For Calgary Flames Assistant Coach Cail MacLean, predictability is the most important precursor for creating offence off the attack. The normal skills all apply - play with pace, move the puck efficiently, and get going north - but here’s how MacLean and the Flames teach it.

The difference between being predictable and being creative is the reality of all the players being on the same page. Start with the breakout; a defenceman who makes a different play every time they retrieve the puck in the defensive zone is going to drive their centres bonkers. For MacLean it’s important to break the puck out in a smart way - sometimes different options are going to present themselves, and that’s fine. The key is make the attack predictable so other players can anticipate where the puck is going (like some famous guy once said).

This whole presentation was counter-intuitive to me at first. Don't we want our players to be difficult to predict, or difficult to read? I don't want the opponent to know what I'm doing on the breakout, let's keep it a secret. The problem I've now realized is that if the breakout is a secret to the opponent it's probably a secret to the other four skaters without the puck as well. For MacLean and the Flames, it's a trade-off they're comfortable with. In his presentation he showed really strong teams like Dallas and Boston being predictable. Everyone on the other bench knows what they're going to do, but so does their own bench, and they'd rather be in sync and rely on their execution than to hope some random play goes the right way. 

The second precursor for MacLean is timing. In junior hockey, college hockey, and minor hockey a lot of players have a tendency to rush the play. Give me the puck, we want to play fast! Of course we do, but not if we’re offside.

Read the battle and time the skate so you can present a proper outlet for a teammate carrying the puck. Can’t score if you don’t have the puck or you leave your teammate behind!

Check out this snippet from MacLean's presentation and view the full video here a membership to The Coaches Site.