Hockey Line Changes
December 29, 2009 by admin
Now, this entry was inspired by a coach asking for some guidance when it comes to changing on-the-fly. More specifically, he was wondering if there is a certain age or level when players can be expected to learn this. So, let me give that a whirl, and let me add as much as I can about making those kinds of changes…
– Dennis Chighisola
Hockey Line Changes
Getting right to that coach’s main question here, my feeling is that the time to teach changes on-the-fly has an awful lot to do with a team’s overall game awareness. Said yet another way, I’ll suggest that youngsters who have their basic skills under control, and those who are able to understand basic positioning should also be able to learn how to make exchanges while the game is in progress. So, I’m guessing that decent Squirt or Atom players should be able to learn it.
As an aside… I asked for some input on this subject, and I received a couple of good suggestions — about things I’d want to be sure to include here. And first to arrive in my inbox was the suggestion from Mike M, who said, “Do them quickly and often to win games.”
Ya, quickly and often, which brings me to the timing of our shifts.
Now, I have to chuckle a bit as I think about how the earliest levels of our game frequently start-out by playing 2-minute buzzer-hockey. The reason I’m laughing to myself is that an awful lot of kids, parents and even coaches believe that sort of timing should continue through later years, with the players staying out there on the ice for several minutes at a whack.
Of course, watching just one pro or college hockey game should change that impression. For, teams at the highest levels probably play something closer to 30- or 40-second shifts. Yup, go out, bust your buns, and then get-off!
When it comes to the timing of shifts, I’d like to insert this personal feeling, as well… You see, while most folks are (rightly) concerned about the length of time players are out on the ice working, I’m as concerned for the players who are sitting. This is a three-pronged thing with me…
- First, players who are sitting for any length of time are physically cooling-off, and I think this gets worse with the length of time they’re off their skates. So, while there’s definitely a need for players to rest and catch their breath, I believe there is a point where time away from the ice becomes a negative. (Is there a greater chance for injury as players sit for long stretches? I don’t know, but I think this ought to at least be considered.)
- Secondly — and this is probably something most members haven’t thought about before… I honestly believe that a player can get mentally out of the game if he or she is away from the action for very long. In other words, I think there’s the real danger that a player can lose his or her focus and intensity during a long stretch away from the ice. Consequently, I think a coach can keep his or her players more alert by quickly getting them back out there — quickly and often, as Mike M says.
- Then, maybe my third point is really a combination of the previous two. For, I know that players like to stay in a certain kind of rhythm over the course of a period — especially my good players, and it’s hard for them to do this unless there’s a reasonable sort of rhythm to their shifts.
So again, as Mike M might say, “Do them quickly and often!”
As another sidebar when it comes to keeping my players in the flow of things… It’s always driven me crazy when my team has suddenly taken a string of penalties. All the above points come into play when that happens, with a number of my guys sitting and getting cold, getting themselves out of the game, mentally, and also getting out of that proverbial rhythm.
Oh, I might add one more thing to the timing of shifts… I usually like to keep the earliest shifts in a period a little on the short side. I want to get everybody a quick taste of the action, and I also want to delay the build-up of lactic acid as best I can. I might lengthen the shifts just a tad in the middle of a period, and then go back to shorter ones as the period winds down. This approach is really just a personal thing with me, but I’ve sensed through the years that my players have benefited from it.
Now, as for going about the teaching of line changes, I recommend that members next watch my brief video on “Dumping the Puck“. As you’ll see there, the right kinds of dump-ins provide units the “time” to make changes without getting caught shorthanded.
I also believe bench decorum plays a big part in effectively getting changes on-the-fly. So, I highly suggest these things…
- During each period, all defensemen should sit on the defensive end of the bench, while all the forwards sit on the offensive end. Getting our guys (or gals) even closer to their end of the ice, the next defense pair will sit closest to the defensive zone, and my next forward line sits closest to the offensive zone.
