There are several coaching strategies used in hockey. The strategy is often based on the skills of the players. If a coach has a predominance of speedy players on his team, he may want to emphasize offense. If he has a great goaltender and strong defensive players, he may choose to stress defense. Coaches also can vary their strategy based on the score of the game and the strength of the players on the roster.
Head-Man Passing Strategy
This strategy was first used by the great Montreal Canadiens teams of the late 1950s and 1960s. In those days, the Canadiens had great offensive stars like Maurice "Rocket" Richard, Jean Beliveau and Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, who could skate brilliantly and had marvelous offensive skills. The Canadiens' goal was to get the puck up ice as quickly as possible, leave their opponents on their heels and create 2-on-1 and 3-on-2 breaks. Although the strategy is risky when the lead pass is unsuccessful, because the opponent can counter-attack, it has been used by fast-skating, highly-skilled teams for decades. It can be an exciting and high-scoring strategy and a crowd-pleaser.
Left-Wing Lock
This is the opposite of an attacking style. In this type of hockey, strong defensive teams try to impede the opponent's best offensive players by locking them down in the neutral zone. This prevents opponents from passing the puck freely and gaining access to the attacking zone with speed. This style can be highly effective; the New Jersey Devils used it to win the Stanley Cup in 1995 and it was later adopted by the Detroit Red Wings. The style has been criticized by many hockey purists, because it limits the offense and makes games appear "boring" to fans.
Dump-and-Chase Style
Teams that have a lot of size, strength and aggressiveness and may lack great skating skill sometimes adopt the dump-and-chase style of ice hockey. When teams play dump-and-chase, they cross the center red line with the puck and then fire it into the corners of the offensive zone and try to chase it down. The goal is to either beat their opponents to the puck or to take it away from them with strength and determination. This style has been used by teams like the Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers, and is often associated with rough play.
Considerations
Many teams try to use a variety of strategies, depending on the situation. When a coach knows his team has a skating advantage, he may want to attack with the head-man style to build a lead. Once his team has a lead, he may go to a more defensive style to keep the opponent from mounting an attack. If a team feels its opponent is a strong skating team and wants to wear it down with a hitting and aggressive style, it may start playing dump and chase to punish the opponent with significant body checking.
Effects
Teams that play aggressive offensive hockey are often thought to be more entertaining and crowd-pleasing than teams that emphasize defense. Crowds usually enjoy teams that can skate with speed, pass with accuracy and shoot aggressively. Scoring opportunities are more frequent, forcing goaltenders to make more great saves. Other hockey fans would rather root for a defensive team and "suffer" through boring games, if it means their team wins more often.
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