“Have 6, Play 6.” That’s what one hockey lifer recently said and they’re 1000% right.

Rolling the D is tough, you could say it’s an art form especially in upper level hockey when match ups are involved. Perhaps the most difficult hand to play is when the deck is shuffled due to penalty trouble. Show me an outstanding team and I’ll show you a coaching staff that’s a cohesive unit when it comes to 5 player units and a massive part of that are the two D that come over the boards.

We know all of the ingredients that make up a solid trio up front, but on the backend things aren’t always as advertised. Creating the pairings, managing the pairings, to matchups, it’s hard to roll them back there, but that’s where the trust factor comes into play.

At the Major Junior level the match up game is vital, but there has to be an unwavering trust factor present for the players and coaches to excel. Setting players up for success in the right situations builds confidence, but exposing the group to something they might not be ready for would be like running the good old hitting gauntlet over and over and over again. A matter of fact that’s what some young D corps look like when they’re thrown to the wolves.

"The Wolf vs the Lamb" approach, but what about in between?

You don’t want to throw them to the wolves, but you can’t be over protective either, nevertheless, there’s always some space in between. You see that’s why the “have 6, play 6” mentality is so important. The search for the space in between is a teams optimal performance level, it’s all about rhythm on the backend and maintaining that rhythm and consistency.

Now don’t get me wrong there will always be discrepancies amongst TOI with your 6 D rotation especially at the Major Junior level and beyond, but a well balanced rotation back there is the foundation of something very special that every team and coach is in search of.

“Have 6, play 6”