- I make it a rule that players who are going out next should keep a very close eye on the man they’ll replace. In other words, the instant a centerman enters the play, the next centerman must keep focus on him (or her). Why so soon? The idea is for us to never get caught shorthanded — should a player limp to the bench with an injury, should he discover an equipment problem, whatever. The point is, unforeseen things can happen seconds into a shift, and the next player up has to immediately notice if or when he’s needed.
Then, there’s the matter of the actual exchange of personnel…
As much as I like having players go over the boards as they enter the ice, we coaches must take into consideration the height of the boards in comparison to our players. Under normal circumstances, this probably suggests that those at least below Pee Wees aren’t going to be able to make the climb. However — and believe it or not, I’ve actually coached at a few rinks where even high school players weren’t able to get over the unusually high boards. That in mind, I think all players should learn to properly enter and exit through the bench doors. And for more help in this area, I suggest that members refer to my article on “Buzzer Hockey Line Changes“. (Don’t let the title fool you; there’s valuable information there about older players changing on-the-fly.)
Next, there’s the matter of when to change. And for this, I have the following suggestions…
- You’d think that growing-up amid farms would have provided a great atmosphere for a young boy to hone his whistling skills. Or, perhaps, that the powers that be could have had a course on whistling in my long ago Phys Ed studies.
The truth is, I can’t whistle a lick. If I could, I’d use that as a signal for my guys to change. Instead, though, I’ve had to resort to calling-out loudly, “Get a change! Get a change!” (Oh, well…) - Now, the lengths of shifts can’t be totally dictated by the timing we’d like. No, conditions for a successful change aren’t going to fall exactly every 35-seconds or so. That said, I’ll usually opt for less than the desired time if it looks like going any longer is going to trap my guys out there. For example, I have to know there’s the possibility that a unit heading down-ice on the attack is going to ultimately have to backcheck, and then breakout again in order to get a change on-the-fly. And, presuming they’re not going to have the juice to accomplish all that, I’ll probably call for the early change.
- I might also call for an early change if a unit has been bogged-down in their own end for an extended period of time. Hey, it’s just better to get fresh legs (and minds) out there, and to give the unit coming-off a little time to regroup.
- Of utmost importance is the need for the players on the ice to be absolutely sure the puck is safe before they turn and head-off. I mean, even though they see the puck being dumped, they mustn’t head to the bench until they’re absolutely sure that it is going to safely get through rival players and land deep in their opponents’ end.
Now, despite the fact that the next players up are supposed to be watching the man they’ll replace, I also like my players yelling their positions as they come-off. In other words, as the left winger comes to our bench, he yells, “Left wing! Left wing!” I don’t know; it’s just a safety measure that makes me feel good.
Then, Deb K inspired the next suggestion… You see, she’s not only a youth hockey parent and coach, but she’s also a referee. So it should make sense that she’d joke a bit and offer, “Tell coaches about the changes so refs aren’t having to educate from the ice
“
Deb’s comment in mind, this biggie… From my perspective most of the “too many men on the ice” penalties are caused by the players who should be coming-off the ice, and these usually come about because the man coming-off either changes his mind or he fools the player who is supposed to replace him. In other words, the guy coming to the bench gives every indication that he’s coming, the new player hops over the boards and onto the ice, and then the player who is supposed to come-off doesn’t. (I don’t know of any way to actually practice this key communication, but I surely do beat it to death in conversations with my players. I mean, I make it a very big deal that guys coming-off shouldn’t fool their replacements or change their minds at the last second.)
Finally, if a hockey coach feels that line changes are an important part of his or her team’s game, then it should make sense to practice these as often as other plays. And, once established, it wouldn’t hurt to review them on occasion, and to also frequently talk about the principles involved.
*
A lot of things go into proper line changes, and I almost fear I’ve forgotten a few. If you think I have, please add a Comment so that this topic is eventually covered as thoroughly as possible!
Great advice!
I have a few questions.
