Video Vault - Reading the Play on the Breakout

Reading the Play on the Breakout
 
Breaking the puck out of the defensive zone seems like such a simple task, but there is no aspect of hockey that young players seem to make more complicated.

The problem is that when done properly, the breakout appears to be so easy that no one gives it a second thought. It’s when it bogs down and teams can’t get the puck out of the zone that everyone notices.
 
One of the major issues that young players encounter when trying to break the puck out is that they often don’t practice all of the different breakout options under pressure. Many breakout drills are basically flow drills where the puck is dumped in and the defenseman passes to the strong-side winger on the half-wall who then hits the center curling up the ice.

Sometimes the D will reverse the puck or go D to D below the goal line and then the same breakout will occur on the opposite side of the defensive zone.
 
These are solid options that need to be perfected, but when they are practiced over and over against no pressure players tend to become robotic in performing them. Because of this young teams seem to have an affinity for continually moving the puck into pressure and forcing the first option on the breakout rather than learning how to read the play, react and scan the ice for other options.
 
Some other options include hitting the center immediately without passing to the half-wall, skating the puck a few strides and hitting the weak-side wing on a diagonal pass in front of the goal or having the defenseman or strong-side wing pass to the trailing weak-side D across the goal-mouth when the opposing forecheckers are all sucked to one side of the ice.
 
Two things work against teams when pressure is applied. One is that they are used to methodically breaking out the same way over and over from practice. The second is that for years, kids have been told not to pass the puck in front of their own goal. Unfortunately, that is a play that needs to be executed at the game’s higher levels and may players are conditioned to not even consider it.
 
Some of those options can be seen in the video lessons below.
 
Read, Reverse & Center Breakout
 
 
This is a great example of two players who are on the same page in terms of having a mutual understanding of what they are trying to accomplish on the breakout. Watch the play completely through the first time and then we will rewind it back for you.
 
On this play, Jones has the puck and starts one way behind the goal with it. He sees pressure and immediately makes a tight turn to reverse the puck back in the other direction. He is a pretty big guy, so this kind of skating is impressive in a tight area. The ability to do this for a defenseman is key. Quick change of direction is an imperative skill to work on to get yourself out of jams and move the puck quickly and effectively in the d-zone.
 
You can't make this play if you aren't carrying the puck with your head up and aren't confident in your ability to make the turn, keep your feet moving and maintain control of the puck. Jones sees the forecheck coming, reverses direction and immediately gets his head up to read the situation.
 
There isn't much space available in the direction he is going, either. The wing is crowding him and tries to move away to be an option for a pass to the half-wall, but that play is taken away by the forechecker.
 
At this point, Jones’ only two options are to clear it hard off the glass or find another player to pass to heading up the ice. Too many times young defensemen will just mindlessly toss the puck toward the wing who is hemmed in. This is usually the first option and it’s what you work on over and over, so making that play becomes almost robotic.
 
The wing is so close to Jones, that this pass is going to be difficult to complete no matter what. And with the forechecker there it becomes impossible. That's always the first option on the breakout, though, and what separates high-level defensemen from average players is their ability to read the play, see that option is closed off and not panic.
 
The last option should always be the clear off the glass and out of the zone. That's the safe play and does not get you in trouble the vast majority of the time. It's always fine to fall back to that option if you feel panicked and are worried about holding on to the puck too long. You will rarely get yelled at by a coach for just clearing it off the glass.
 
However, if you truly want to be an elite puck-mover, think of yourself as a quarterback either sitting in the pocket or scrambling with your eyes always scanning the field. In this case, you are going to scan the ice and see what your options are.
 
Jones keeps his head up, sees the center turning up the ice in front of the goal and hits him for the easy breakout pass. See what happens next? The wing speeds past the incoming forechecker now because he's not flat-footed waiting for a pass and gets himself wide open for another pass to exit the zone with speed.
 
