots, so it may be better to fake him out with a deke.

In a tight game, remember to go with what works (play the hot hand), and if you have time or the game's well decided, feel free to experiment a little and test new things.

Once you've decided whether to shoot or deke, then you can decide what type of shot to take. We'll be back next issue continuing this series with more on the importance and how to maximize your backhand to make goalies "eat puck"! In the meantime, remember to "do your homework".

HOCKEY HOMEWORK

Agility Skating: Zig Zagging

Let me ask you a question: At any point, have you ever needed to get past an opposing defenseman or forward? The answer, of course, is yes. A major part of hockey is the ability to beat opposing players so that you can either advance the puck or create a scoring opportunity. Unfortunately, when it comes to beating defensemen (and, by proxy, opposing forwards as well), the typical player's repertoire consists almost exclusively of body fakes and speed changes. Learning and mastering other maneuvers to get around a checker helps build your arsenal of offensive weapons and improves your ability substantially.

Take a Zig, Then a Zag

One of the most useful ways to fake out a checker is probably one of the most difficult to master, so let's start with that one first, shall we? The technique is called "zig zagging," which is like a half-step cross-over in each direction. Start by skating in a straight line, then quickly bring one foot over in front of the other as if you were going to start cross-overs to that side.

Keep your knees bent and lean your body in the direction of the cross-over. Then, as soon as your skate hits the ice, lean back in the other direction, and cross your other foot over the first one. So for example, if you first bring your left foot in front of your right foot, as soon as your left foot touches down, lean back to the left and bring your right foot in front of your left.

Can you see how the illusion of starting a cross-over to one side would fake the checker into believing you were going one way, when in fact, you're not? However, like I said, this can be a fairly difficult maneuver to master, so practice it first slowly, then pick up speed as you improve.

Zig Zag Drill

A really quick and easy drill is to alternate between free skating and zig zagging. Start at the one end of the rink at the goal line and take two regular strides, zig zag once, then take two more strides, zig zag once, and continue down the rink.

Zig Zag at Whistle

A variation of the above drill is to have someone with a whistle watching. A long whistle would indicate free skating, one short whistle would indicate one zig zag, two short whistles would indicate two zig zags, three short whistles would indicate three zig zags, and so on. Take it as slow as you need to and build up to speed.