Spacing, the final frontier !!!!

The title for this post is far to cliche, but in may ways spacing in the game of hockey is not only the final frontier, but it, in many ways, is the most critical area for success by a team. By spacing, I mean how your players are spaced out over the rink in the numerous facets of the game. A lot of folks have an understanding about this concept, but gaining an in depth understanding of how effective spacing can add to you team's play and success is the goal of this article.

First off, lets start with a couple of basic concepts that are the hallmark of teams that make sure their opponents have a difficult time playing against them. I remember a number of years ago attending a coaching clinic with presenter and former coach of the Jersey Devils, John Cuniff talking about the Devils philosophy about the neutral zone trap. I've never been a big fan of the trap, especially at the younger ages, but knew full well why it was so effective and why coaches loved it. Luckily, for the game with the rule changes, better skills and better spacing, the game has progressed to where the trap is not nearly the game changer than it was in the early 90's. Coached Cuniff started out his talk with reverencing the famous Sun Tzu book, the Art of War. This book was written as a guide on how to wage war. It touches on numerous ideas on not only military tactics, but the psychology and philosophy of successful tactics. It's ideas have been cited to have had impact in the world of politics, as well as, business. Needless to say, it was an easy transfer into the realm of sports.

Coach Cuniff pointed out that one of Sun Tzu's guiding principals on winning wars, was having the ability and knowledge of when and where to fight your battles. This mentality was, in his mind, the reason the Devils embraced the neutral zone trap. The idea was that if your forecheck had no chance at being successful in the first attack, let's retreat, get our spacing organized and attack you where you were most vulnerable. This tact was especially effective with the two line pass being not allowed. The trapping team were able to steer you to one side of the rink and gang up on you with numbers in a very small area between the red and blue line. This above example is presented, just to give you a glimpse at one aspect of having an organized spaced team can create problems for your opponent. Starting from that point, let's break it down even further to a couple of simple concepts that are a great beginning point to understand spacing basics.

Lets begin with the two polar opposites, offense vs defense. On the defensive side of your spacing focus, like the trap example above, the most successful tactic for winning the battle to regain possession of the puck is to take away your opponents space and options. The best image of this that I have heard of is the idea of imploding on defense. By this, I mean to implode is to become smaller I.e. you want a lot of defensive players banded together to make it as difficult as possible for your opponent to skate or pass through your team. However, like the trap, you must be patient and force your opponent into areas where can best be overwhelmed by numbers. Naturally this is on the outside of the rink, which limits their movements to keeping it wide and or skating or passing to the middle where you have gathered your troops to deny that option. Watch a pro team and observe how they are very tight together in D-zone coverage and protect the slot area tightly, while pressuring the puck hard along the boards with defensive support players close around them to grab loose pucks and cut off passing lanes.

On the opposite side of the implode idea is the concept of exploding when you switch to offense. I.e get as large as possible. The mentality here is that by getting large your opponent cannot mass the troops, making it harder for them to defend.

Lets now take those images and apply them to tactics. Starting on offense first and keeping in mind that by getting large as a group, it is critical that players without the puck spread out in an organized and disciplined fashion to make it easier for your team to advance the puck. Starting with an example of a defenseman stealing the puck in a defensive corner, lets examine one effective approach to keeping control of the puck and advancing it forward. First off, the wing on that side of the rink should quickly get wide and provide a short passing option up the boards (hopefully not in the skates). There's plenty of tactical reads this player must make, but we'll save these for another day. The important point here is to get to the boards quickly, as the only option a defenseman might have under pressure, might be a quick pass up to that wing. The next closest player is usually the center and that player must hustle to come forward to support the wing with the next passing option. With the wing wide and the center close enough (but not on top on the wing) to allow for the wing to make a short pass directly to the middle or chip off the boards. This probably seems pretty simple, but observing the younger levels, it is usually the area of the breakout that is most in need of correcting. First off, the wing usually does not get to his post quick enough and they also struggle to present a passing target for the stressed defenseman. At the higher levels, players are great at this, as well as, reading the options for the next pass they have to make. Also the center at the lower levels, just doesn't grasp how hard they have to work to get up ice. This is the prime reason that many coaches select centers that are great skaters and can cover ground quicker than their teammates. There are many other skills a good center needs, but skating is usually near the top of that list.

Going back to the exploding mentality, the tactic of choice for many teams now is to fly the weak side wing out of the zone as quickly as possible, not so much as an immediate passing option (although there are a few times this is a great choice) but more of forcing your opponent to track you, thus creating space in the neutral zone. This long player usually starts out wide and reads the play wether they need to stay wide, long or provide support by coming back toward their teammates or middle of the rink. There are also times where this player must come all the way across the rink to the far side to provide the next best option.

Lastly, lets not forget the role of the weakside defenseman. This player is often the critical player in breaking out at the higher levels. Unfortunately, far to many teams at the younger levels are not taught how to use this option as a useful tactic. I have to believe that many coaches think this is too difficult to teach. I'll point out that I've seen numerous squirt (9-10 year olds) that have been able to grasp it. In my mind, if your players are not being schooled in this area at the Pee Wee (11-12 year olds) and older, their being held back. The largest piece of teaching this tactic is making sure the defenseman in front of the goal defending, must read his team gaining possession and move themselves into a position where they become a passing option. Usually this entails sliding backwards toward the weakside post, facing up ice and ready to go below the goal line for a reverse pass away from traffic. Most teams, use the term "Back, Back" as a signal to the defenseman with the puck that by passing behind their goal the team will gain extra-time and space to make the first pass forward up the ice.

Putting the whole scheme in perspective we now have on player out by the redline a couple of players in close proximity of the puck and a defenesman utilizing the usually undefended 1/2 of the ice on the weakside. This positioning is not only large, but also tight enough around the puck that if they loose possession they can quickly defend in numbers.

Rather than going in depth about defending which we already covered in a small way, lets take our large concept to neutral zone offense. The spacing or shape of choice these days fits right into the getting as large as possible. Most teams choose to get their wings up ice near the far blueline, posting both along the boards, with the center a little closer to their defenseman in the middle. The center is an option for a pass to the middle from either D and are also in a position to support either wing if they are passed to. Some teams are a little more creative and usually have one of the wings and center changing lanes to create a little more movement, but this tactic is often tough to pull off if your defensemen are under hard pressure. For many teams the rule of thumb is if the defenseman has room to carry the puck forward, without pressure, the center and wing will switch lanes to allow for more speed if the D has to dump it in.

The great thing about having your team playing with great spacing is that it makes the game much easier to play on both sides of the puck. By spreading out and getting large on offense you create much more space and seams to carry or pass the puck through. The opposite is true on defense, where the tight mentality makes it very difficult to keep possession. If your coaching at the lower levels and worry about spending too much time on tactics and not enough on skill work, you are among the enlightened. However, keep in mind that you can teach much of these spacing and shape tactics off ice on a tennis or basketball court or even the rink parking lot for that matter. Once your team gets these concepts down their play will improve dramatically.