Video Vault - Strategic Dump-ins
Strategic Dump-ins
If you watch youth hockey games you will see the puck dumped into the offensive zone pretty regularly – just like you will in a college or pro game. What you won’t see as often, though, is teams dumping the puck in with a purpose.It seems as though many youth players don’t necessarily understand the thinking behind dumping the puck. While there are times when you might dump the puck in without much concern about where it goes – like when a team is buying time to make a line change – but for the most part the strategy behind the dump-in is to send it to a location that allows your teammates to have an opportunity to battle for the puck or possibly get to it first.
At the very least, the team dumping the puck in wants to be able to get the puck deep enough to allow the forecheck to set up and make it very difficult for the opposing team to break the puck out of the defensive zone with control. Even when executing a line change, one of the forwards might follow the puck in deep to battle for it or provide enough pressure to give the new players coming on time to get involved in the forecheck or set up defensively higher in the offensive zone or the neutral zone.
Too many times during youth games you’ll see a player cross the red line and just fire the puck into the zone with no awareness of where his teammates are, so whether or not they can get in position to battle for the puck or set up a forecheck tends to be random.
Sometimes the forwards will be leading the charge into the zone on the right wing and the dump in will come from behind them and be too hard so that it wraps around to the opposite side of the forecheck pressure. This is dangerous, because the puck my wrap so far around that it allows the defensive team to break out uncontested with speed while the forecheckers are caught in too deep.
Other times the dump coming straight into the corner from the opposite side of where the forwards are entering the zone can be too soft, not allowing them to get in deep enough and get over in time to apply pressure on the breakout. Other examples of poor dumps include shots that go directly to the goalie, allowing him to start the breakout before the forecheck gets set up, weak dumps to the center of the ice that the defense can handle easily and move the puck back the other way quickly and any dump that doesn't give the forwards an opportunity to battle for the puck or time to set up an effective forecheck.
To combat these types of mistakes it is imperative for players carrying the puck through the neutral zone to keep their heads up and know where their teammates are so that they can send the puck into the zone to an appropriate location whenever they are unable to make a clean zone entry.
Sometimes a team enters a game with the strategy of getting pucks deep as often as possible, forechecking aggressively and finishing checks. The coach may feel that the opposing defensemen are not confident retreating to get the puck, turning and moving it to teammates quickly, so the objective is to send an early message that they are going to be pressured and hit every time the puck is dumped in the zone.
By doing this, the coach hopes that the combination of taking away d-men’s time and space and the threat of getting hit will cause them to speed up their thought process and panic a little, creating costly turnovers and allowing the forecheck to bottle them up. For this type of strategy a softer dump that gives the forwards a chance to get in as deep as possible by the time the defensemen get to the puck is the most effective.
Other examples of strategic dumps are:
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Diagonal hard dump to the opposite corner when it is clear your team’s forward will get to the puck first,
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A hard wrap-around dump in a similar situation where you know that your forward will get to the puck first. The objective is to lure the goalie out of the net in hopes that he can’t get to the puck in time and has to scramble back into position as your team gains possession.
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Set plays off of neutral-zone faceoffs.
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Self-dumps when a player knows he can get around a defenseman and get to the puck first.
Here is a look at some video clips illustrating strategic dump-ins:
Set Play Off of a Neutral Zone Faceoff
Clearly this is a designed play, and it’s even easier to see when you watch the clip the second time and look at the positioning of the players when the video is paused.
The faceoff is won back to the left D, who immediately goes D-to-D. As the right D gets the puck he immediately fires the it hard around to the opposite corner. If you look at the two forwards closest to the left-wing wall, they are head down and full-speed ahead as the puck is dumped. There is no hesitation, further indicating that this is a set play.
Wrapping the puck hard not only allows the forwards to get deep and apply pressure, but also makes the puck very hard for an opposing player who knows he is under pressure to handle. Two forwards go directly to the puck, with one taking away the pass back from the left wing to the closest D-man, and the third forward skating right behind the net to take away the D-to-D below the goal line.
The only outlet for the D is to try to hit the center in the middle, but that’s a dangerous play given that his back is to the center, two forecheckers are bearing down on him, and he basically has to try to pass it back blindly. The play works to perfection as the forward who pressured the wing initially picks off the pass below the goal line. Unfortunately, he has it poke-checked away as he carries it behind the net.
Soft Dump-in, Finish Check: Tenderizing the Beef
This is a situation where Brassard is going to get stood up at the blue line. Both Canucks have good gap control and Brassard doesn’t have control of the puck, nor does he have a teammate to pass to. Rather than risk a turnover at the blue line that could create a transition opportunity back the other way, he sweeps the puck softly into the zone and makes a beeline for it. You can see that the retreating D looks over his shoulder when we freeze the clip the second tie it runs. He knows what is coming and just gets to the puck as quickly as he can and fires the puck around the boards for an icing as Brassard finishes he check.
Line Change
This is a standard line-change dump-in, but there’s more to it than meets the eye. The Rangers player takes a couple extra strides with the puck before dumping it, allowing time for two forwards to get on the ice. Then he wraps it around so that the goalie has to come out and play it, knowing that his two forecheckers are coming into the zone on the side where the puck will end up if the goalie misses it. By the time the netminder hands it off to his D, the two new Rangers forwards have had time to set up the forecheck. The first forward in forces the D-man to play the puck toward the side where the other forward has set up, putting good pressure on the Stars as they try to break out.
Self Dump-in
The Stars player pics up a loose pucks and slices through the neutral zone as the Rangers line up along the blue line to prevent a clean zone entry. Realizing this, he generates some speed and dumps it softly into the corner where he feels like has a good chance to be the first one there. He is, but can’t maintain possession.
Another more traditional self dump. The Red Wings defenseman carries the puck untouched through the neutral zone, because three Hurricanes are lined up at the blue line to prevent a clean zone entry. They are all pretty much flat-footed, so he chips it over them and tries to beat them to the puck.
Traditional Soft Dump-in
The Canes carry the puck toward the blue line 2-on-2, but the Red Wings D has good gap control and forces the Carolina forward to make a decision with the puck as he approaches the blue line. He decides to chip it in softly where he and his teammate will have at least a 50/50 chance to battle for it. They win the battle and keep the puck.