Links - 2 on 1 Dissected (Part 1) HockeyShare Blog by Kev - North River Minor Hockey Association

2 on 1 Dissected (Part 1) HockeyShare Blog by Kevin Muller Official HockeyShare Blog Blog NavigationHome Comments & Thoughts 2 on 1 Dissected (Part 1) 2 on 1 Dissected (Part 1)Dec11Posted by Kevin Filed under Comments & ThoughtsTags If youre new here you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed Thanks for visiting!Every week I get several questions via email asking about different parts of the game One topic that comes up very often is the 2 on 1 how to defend it different plays passing vs shooting etc Over the next few weeks I will be breaking down various aspects of the 2 on 1 rush In this first post I will focus on a simple play for when you think youre out of options offensively2 on 1s are one of the most exciting & coveted scoring opportunities in the game When a 2 on 1 occurs coverage has been blown somewhere or someone has gotten beat This situation presents itself with several very unique situations both offensively and defensively It is one of the most challenging plays to defend against skilled forwardsLets start with the classic version of the 2 on 1 rush Picture two forwards roughly as wide as the hash marks with one defender playing in the middle of the ice As the forwards get closer to the net the natural tendency is to converge on the net This makes sense because the shooting angle gets better as we get in closer to the middle of the ice Most times weakside forwards are taught to crash the net This typically entails driving to the far post with hisher stick on the ice Heres a diagram so were all on the same pageAs the forward gets closer to the net heshe has several things to analyze1) Is the goalie cheating to the pass2) Is there a passing lane for the backdoor play3) Is the goalie leaving big holes to shoot at4) Is the defender going to take me my partner or stay in the middleOften times the puckcarrying forward will find himherself running out of time and space as all 3 players converge on the goaltender In this classic 2 on 1 formation if the defenseman stays in the passing lane heshe is essentially forcing the puck carrier to shoot the puck When the strongside forward shoots the puck this is implying two things1) the goaltender takes the shooter2) the defenseman takes away the passing option (F2 in the above diagram)Note I will get into defensive theories for 2 on 1s in a later post but for now lets assume this is how the defenseman is playing the rushNow that weve decided the puck carrier is going to shoot its necessary to discuss the right and wrong way to approach a shot If F1 in the diagram above is a righthanded shot heshe will have the illusion of having more net to shoot at shortside than is really there (assuming the goalie is playing hisher angles correctly) This is caused by the puck being on the inside of the ice and the goalie lining up on the puck not t...