Coach Mitch Giguere examines the Mississauga Steelheads, explaining how to play spread on the power play and how to defend it.

Working in hockey and for The Coaches Site has allowed me to watch more hockey than I ever thought possible. I’ve also learnt more than I ever expected to. Something new I took in over the last couple weeks deals with how to play spread on the power play and how to defend it. After watching the Mississauga Steelheads running a spread on the power play, I’ve dug into the OHL for this article. Let’s break down how you can defend it.

PP Spread Mississauga Steelheads

They are just a bit below the average in the league in terms of the % of the power play at 20.6%. I will not dig into their setup because this differs from the article’s purpose. But if you can take a pen and paper, watch the four goals and write down why you think they scored a goal. From there, we will see below if what you type down is how you can defend it.

Patience On Top

Both forwards have to be patient on top of the circle. If they are too aggressive, that will open up the passing lane and create an odd man down low. Not good. I will ask to be on the top of the circle, and they can even go a bit further one or two feet. You work with the defence to form a square, as long as the puck is on the blueline. If they make a scissor play and switch, you can lay back or, like the video, force them to make a quick play but ensure you don’t give up an odd man down low.

Giving One Option

When the puck moves east-west and from high to low, the biggest thing is to give only one option. Watch F2 coming back through the middle and taking the middle player. When he comes back middle, his stick is inside to shut down the cross-ice down the passing lane. The forward on the strong side stays inside dot and not below the dot. D2 is covering the back door play. That means the puck carrier has only one option: to bring the puck back on top. D1 from the defending team can go all out as soon as the pass is made or, can only go when the puck is bouncing or not a clean tape-to-tape pass like in the video, forcing the opponent to create a turnover.

Technical Body Position

That is an excellent visual of what the position on the ice should look like for every player. Now that the puck is down low, you can ask your D1 to go all out or not. D2 is on the outside post/back post, hips turned and sealing that option. F1 is in the circle, stick on the ice and in the middle and inside dots, giving D1 the only option while taking care of the forward in the middle. F2 is coming back middle, with a great stick and shutting down the option to bring the puck across high, from the corner to D2. From there, you can see F1 not facing the puck down low, but keeping their hips turned. You allow him to stay on the defensive side and in a great position on the ice. When they make the D-to-D pass, F1 comes back middle with his stick inside (giving only one option), and F2 is coming up high. Great switch by both forwards.

Going Harder

Some teams will ask their F1 to be more aggressive on top. It’s okay, but if you are not on the task, that will lead to getting blown away. In this case, F2 plays slightly lower again, not giving an odd man down low. Everyone has their hips turned the right way. When D1 creates a battle, F1 and F2 are besides to support and win the battle before the opponent.

Diamonds Are Forever?

Most of the videos are based on the high bumper. For the last one, let’s watch how a diamond can be effective or not when you have a goalie presence. F1 is still high, top of the circle. But F2 is a bit lower, ready to jump on the player on the dot. The only tricky part is that D1 has not been that close to the one-timer. D in front of the net is boxing out whenever he can. After the pass, we can see D1 being in the passing lane and F1 coming back middle with his stick inside, in the passing lane. Again, no odd man down there. Everyone is moving a bit; if one player doesn’t do his job, they can use that window and attack the net.