Utilize your outside edge to balance and change directions.

his beautiful game of hockey is constantly changing.

Today’s game has become dominated by technical and tactical skills, which pushes our work as skills coaches to be both innovative and purposeful. One of the changes we have recently witnessed is less utilization of straight skating (striding) patterns, and more utilization of “linear crossover” patterns, particularly through the neutral zone and on entries into the offensive zone.

Greg Revak recently wrote a terrific article on the use of linear crossovers to increase speed and deception. Greg referenced a study done by Darryl Belfry, a world-renowned skills coach who executed a study comparing the crossover to stride ratio of NHL players, and he found:

1. The top 25 NHL players crossover once every four strides
2. Third- or fourth-line NHL players cross-over once every 12 to 14 strides on average

Linear crossovers are a skating tactic that have been recently adopted by numerous players within the NHL and elsewhere. It allows offensive players to change attack angles, move in multiple directions, and ultimately control the defender’s foot pattern.

Players are constantly looking for ways to create advantages and space, and an effective way to do so is by using their technical and tactical skills. Attacking offensively using forward motion, while also moving laterally with the puck, can be quite difficult to defend against.

Deception

Deception is ultimately executing what is unexpected, after initially indicating something different.

We talk about deception in two forms: deception with the puck and deception without the puck. For the purpose of this article, we will focus on deception with the puck, specifically pertaining to linear crossover skating.

Deceptive skating skills are utilized to get away from pressure or to withstand pressure (puck protection). After we get away from the pressure, space is created, but we must also effectively utilize the space we’ve created. Skating deception (with the puck) can occur in one of the following methods:

1. Changing body language: head fakes, shoulder fakes, eye fakes, stick fakes
2. Changing pace: gliding skills (inside edge holds), sliding skills (inside and outside edge slides, jab steps)
3. Changing direction: weight shifts, jab steps, punch turns, escapes, linear crossovers
4. Manipulating of typical skating patterns

Like many other areas of the game, we would argue that we should now also add deception through skill manipulation into our linear crossovers. Defenders are now finding ways to pick up predictable patterns and defend against this skating skill. The most elite players are adding false/deceptive information in the most unique ways, whenever possible!

Linear crossovers

Typical (single) linear crossovers often follow the same predictable skating pattern: right foot (inside edge push), left foot (outside edge push), right foot (inside edge push), left foot (inside edge), weight shift, and repeat in opposite direction.

Good defencemen are taught to eliminate time and space, to limit the cues they give to their opponents, and to maintain control of their feet; all while also paying attention to opponent body language patterns. Good defencemen have also begun to pick up and capitalize on this predictable linear crossover pattern.

How can we add or subtract (manipulate) parts from this typical pattern to create an advantage through deceptive confusion?

Linear crossover manipulation

We sometimes rely too heavily on executing the typical linear crossover pattern. We also tend to err on the side of comfortability – often over-relying our inside edges to keep our balance, change directions, and weight shift in a consistent pattern.

This deficiency inhibits us from randomly changing directions and quickly pushing away from opponents.

What if we manipulated this typical linear crossover pattern? What if we became way less predictable with our linear crossover skating patterns? What if we altered the typical linear crossover foot pattern and removed inside edge weight shifts?

What if we alternatively utilized our outside edge to balance and change directions using a “scissor push” technique?

• As Mitch Marner begins linear crossing to his left in the above video, the defender also begins backwards crossing over to his right – to mirror Marner’s movements and eliminate space.
• In the middle of the defender’s backwards crossover sequence, Marner quickly scissor-pushes back towards his right side, without completing his linear crossover to the left (inside edge weight shift).
• Marner moves the puck to open space to facilitate his foot movements.
• This unexpected movement creates chaos in the defender’s feet, as he is attempting to mirror his skating patterns to the typical linear crossover pattern that he expects Marner to execute.

In order to execute this manipulation, we must first feel equally as comfortable shifting our weight to our outside edge and utilizing the outside edge push with high speed. Here is an example of a manipulated linear crossover pattern, like what Marner executed in the previous video clip:

Reading cues

This manipulation is not applicable if we can’t/don’t also read visible cues from the defender and the situation. Some of these visible cues should include poor stick position, poor feet position, direction/movement of feet, excessive weight shifting (utilization of unnecessary crossovers, lanes give/taken), location on ice, vision, etc.

We should also try to avoid initial attacks towards areas where the defender makes available or where they want us to go. Instead, our initial attacks should be towards the areas that are initially covered, then subsequently moving with deception into the areas that are most available. Fake at the coverage, then move away into the open space.

WHEN should we attack the defender using the scissor push?

• No too far away from defender, but also not too close:
  • Too far away = ability for defender to recover.
  • Too close = ability for defender to pressure.
• We need to be just far enough away so that we can capitalize on the movement of the defender’s feet, body, and stick.
• When the defender is exiting a weight shift/crossing their feet.
• Depending on your hockey sense and skill execution level, you must determine when you can optimally execute this skill.

Where do we direct our fakes?

• The linear crossover manipulation must be directed towards the coverage/foot direction first, then subsequently using the manipulation to move away into the open space in the opposite direction of the defender.
• Cross-over towards the same direction as the defender’s foot movement/weight shift, then quickly push away in the opposite direction of their foot movement/weight shift.
• See Marner video analysis above.

Development progression

How do we progressively introduce, develop, and refine the scissor push manipulation? It requires extreme confidence on our outside edges, while at high speed. It requires less reliance on our inside edges. It requires keeping the weight off the heel of our blades. It requires quick movements of the puck to open space.

Here’s how we would progress this innovative skating tactic:

1. Puck-handling warmup: Range of motion, quick-hands, extensions.

2. Gliding warmup: Outside edge turns, inside edge turns – execute both with puck.

3. Pushing warmup: Outside edge Scissors (forwards and backwards) – execute different speeds, also with puck.

4. Continuous foot movement (crossovers): Through cone patterns (add multiple changes of direction) – execute with only one foot on the ice at a time, no gliding or weight shifts, also with puck.

5. Typical linear crossover repetitions: One crossover, two crossovers, one and two crossovers combined, crossing the feet first, moving the puck first (isolating upper and lower body), over-handling and under-handling of the puck, mix-up of all.

6. Scissor push – development: Add outside edge scissor push manipulation technique to typical linear crossover repetitions (length of ice, small area, off a shot) – with puck.

7. Utilize the scissor push manipulation within token (predictable) pressure (reading cues).

8. Utilize the scissor push manipulation in live (unpredictable) pressure (reading cues).

Please email skatetoexcel@gmail.com if you’d like to see video clips of this entire skill development progression.

Conclusion

We want to encourage players to be creative, but we also want them to be creative in more innovative and unpredictable ways. Teaching generic technical skills is not useful enough for elite level players anymore; we must now teach them how to execute technical skills in deceptive, tactical, and strategic manners. Manipulating/altering typical skill patterns is a highly effective tactic to create confusion and control and opponents foot pattern. Adding a scissor push to linear crossover patterns will cause nightmares for defencemen who’ve just started to become more comfortable defending against opponents utilizing typical linear crossover patterns.

What other skating skills can we manipulate to add further deception to our game?