How to Play a 1 v 1 (Defensemen)
Whether it be in the corners or on a rush learn how to play a 1 v 1 correctly!
This is a staple part of a defenseman’s game and the game in general. No matter how good you are offensively, if you cannot play sound defense, be a shut down 1 v 1 defenseman, play well in the defensive zone off the puck and push pucks up ice / get them out of the zone quickly then defense is probably not for you.
Defense is one of the more undervalued jobs in hockey. Trust me when I say this, a good defense can win you games and good defenseman are hard to come by. In my five years of coaching, and 15 years of playing, every good team I have been apart of had a solid defensive core.
With all that said we will get into a must read and watch for defenseman, no matter the skill level or age!
Is there a right or wrong way to play a 1 v 1? Probably not, the correct answer would be it depends. We are going to go through several different 1 v 1 ‘s and the situation at hand and how well the defenseman in the vide plays the attacking forward.
Some general cues for 1 v 1’s you can always use and take with you into the game are.
Eyes on their logo: their chest won’t move too much and their shoulders will be able to tell a lot of what they are doing.
Stick down: focus on a good stick, stick on puck, stick in shooting lanes and do your best to use your stick to eliminate shooting lanes. Your stick is not a sword, be patient and calm with your stick. Your stick can throw your upper body off balance, and give the forward a chance to attack your unsteadiness, so be calm and patient.
Calm feet: there is nothing worse then seeing a defenseman make 100 crossovers, laterally crossover and try to follow a forward while crossing over, a good forward will take one look at your sporadic feet, and waiting for you to crossover to make a move. So calm your feet down, get a good balance, use your hips, inside edges and core to maintain and gain speed, try to eliminate crossovers as best as possible.
Gap control: you have to be able to time and play off the forwards speed, nothing worse then defenseman who take 3 steps out of the zone to get “ready” for a rush then they end up at the tops of the circles in their defensive zone and giving the attacking forward three-four stick lengths to work with. CLOSE SPACE, stop giving forwards so much time and space!
Forward skating vs backward skating: sometimes skating forward is a better way to play a 1 v 1 rather than skating backwards all the time. Closing space moving forward is easier than closing space skating backwards.
This is a GREAT 1 v 1. Moment Hyman begins to attack wide and the outside, the defenseman transitions forward and just skates forward with Hyman. Keeps him to the outside and does not give up on the play even as the puck goes to the other side. Watch his stick when he transitions, backward to forward, stick stays in front of him and on Hyman. When he transitions the speed change is minimal and he is able to keep up with and maintain speed with Hyman.
You are probably like where is the 1 v 1, but the attacking forward and Seattle 4 (Schultz) is the 1 v 1 and I want to hint on his feet and his stick. Watch how he opens forward, the transition was not super smooth, went inside to go outside on his transition, dropped to a knee. But, it looks like Domi may have a step on him, Schultz does a really good job on the transition closing space, and using his stick to eliminate a shooting or passing opportunity.
My personal favorite 1 v 1, his gap to start is not the greatest to be honest. The forward tries to use a speed change on him to the outside, he does not bite on it and transitions forward, on the transition he immediately puts his stick to the inside, trying to go stick on puck and rides him into the boards and closes out the chance of anything happening.
I know you are probably like, what is this? What it is, is simply the Dallas defenseman just putting his stick down, recognizing the forward is going to shoot and putting his stick on the puck and even letting the shot happen. A very subtle important cue for defenseman, you never know what could happen when the puck is thrown to the net (this is not saying I do not trust goalies) so try not to let pucks get to the net. Simple stick down, stick on puck and no shot on net.
Another personal favorite for me, a lot of defenseman do not do this stuff these days and it is the ability to use your off hand to push, annoy and use it to put on a forwards back or hips to push them off balance and or just close out on them. Watch how Heiskanen (best defenseman in the league) closes space immediately, uses his stick to go after the puck, eyes up looking at the forward, as the forward has no space he gets even closes, uses his off hand to push him into the boards and force a chip down low.
This is a different type of 1 v 1 but this is a common 1 v 1 defenseman lose in games. That is in the corners and along the perimeter. The place you need to be best, strongest, aggressive and not allow forwards to walk untouched. Watch Edmonton 27 close space on him immediately, get close on his back, the moment he begins to climb up the wall he puts his stick where Eichel (VGK 9) stick is and begins to push him into the boards and give him no space or room to move. Creates a pin situation, waits for support, puck clears.
Edmonton 2 (Evan Bouchard) I want us to take a look at, he is playing defense against Riley Smith (VGK19). Bouchard gets in tight and tries to push him into the boards, Smith spins off it, Bouchard stays with him takes his FREE hand to turn Smiths body and push him into the boards so he is shoulder to shoulder with the glass, from there Bouchard takes the middle of Smith’s body and pushes and pins him up against the boards. Edmonton comes into support, gets the puck and clears. ALL starts with the 1 v 1 battle between Bouchard and Smith.
If you ever need any help reviewing film for your defenseman, never hesitate to reach out to me at coachsantagata@gmail.com