How aggressively should a defender close out their gap? The answer is, it depends.

Defending against speed on the rush has never been more important as a defenceman. Players are becoming faster, higher-skilled, and smarter when attacking on the rush, and defenders must continue evolving to keep up.

A fundamental rule that is engrained in every defender is to play a tight gap between themselves and the puck carrier in a one-on-one situation. Ideally, two stick lengths away. We also know from empirical evidence found by The Coaches Site contributor Ryan Stimson that the distance between the defender and the puck carrier has a positive correlation with the likelihood of a controlled break-in.

But how aggressively should a defender close out their gap? Are there optimal times to play a looser gap? How can defenders eliminate the most amount of options for an opposing player on the rush?

Defencemen should be concerned with two things when defending the rush: identifying their opponent’s options and then using the resources of the situation to eliminate as many as possible. How one takes up space is important. In this article are five points of focus for young defencemen looking to effectively take up space against the rush.

1. Identify the developing play

Defencemen are exposed to a unique view of the game as a majority of their time is spent watching the play unfold in front of them. This position allows an aware defenceman to identify not only where danger lurks on the rush but also where their support lies from backchecking teammates. Each rush is unique and has its own set of variables that impact how to most effectively defend the attack. The information in front of the defender must be digested before committing to an action.

Initial information for defencemen to look for are:

• Does the puck carrier have speed or are they starting from a standstill?
• Are they on their strong or off-wing?
• What support do they have and what are their passing options?
• What area can they skate into (are they close to the boards or in open ice)?
• Is their man about to receive a pass?

By assessing these elements, defencemen are equipped with the knowledge of the different threats that attackers are capable of. But before defenders decide whether or not to step up early and meet the attacker before the defensive blue line, one more element must be assessed.

2. Read the backchecking pressure

A key contributor to successfully defending against the rush, it has been proven that strong backchecking pressure is a correlating factor in preventing controlled break-ins. A core concept of defence is eliminating options for the puck carrier and backchecking is one of the most effective ways to do so. Backchecking teammates can take away passing options for the puck carrier or even force the puck carrier into lower-danger areas of the ice.

This makes the job of the defencemen exponentially easier as they have to worry about far fewer threats. Paying attention to the direction of the backchecking pressure is paramount as the defender can then identify what options the attacking player has left.

For example, if there is a forward supporting in the neutral zone taking away the middle of the ice, the strong side defender could stand up at the red line to aggressively attempt to take away a pass. Alternatively, if there is a teammate pressuring along the dot lane from the inside, the puck side defender could work in tandem and continue to force the puck carrier towards the boards and away from the middle of the ice. If the backcheck pressure is late, then the defender may have to respect the options of the puck carrier and play a looser gap.

In the above video, MIN46 sees that his teammate MIN36 is taking away the middle of the ice and the puck carrier, VAN43. Upon reading the attacking routes and that MIN36 is providing back pressure through the middle, MIN46 takes away VAN53 streaking down the right-wing.

3. Skating habits

One tactic that forwards use to win one-on-one battles against defenders is to take advantage of vulnerable feet. They attempt to manipulate the defender’s skates by threatening to attack in one direction and once the defenceman commits to the directional change, the forward quickly goes back and attacks in the opposite direction. The trigger of information that they are looking for is the crossing over of the defender’s feet or defender’s toes positioned perpendicular to the direction of play.

Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that being mindful of feet positioning for a defenceman is critically important. Making a habit of squaring one’s toes to the skater as quickly as possible rather than having them facing east or west makes a defender much better suited to handle puck carriers switching directions. It would be wise for defencemen to not have lazy feet in the neutral zone.

This is also where the backward C-cut is a defenceman’s best friend. Although the most basic form of backward skating, if practiced and improved, the backward c-cut is one of the best tools to use against speed on the rush. It allows for defenders to match speed with the attacker and adjust positioning without having to cross over their feet. By finding opportune times to mix in the use of c-cuts and breaking the habit of relying on backward crossovers to create speed, defenders will be much less susceptible to being crossed over.

4. Stick placement

Where a defender places their stick is a subtle yet extremely effective vehicle for taking away time and space.

This is also where synthesizing information gleaned from the first two tips comes into play.

Say a defender reads that the opposition is looking to make a blue line to blue line stretch pass and identifies a passing lane close to them. The defender could place his stick in the lane taking away this option. The defender could even go a step further if they see that this passing lane is the opposition’s best option. The defenceman could leave the lane open in order to bait the pass and then intercept it due to anticipation. Having a purpose for one’s stick positioning is a simple way a defenceman can take their game to the next level.

In a one-on-one situation, the stick is used as a tool to contain the puck carrier by:

• Keeping the blade on the inside lane of the puck carrier
• Having the blade tight on the puck as the gap closes to disrupt
• Within the max extension of the arm so that the defender has the ability to take away more room with a poke check

The goal of a poke check isn’t necessarily to take the puck away but to make the puck carrier uncomfortable. Taking the puck away is a happy end result but shouldn’t be the only determining factor of a successful poke check.

In the video above, VAN51 applies good skating habits and a well-positioned stick to defend TOR34 on the rush. He takes one quick crossover at the blue line to adjust the gap and then uses backward C-cuts to stick with the Toronto forward. His stick is taking away the middle of the ice and as the gap closes, VAN51’s blade is on top of the puck taking away space and getting in the shooting lane.

5. Angling

The last proponent to eliminating space is a culmination of all of the above. After reading the offensive rush and backchecking pressure and making sure that the feet and stick are in a good position, the defender can look to angle the puck carrier towards the boards, eliminating the last amount of space.

The video above shows VAN43 seeing that he has strong backchecking pressure provided by his forwards and that TOR16 is being pushed outside of the dot lane. His feet and stick are in good position to continue angling TOR16 towards the boards and forces a Toronto offside.