Taking the proper route to the puck-carrier can mean the difference between a goal for your side and a jail-break going the other way that ends in confusion, heartbreak, and a round of pulmonary embolisms for the coaching staff.
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The great thing about angling is its personally skill-dependant. This means that your players don’t have to be the fastest on the ice (though it helps) to take the proper angle. In reality, being a fast player doesn’t necessarily equate to taking the right angles – you can go too fast and miss the mark completely. That’s why it’s called angling and not skate-straight-at-the-puck-carrier-full-speed-ing.
Longtime Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill has coaching experience at various levels – spending nine years in college hockey as an assistant with Ferris State and Miami (Ohio) University, before winning a USHL championship as a head coach during his two years coaching the Indiana Ice. From there, it was one year as the head coach of Western Michigan University, one year as a Detroit Red Wings assistant, and three exceptional seasons as the bench boss of the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins – a stint that included a Calder Cup.
Blashill knows that every level of hockey brings challenges – controlling an opponent’s speed being chief among them. Check out Blashill’s chalk talk below and learn a couple new techniques to help your players master the art of angling.
Watch the full video with a membership to The Coaches Site.
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NHLCA
The NHL Coaches’ Association is a professional organization that provides support and assistance to the head, associate, assistant, goalie and video coaches of the 32 teams in the National Hockey League.
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Great lesson coach, appreciate you sharing drills and focus points in the system. Many Thanks to The Coaches Site, hope to see you next summer.
That’s really enlightening. Working together as a group and matching the speed of your opponent needs a lot of practice. I would call it a life-long task that challenges the players to constantly adapt and learn new things about their partners and themselves.