Delays
Delays
Excerpt From: Hockey Plays and Strategies
If the opposing forward delays when entering the offensive zone, first read whether the rush is even. If the offensive team outnumbers the defensive team, then the defense should hold inside position and wait for help. There are two ways to play an even rush where the puck carrier delays. D1 steps up and plays the puck carrier while F1 locks mid-ice and protects the space behind D1 (figure 8.2a). F1 looks for late players coming into the zone and D2 plays the middle to wide side area. D2 will automatically take any mid lane net drives. The second way to play an even-rush delay is to have the backchecking forward go after the puck carrier while both defenseman drop back inside with their sticks on the ice, ready to take any plays inside and cover players going to the net (figure 8.2b). Either way is effective, but teams should pick one of these strategies and stick to it so that both the defense and forwards always know who is going to take the delay player and who is going to stay inside.
Figure 8.2 (a) D1 playing the delay. (b) F1 playing the delay.
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