Jones shows great skating ability, skill, patience and awareness on this play. Most people watching think this is a really simple pass to a guy 10-feet away, but the truth is that it's a high-level play.
 
Many young players are afraid to make this pass because they've been told for years not to pass the puck in front of their own net. This is a play you have to be able to make to play at a high level to keep the forecheck honest and make sure your team doesn’t get bottled up in its own end. That turnover on the boards when forcing a breakout pass leads to more scoring opportunities than almost any other play in hockey.
 
Two other points to notice here. The other defenseman drops down low, so really if all else fails Jones could reverse the puck again to his partner for an easy escape.
 
And the center also exhibits great patience. He’s not skating in circles so that he gets himself out of position if the breakout is reversed. He holds his ground, waits until Jones has committed fully and then gets his stick on the ice and makes himself an easy target as he moves up the ice.
 
The center just doesn’t take off straight up the ice, creating a difficult angle for the pass with little margin of error. He opens up and makes sure that he’s an easy target, knowing that he will be able to hit the winger leaving the zone with speed and both toes pointed up the ice.
 
When we rewind the play for you and you watch the second time, observe how the play develops each time the video is stopped.
 
 
Read, Patience/Regroup, Weak-Side Breakout
 
 
Here is another advanced breakout play that shows the need for defensemen to be great skaters who are confident handling the puck. It also shows the importance of being patient and not forcing passes or plays when you are under pressure.
 
Nick Jensen picks up a loose puck and is pressured by two Penguins. He has his head up as he looks to start up ice. There is no wing on the boards to pass to as he starts across the zone, although there is open ice to that side. He’s too close to the goalie to try a dangerous reverse pass to Kuznetsov, so instead he uses the goal to set a pick on the two Penguins players who are aggressively pursuing him, knowing that this will buy him extra time and create space as they have to decide whether to chase him behind or change directions in an attempt to cut him off.
 
This requires a high level of confidence in his skating and puck handling ability.

As he goes behind you can see that both Pens get caught over-pursuing and have to scramble to get back in position. Kuznetsov swings up the ice as this happens. Malkin chases behind, which provides Jensen with enough time and space to make a play. When we rewind the video and stop the action, look at Jensen as he crosses the goal line, his head is up. He knows that with three Penguins on one side of the ice that he might have a weak-side breakout option.
 
Just like Jensen does a great job retreating in what amounts to a self-regroup, Vrana reads the play and sees the pressure all coming from one side and curls away from it to get up the ice and be a weak-side option.
 
While I’m not exactly sure what Orlov is doing at any point in this sequence, all of the Caps forwards are on the same page. They realize Pittsburgh has too many guys on one side and are providing options away from the pressure. Jensen makes an extremely high-level decision and pass across the front of the goal mouth to Vrana streaking up the ice.
 
Too many times young players play into the pressure instead away from it. This is a great example of creating space and passing lanes by moving away from the pressure and of how effective a weak-side breakout pass can be against an overly aggressive forecheck.
 
 
Breakout Pass to Weak-side Trailing D
 
 
This clip is a very simplified version of the weak-side D trailing the play and being an option for a breakout pass when there is pressure on only one side. On this play there is only one Penguin applying token forecheck pressure, but Kempny follows the play up the ice and remains an outlet so that Dowd doesn’t have to force a pass up the ice.
 
You can see that Dowd considers making a stretch pass, but thinks better of it rather than risk a turnover against very little pressure. Jensen is not an option because of the forecheck, so Dowd uses Kempny as an easy breakout option.
 
This type of breakout pass can be used against a full forecheck in a couple of situations.
 
One is when the wing gets a pass on the strong side, but has opened up for the pass and is doesn’t have his feet moving with pressure approaching from behind. Instead of forcing the puck into pressure up the wall, he skates back toward the goal line with the puck and curls before passing cross ice to the weak-side trailing D.
 
The strong-side D-man also can make a similar pass if he starts up the ice and realizes there is too much traffic and pressure on one side of the ice in front of him.