They're hard to tip and easy to save.

Great teams can play to their potential by embracing it.

After having coached at the minor hockey, university and AHL levels, I’ve come to appreciate the fact that coaching equals selling. As hockey trends towards a more possession-oriented style, few tactical elements have become harder to sell to players than the dump-and-chase.

Why give up the puck if we already have it?

It’s a valid point that smart players, parents, and coaches will raise. So why teach the dump-and-chase at all?

Selling point 1: It still works in the NHL

The most compelling reason is that valuing pressure over possession at 5v5 can still provide teams with a competitive advantage, even in the most-skilled league in the world: the NHL.

According research conducted by hockey analyst Corey Sznajder, coach Darryl Sutter’s Calgary Flames are the NHL’s most forecheck-oriented team in 2021. This style is one that Sutter employed with his Stanley Cup-winning Los Angeles Kings teams in 2012 and 2014, but also meshes well with the tenacious and physical players that makes up more of the Flames’ roster.

According to the chart above, Calgary is the most-likely team to create a shot off the forecheck or an offensive-zone cycle and the second-least likely team (after the struggling Anaheim Ducks) to create a shot off the rush. This game plan fits with the identities of hard-hitting players such as Matthew Tkachuk and Milan Lucic.

But how can Sutter get finesse forwards such as Johnny Gaudreau to buy in?

As it turns out, the team whose offensive profile most closely mirrors the Flames is the Tampa Bay Lightning, the reigning Cup champion. Despite having more Gaudreaus than Tkachuks on their roster, the Lightning dump-and-chase liberally in order to gain the offensive blue line, recover possession in favourable postures, and establish control over the game with their offensive-zone cycle.

By incorporating more forechecking plays into their game, Tampa was able to overcome four defensive juggernauts (Columbus Blue Jackets, Boston Bruins, New York Islanders and Dallas Stars) in succession to earn the 2020 Stanley Cup.

Rather than committing to carrying the puck and forcing the issue even when the space is simply not there, Tampa Bay’s skilled players are quick to recognize when neutral-zone coverage does not allow for controlled plays and frequently use dumps, flips, and chips to exploit the ice behind opposing defencemen. By doing so, they succeed where high-octane teams such as the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Colorado Avalanche fall short.

Selling point 2: You can score off a turnover

For offensive-minded players, dumping and chasing doesn’t have to be an exercise in delayed gratification. As a matter of fact, forcing opposing defencemen to turn back and fetch the puck can immediately lead to Grade-A chances, especially when the retriever is a poor skater or does not habitually shoulder-check to identify options and threats.

The linchpin of Calgary’s heavy forecheck is their classic 1-2-2 formation. On contested offensive zone entries, the Flames shift the odds in their favour by chipping the puck past the backpedaling defenceman and forcing him to make a play on the retrieval.

F1 hunts the puck with enthusiasm while his teammates spread out to take away the boards. Calgary dares opposing players to either make a risky play into the middle or settle for a 50/50 board battle.

Calgary breaks out of the defensive zone with good puck support, then runs out of space against the Edmonton Oilers’ neutral-zone forecheck. Undeterred, Andrew Mangiapane (CGY88) chips the puck in and Lucic (CGY17) forechecks as F1.

Mangiapane’s well-placed flip creates confusion between EDM’s goalie and defensemen. Lucic gets first touch and funnels the puck to the net for F2 Mangiapane and F3 Mikael Backlund.

Calgary goal.

Selling point 3: You can score off an offensive zone cycle

In order to avoid costly turnovers in the middle, certain teams may default to using rims to clear the zone. Forechecking as a five-player unit against these risk-adverse teams is the best way to make them pay.

The 2-1-2 split forecheck, used by Calgary and many other NHL teams following a faceoff, effectively denies rims and bump plays. The objective of this formation is to force a 50/50 board battle and create either a quick low cycle chance (slip pass to F3) or sustained pressure off a high cycle.

Chris Tanev (CGY8) flips the puck into the offensive zone following a centre-ice faceoff win by Calgary. The Flames deploy their 2-1-2.

Dillon Dubé (CGY29) quickly forces a 50/50 battle at the half-wall. He is soon joined by Tkachuk (CGY19), who swings over after realizing that the D-to-D play isn’t available to Edmonton.

Elias Lindholm (CGY28) and Tkachuk pry the puck loose for Dubé. The Flames cycle the puck low-to-high, then high-to-low. Tkachuk fends off an Edmonton player behind the net, then finds Lindholm unmarked at the back post.

CGY goal.

Selling point 4: You can score off a counter-attack

A well-executed forecheck tests the opposing team’s physical readiness and technical abilities. But a consistently-deployed forecheck also tests the opponents’ mental fortitude. They are not out of danger even when they are able to break out with possession.

Even on an unsuccessful forecheck, all five Calgary skaters remain connected. They work as a unit to force a turnover in the neutral zone, then execute a track transition play — a quick counter-attack following a backcheck.

Off a chip-in, Dubé is first on the puck and Tkachuk is especially aggressive as F2, but the two Flames forwards are unable to gain possession.

Fortunately, Lindholm stays above the play as F3, strips Connor McDavid and springs Dubé on a breakaway.

Another CGY goal.

In conclusion

The dump-and-chase is alive and well.

Good players can round out their offensive skillset by forechecking to create chances off turnovers, offensive-zone cycles and track transitions.

Great teams can play to their potential by embracing dumping-and-chasing as a Plan B (or even Plan 1A) against stifling neutral-zone defences.