1. When is the best time to call for a change? Should the puck always be in your teams posession, and should it be in a particular zone?
2. What should the puck carrier do? Just dump it or keep possesion and wait for fresh players to change?
And your questions are just as good as any advice I’ve provided so far, James! As for my answers — about changing lines…
I think a coach develops a feel for when to get a change (and you hope your players ultimately do, too). In other words, even though we might like to stick to something like every 40-seconds, a gut feeling can tell us that a unit might have to get-off a little early — if they’re in their own end, they’re moving towards the opponents’ end, and then at some point they might have to come back hard to defend against a rush. And it’s that being able to come back hard awhile from now that might cause me to call for an earlier change as they move towards the offensive zone.
(I actually get a kick out of my watching my college playing grandson “thinking the game” nowadays. He was taught well on my NEHI teams, and I almost always see him getting off the ice early, just because he knows in his head that he’s not going to be able to backcheck hard 15- or 20-seconds later.)
As for when players should know they can come to the bench, I always use the expression, “Make sure the puck is safe!” In this way, a tired player can look for an opportunity to get-off no matter which zone the puck is in. (For example, a forward covering the point right in front of our bench might be able to sneak-off, even though that’s not necessarily a prescribed way of changing.)
That expression — about making sure the puck is safe — covers an awful lot. For example, while we might want to our guys to change with the puck located deep in the opponents’ end, a rival player might gain possession early and present a long-bomb threat to a teammate up-ice, which means it’s NOT a good time for our guys to leave the ice. I make sure my players also know that that expression advises them to watch the puck as it’s dumped. For, even though that instant might normally be a good time to head for the bench, it’s the wrong time if the puck doesn’t get safely through all our opponents and look like it’s pretty surely going deep into their end.
As for what a puckcarrier can or should do in order to accommodate a change, I think it really depends on the playing level, as well as the puckcarrier’s individual skills.
With young kids, I’d just teach them how to make effective dump-ins and to change properly.
At the other end of the spectrum, at least two other options exist… 1) A really good puckhandler can sometimes “rag” the puck — or move through open spaces and protect it — as linemates change. 2) This year I’ve experimented with my high school guys sorta “cycling” the puck down low in the offensive zone to get some changes. In other words, they’ll keep moving the puck down low — in the so-called “safe areas”, as the high guys change one at a time.
Hoping that helps, James, I’d surely go deeper into any of this if you have further questions. Also, as you might notice, there are some things I’d do differently according to the level I’m working with. So, if you need more specific ideas, please do let me know what caliber of player you’re dealing with.
Thanks that helps alot. My team is a Atom team (9 and 10 year olds), and is quite a challenge because I have a wide variety of skill levels including 3 who have never played hockey before. We have a very experienced defense but only 1 or 2 good forwards. Any suggestions on a overall team strategy?
Well, first, James, you might follow along as I work with my little (8-year old) AAA Mite Majors. True, they might be a little more polished — as AAA’s. But my kids and yours could probably learn the same things.
To this point in our season we are lucky to be playing several weeks of an interesting, experimental 3 versus 3 format before we switch to regulation games. Behind the scenes, though, I’ve given my kids the very simple “L Forecheck” described in a video found under Thinking the Game — Defensively. And they are doing pretty well moving the puck in a simple breakout. With that, I’m hoping their take to the full ice fairly well.
Probably the distinction between your team and mine is that my kids already have most of their basic skills in place. So, when I work skills with them, those skills are more game related or position specific. As for your kids, it sounds like the best thing you can do for them is to begin at Square One and really upgrade their skills. Try to help them all become comfortable and agile on their skates, and also try to greatly upgrade their puckhandling skills.
Hi Dennis,
Just wanted to thank you for your great advice. I spent a few weeks working with the kids and teaching them the L forecheck (using mainly your excellent MP drill) and also the basics of the backcheck and breakout and line changes.
