Every system, explained in plain language

Breakout: Flood

Breakout: Flood

Both remaining forwards flood the strong side, giving the puck carrier stacked support and a quick two-pass exit up one wall.

Breakout: Slash

Breakout: Slash

A breakout built off the weak-side winger slashing through the zone toward center ice, with the strong-side winger holding the wall and the center coming low and slow as support.

Breakout: Clear Out

Breakout: Clear Out

One forward loops through the zone to clear the wall so the winger above him can leave with the puck and attack the far side.

Reading Pressure

Breakout: Double Fly

Breakout: Double Fly

Both wingers leave early and stretch up their own walls, turning the breakout into a long-pass, quick-strike attack.

Breakout: Fly

Breakout: Fly

The vertical breakout. Both wingers hold their wall, the strong-side winger swings low for the puck, and the far winger stretches up ice.

Breakout: Horizontal

Breakout: Horizontal

Same setup as the Fly, but the far winger cuts horizontally across the ice behind the play to attack the weak side.

Breakout: Stretch Center

Breakout: Stretch Center

Same stretch idea, but the center is the high man through the middle of the ice with the wingers filling the outside lanes.

Breakout: Stretch Winger

Breakout: Stretch Winger

Both defencemen stay back with the puck while a winger sits high in the neutral zone waiting for the long stretch pass.

Defensive Zone

9 systems

Defensive Zone Coverage Overview

Defensive Zone Coverage Overview

The three parts of a hybrid defensive zone package: hybrid low, man high, and pressure situations.

Decision Making

Defensive Zone Zoning and Danger Areas

Defensive Zone Zoning and Danger Areas

How the defensive zone is scored by danger: high danger, medium danger inside and outside home plate, the swarm corners, and low danger along the wall.

Time and Space

High Defensive Zone: Man Coverage

High Defensive Zone: Man Coverage

Pure man coverage above the tops of the circles, with support from the nearest man and rotations when someone gets beaten.

Decision Making

Low Defensive Zone: Hybrid Coverage

Low Defensive Zone: Hybrid Coverage

A 3-on-3 down low with two defencemen and the first forward back, while the other two forwards hold a zone above the circles.

Puck Support

Goaltender Tendencies and Communication

Goaltender Tendencies and Communication

How goaltenders handle pucks and communicate inside a defensive structure.

Decision Making

Man Coverage in Defensive Zone 4v4 and 3v3

Man Coverage in Defensive Zone 4v4 and 3v3

How man coverage works at 4v4 and 3v3 — one player, one check, keeping the puck outside and sliding as a unit when someone gets beaten.

Puck Behind the Net

Puck Behind the Net

Flushing the puck out when the opponent sets up behind the net.

Swarm and Blitz Pressure

Swarm and Blitz Pressure

Outnumbering the puck carrier in low-danger areas to win the puck back and cut down time spent defending.

Reading Pressure

Two Players at the Net Front

Two Players at the Net Front

Adjusting support responsibilities when the opponent puts two players at the net front.

Neutral Zone Forechecks

3 systems

Neutral Zone Forechecks

Neutral Zone Forecheck: 1-2-2

Neutral Zone Forecheck: 1-2-2

The standard neutral zone structure: one forechecker pressures, two lock the middle lanes, and both defencemen hold the red line so nothing gets behind them.

Forechecks

Neutral Zone Forechecks

Neutral Zone Forecheck: 2-1-2

Neutral Zone Forecheck: 2-1-2

An aggressive neutral zone forecheck: two forwards pressure both sides at once, one forward holds the middle, and the defence stays home behind them.

Forechecks

Neutral Zone Forechecks

Neutral Zone Forecheck: 1-1-3

Neutral Zone Forecheck: 1-1-3

The most conservative neutral zone forecheck: one soft pressure, one support, and a three-man wall across the ice that nothing gets through.

Neutral Zone Regroup

5 systems

Neutral Zone Regroup: Quick Up

Neutral Zone Regroup: Quick Up

The fastest regroup option — D retrieves, and the puck goes up the wall to a forward already turned up ice.

Neutral Zone Regroup: Swing

Neutral Zone Regroup: Swing

D-to-D behind the play, forwards swing back through the middle and turn up with speed.

Neutral Zone Regroup: Stretch and Post

Neutral Zone Regroup: Stretch and Post

A forward posts up on the far blue line while wingers attack it — a direct pass that beats the neutral zone entirely.

Neutral Zone Regroup: Stretch and Swing

Neutral Zone Regroup: Stretch and Swing

Combines the stretch post with a crossing swing — two forwards exchange lanes while the third holds the line.

Neutral Zone Regroup: Clear

Neutral Zone Regroup: Clear

When nothing is open — clear the zone under control, reset the forwards, and come again.

