How to Beat a 2-1-2 Forecheck

Coaches' Corner, Defensive Zone, Philosophy, Team Strategy, Team Systems
How to Beat a 2-1-2 Forecheck During the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, I did a video dissection of Ryan Carter's game-winning goal against the New York Rangers. The video got quite a few hits that night, and I had a number of requests to dissect the play from the defensive point of view. People wanted to know what went wrong, and what the Rangers could have done differently to prevent the goal. So I put together a follow up video, showing how I would have beaten the 2-1-2 Forecheck the Devils were using. Since we're ramping up for the new season, I thought it would be a good idea to brush up on beating the most commonly run forechecking system, the 2-1-2. 2-1-2 Stack vs Spread There are two types…
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Figure 8 Angling Drill

Figure 8 Angling Drill

Checking & Angling, Hockey Drills, Individual Skill Drills, Skating & Agility, Team Skill Drills
One of my favorite Hockey Body Checking Drills to work on body positioning and angling Remember, as you progress into hockey body checking drills, to stress that the purpose of body checking in hockey is to separate the man from the puck. To do this effectively, players need a strong base in the following areas: "Raw" Skating Ability Agility Body Positioning (Angling, Gap Control, etc...) Stick Positioning Make the Hit Here's the explanation: 1. Players start facing each other on dot 2. (F) picks up a puck and drives wide 3. (D) skates around cones as shown, then angles 4. (F) has to drive around lower cone before cutting to the net Variations: (a) take out the cone at hashmarks (b) allow forward to cut inside earlier Cheers!   USE…
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