Средняя зона. Вбрасывания BONUS POINTS I suggested earlier that many coaches might not emphasize neutral zone play because the area is far from anything that can immediately become a problem. But that’s not necessarily true, especially when you realize that one small mistake can lead to defensive breakdowns. In the 2014 Stanley Cup Eastern Conference final series, the New York Rangers took a lead late in the second period of game four when Montreal got caught in a sloppy line change. The Rangers’ Dan Girardi, standing inside his own blue line, saw that Montreal was changing on the fly and that teammate Derick Brassard was breaking through the neutral zone into vacated space at the far blue line. Girardi’s 80-foot pass went tape to tape, sending Brassard in alone on Dustin Tokarski, who was promptly beaten by a slap shot with less than a minute to play in the second. Although I’m frequently amazed by the lack of discipline shown when players decide to change up with the puck in their defensive zone, this example shows how the relative calm of the neutral zone can lull a team into a game-changing mistake. The Montreal defenseman, who chose this moment to change, failed to read the immediate danger he was creating in a 1-1 tie. Although the Canadiens would tie the game at 2-2 in the third period, they eventually lost this game in overtime. Stretching the Defense The term stretching the defense is used in a number of sports, most notably in football when a speedy wide receiver forces one or more defensive backs to follow him down the field. It can also be seen in hockey, although not with the same frequency. To create more open space, teams breaking out of their zones will sometimes send a forward down the ice and deliberately offside into the offensive zone. A defender is sure to follow this attacker, at least to his own blue line. The offensive player will, out of necessity, come back into the neutral zone, usually facing his oncoming teammates and in a position to receive a pass, which he would likely one-touch to a streaking forward or back to where it originated. Note the stretch player is seldom the target. His purpose is to open up space in soft, safe areas in which shorter passes can be completed, leaving the defender who went with that stretch player caught between a rock and a hard place. If the defender moves up (or gaps up), he is skating straight at the oncoming attack and can be easily juked. If he stays back at the blue line, he will have to play the rush somewhat flat-footed. This is not unlike a dynamic we see in football in which a star wide receiver goes deep, taking a defender (or two) with him. Often, he is not the intended receiver. He just takes people with him to create space, so shorter passes can be completed to someone else. Taking Neutral Zone Face-Offs Finally, let me give a little attention to neutral zone face-offs. Specifically, let’s look at two neutral zone face-offs designed to create a quick strike. In figure 12.3, the left winger (LW) heads to the near boards when his center wins the draw back to the left defender (LD). As the opposing team’s right winger (X1) approaches the left winger, he bursts across the zone and attempts to receive a pass as he splits the opposing defense. This is a face-off play the Boston Bruins have employed in recent years with left winger Brad Marchand.
FIGURE 12.3 Neutral zone face-off play used by the Boston Bruins: (a) LW moves to boards; (b) as opponent’s RW approaches, LW splits the defense to receive a pass. Figure 12.4 makes me recall a very specific situation. I was coaching with former NHL and USA Hockey head coach Ron Wilson when we found ourselves down a goal late in the game and on a power play. In this instance, we lined up four people across with only one defenseman behind. The right winger here was split wide and did a little selling by yelling from that spot to get the opponent’s attention. The defense shifted toward the RW. FIGURE 12.4 Neutral zone face-off with four across and LD behind: (a) RW split wide; (b) when defense shifted to RW, he cut left across the zone and opened up the right side for the LW to enter and receive a pass. As our left-shot center won the draw back to our defenseman, our right winger cut left across the zone, bringing one, maybe two defenders with him and, in the process, opening up the entire right side. Our left winger cut across as shown into that newly vacated lane and took a pass from our left defender. He went in and got a great shot on goal, if I remember correctly.
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