We had our first two games and won both, and as a bonus one of those new players, scored his 1st ever goal! It was amazing to me how well those kids took what we practiced and implemented it in the game. I coached tyke and novice for the last few years and have mainly used Hockey Canada`s C.H.I.P. and novice manuals and found that while they are excellent for information on basic skills and great for more advanced and older players, a lot of the drills are lost on less skilled players.
The great part about your methods are their intuitiveness, which really helps those less skilled or newer players.
Thanks!
P.S. Now what! LOL
Wow, James, those are the kindest words I’ve heard in awhile, and they represent the kind of encouragement that keeps me going, and they keep me trying to help all the more.
Then, as far as “Now what?” Hmmmmmm… I just hate that kind of pressure —
. However, if you (or any others) let me know your latest challenge, I’m sure I’ll find a way to solve it with you.
Thanks again, James!
Hi Dennis,
My guys are having real trouble with their breakouts and generally can’t get the puck out of the defensive zone and get a good breakaway.
Do you have any good advice on this?
What is the best spot for the wingers in our end? I have 1 or 2 at the point around the blueline and the center acts as a 3rd defenseman. Is that the best spot for them?
My defense often blindly shoot the puck once they get it and give it away to the opposing D or forwards.
James, I’m kinda hoping you have access to my video on “(Teaching & Troubleshooting) Basic Breakouts“, because just about everything you’ve mentioned is addressed there.
In a nutshell, though, breakout problems almost always boil down to the very basics. In other words, you’re not going to advance the puck out of your end very often if your D aren’t beating the first forechecker and making good passes, and if your forwards aren’t moving through high percentage pass-receiving patterns and then catching passes.
As an aside… In a way, I have to laugh when I hear parents in the stands calling for young defensemen to send the puck “Up the boards!” This causes the kids to just put their heads down and fire the puck blindly, so that it’s quite often grabbed (as you say) by opposing D or forwards.
Of course, it would be difficult to get too deeply into such a subject in this space. However, what I might at least suggest is that you look at the roles played by each player during a breakout. Picture what each defenseman should be doing, how you want your wingers and centerman to move, and then make drills out of each of these… Put moderate pressure on a D and have him move away from the pressure to make a good pass (and do it over and over again until the D somewhat master it). Have the forwards practice skating their routes with stick-targets held out front, and eventually feed them passes until they can control each one.
Again, as fancy as an effective breakout might look, it’s really made-up of very basic — maybe even simple — moves that need to be mastered.
Hoping that helps, James.
We have a top-20 ranked Squirt team and we could easily be top ten if we were effective in changing lines. Too often we have certain kids out for two minutes and beyond, and you can sense the ill effect on the kids not playing. They come out cold, no rythym, etc. What are some of the detriments to kids both playing long shifts, those not playing long shifts and the team in general? I see us taking steps backwards and losing ground with the other top 20 teams who properly change lines every 40 seconds to one miinute.
Wow, Terry, you’re one of the first I’ve heard mention something that I happen to think is extremely important when it comes to short shifts — that being the effects on players who have to sit on the bench for long stretches. Just as you say, those kids get physically cold, they get out of the rhythm of a game, and I even worry about injuries when it comes to older players. (Back when I was coaching in high school and college, it used to bother me that our entire team would sometimes get cold and out of sync because penalties had us using only three or four players at a time for very long stretches.)
You might find it interesting that one of my jobs today is to coach a young AAA Mite Major team, and those little rascals — only playing their third game the other day — changed pretty much to my satisfaction. (Oh, one forward thought he’d stay on a little extra, but I sense that his missing the next few shifts has probably solved that. Not that I’m into punishing little guys; but I know I’ve helped him for the long run, and I’ve probably also pleased a lot of his teammates.)