Offensive Zone Forechecks

7 systems

Offensive Zone Forecheck: 1-2-2 Regular

Offensive Zone Forecheck: 1-2-2 Regular

Our base forecheck. F1 pressures the puck retriever on one side, F2 and F3 hold the walls, and both D stay up at the blue line.

Offensive Zone Forecheck: 1-2-2 Wide

Offensive Zone Forecheck: 1-2-2 Wide

Same 1-2-2 shape, but F1 starts in the middle and reads which way the puck goes before committing to a side.

Offensive Zone Forecheck: 1-2-2 Skinny

Offensive Zone Forecheck: 1-2-2 Skinny

A one-side overload: F1 pressures and both F2 and F3 stack the same wall to trap the puck in the corner.

Offensive Zone Forecheck: 1-2-2 Passive

Offensive Zone Forecheck: 1-2-2 Passive

A contain look: we let them come out, F1 pressures at the top of the circles, and both D sit on the blue line.

Offensive Zone Forecheck: 1 and a Half

Offensive Zone Forecheck: 1 and a Half

F1 pressures and F2 supports as a half-man in the middle, ready to jump in and make it a two-man attack.

Offensive Zone Forecheck: 2-1-2 Spread

Offensive Zone Forecheck: 2-1-2 Spread

Two men in on the forecheck, one in the slot, and both D at the line — our most aggressive offensive zone pressure.

Offensive Zone Forecheck: Lock

Offensive Zone Forecheck: Lock

F1 pressures, F2 locks their winger on the wall, and F3 holds the middle — a forecheck built to kill the outlet pass.

Offensive Zone Play

9 systems

Offensive Zone Play: Low Cycle

Offensive Zone Play: Low Cycle

Our base cycle below the dots: the puck carrier turns back down the wall, the low support F takes over, and the third F fills the high slot.

Offensive Zone Play: Low Cycle to Weak Side

Offensive Zone Play: Low Cycle to Weak Side

A low cycle that finishes with a weak-side release: the low forward attacks the far dot while both D shift over for the seam.

Offensive Zone Play: High Cycle

Offensive Zone Play: High Cycle

A cycle run at the top of the zone between our D and the closest F to change the point of attack without giving up the blue line.

Offensive Zone Play: Follow the Puck

Offensive Zone Play: Follow the Puck

Our support rule: everyone shifts with the puck so the carrier always has a short option and the far side is never abandoned.

Offensive Zone Play: D-Activation Roll

Offensive Zone Play: D-Activation Roll

The D rolls up the wall behind the puck carrier and the two exchange, giving us a fresh attacker off the wall.

Offensive Zone Play: D-Activation Dive

Offensive Zone Play: D-Activation Dive

The D dives straight into the slot off the puck-side wall to attack the inside ice while the forward carries.

Offensive Zone Play: D-Activation Spread

Offensive Zone Play: D-Activation Spread

Both D shift laterally along the blue line as the puck goes low, spreading the coverage and opening new shot lanes.

Offensive Zone Play: Rim Release

Offensive Zone Play: Rim Release

When pressured above the circles, we rim the puck hard around the boards to the far side and our far D releases up to recover it.

Offensive Zone Play: High F Options

Offensive Zone Play: High F Options

The three routes the high forward can take off the wall — scissor, slice and wide — so the puck carrier always has an inside or an outside look.

Offensive Zone Power Play

7 systems

Power Play: 1-3-1

Power Play: 1-3-1

One at the point, three across the middle, one at the net front — the modern power play built on seams and one-timers.

Power Play: Inverted 1-3-1

Power Play: Inverted 1-3-1

Flip the 1-3-1 upside down — net front high, three across underneath, point low — to attack a passive box from the inside out.

Power Play: Overload

Power Play: Overload

Load four skaters to one side of the ice, win the strong-side triangle, and swing the puck to the weak-side point for the shot.

Power Play: Umbrella

Power Play: Umbrella

Three shooters high in an arc with two low support players — built to hammer pucks at the net from the top.

Power Play: Inverted Umbrella

Power Play: Inverted Umbrella

Turn the umbrella over — one high, two wide, two low — to attack a shot-blocking box from underneath.

Power Play: Spread

Power Play: Spread

Stretch all five skaters to the corners and the middle so every killer has to cover ice alone.

Power Play: 3-2

Power Play: 3-2

Three across the top and two low — a balanced power play that gives shot options on both sides and keeps the blue line covered.

Penalty Kill

3 systems

Penalty Kill

Penalty Kill Defensive Zone: Box

Penalty Kill Defensive Zone: Box

The starting point for every penalty kill — four killers in a tight square that protects the middle and forces shots from the outside.

Penalty Kill

Penalty Kill Defensive Zone: Diamond

Penalty Kill Defensive Zone: Diamond

Turn the box on its point to take away the middle against a 1-3-1 — one high, two flanks, one in front of the net.

Penalty Kill

Penalty Kill Defensive Zone: Press / Triangle +1