As for a quick suggestion on helping your kids right now…
I actually take the time to practice something like that, and we’d do it for a 10-minutes per practice over the late summer and early fall months (both off- and on-ice). I mean, we’d have a group break from their own end, they’d gain the red line for a dump, and then they’d practice the exchange at our bench. The unit coming on would hurry to form their forecheck, and then they’d retreat to breakout and get their own change. (Absent opponents, it’s easy for a coach to inspect where the dump-ins go, how cleanly the exchanges are made, etc.) And, within 10-minutes or so, you can get a lot of changes accomplished.
Ironically, I addressed the line changing issues with my Mite parents just recently, explaining that we’d have to establish three things in order for the kids to move on to new tactics and strategies. And, getting good changes was one of the three.
Hoping that helps, Terry, and thanks so much for your contributions.
My 16yr old just went through an identification “try-out” for a triple A team. He was, as usual strong and fast – beating everyone in the endurance skate. When it came to the game, he played hard and fast, strong and true, never lossing battles in the corner, moving the puck well, using the body (he’s a defensman), keeping guys to the outside. As soon as that was done, he pulled himself off and let the next set of defensmen take to the ice – shifts were from 30 to 75 sec long. He did have some play in the offensive zone as well, got a few shots off, made some increadibe plays to keep the puck in his own end. We were quite pleased with his play. The problem was, when it came to the exit interviews, he was told that he had to build his stamina. The only thing that we can think of that was a problem with stamina was then length of the shifts he chose to take. Everyone else seemed to take 2 to 3 minutes. My son is in very good shape – he is an phenominal box and field Lacrosse player, an overall excellent athlete. He has played the shorter shift game all his life but now it’s being held against him. It’s frustraiting and now we have to tell him that he has to be greedy to get anywhere. Aren’t there any coaches out there with a lick of ability to evaluate a player within the 45sec they’re on the ice? Do they have to see them for 3 minutest to make their mind up about them? Just venting I guess. Thanks for listening
I’m just shaking my head having read that, Lindsay, and I surely do have a few things to say…
First, I’ve never trusted the after-tryout-evaluations of players who are being cut. If you think about it, most of the evaluators are so captured by the kids they’re wanting to keep, that they hardly watch the others. So, quite often, those evaluators grasp for any excuse to dismiss the others.
On the other hand, conditioning for our game has to be “hockey specific”. In other words, while a youngster might be unbelievably fit — and could maybe run all day and night, he might run out of gas quickly performing hockey actions at a frantic pace.
Of course, unless tryout line changes are controlled by whistles or a horn, I’d suggest that your son henceforth play for the lengths of time he’s comfortable with. I doubt many coaches care about that, and some might even appreciate it.
As for those going for longer shifts, my guess is that a lot of them are coasting at times, and only turning it on when they get the urge. And, although I wouldn’t want my players to perform that way in-season, it might be understandable in such a showcase format. If I’m watching the players, I’d be picking more from potential than anything else, knowing — if they have the right skill sets — I can get them to play my game later.
Actually, somewhere within these 500+ pages, I’ve outlined the things I tell the guys I’ve prepped for tryouts. A shortcut version might be for them to go easily in the early part of the games — delay the accumulation of lactic acid, and then turn it on when other players start to wilt. Let’s face it: those who shine later in a scrimmage are likely to be the most noticeable.
Then, I return to my original statement — about evaluators just dreaming up anything to tell a player they’re cutting… In your son’s case, I’d be asking what their definition of “stamina” is. I mean, they could be sincere in suggesting that he is frail or overweight, with either of those pointing to his not yet being ready to play at an advanced pace or in the heavy going.
As for me, hmmmmmmm… I am mainly looking at things that I can or can’t change over the coming year. As it pertains to stamina (or in this case, conditioning), I’d figure I could whip a player into shape in short order. That’s easy, if I sense the player is willing. In other words, I’d be looking at a player’s current skill set, his playing smarts and willingness to work, first and foremost.
Hoping that helps, Lindsay.
As an afterthought, Lindsay… If you think your son is up to playing Juniors for me (under palm trees —
), email me personally…