Hockey is an aggressive, fast-paced game requiring talent, athleticism and toughness. Games may feature grace and skill or fearsome brutality, as players compete to shoot the puck into the other team's goal. And despite its breathtaking speed, dazzling stick work and punishing physicality, hockey's main objective remains to score more goals than the opposition. Exactly how to accomplish that objective varies from team to team.
Scoring
To score a goal, a hockey team must shoot the puck behind the opposing goaltender and into a net that measures 4 feet high by 6 feet wide. Players may utilize quick wrist shots, powerful slap shots, crafty dekes or skillful deflections to beat the goaltender. Goals seldom come easy, so players must use teamwork and determination to put the puck in the net.
Puck Possession
The best hockey teams possess the puck as much as possible, connecting on quick, sharp passes and supporting each other in all areas of the ice. Since you can't score without the puck, maintaining puck possession is critical to outscoring the opponent. Good teams limit turnovers and win one-on-one battles for loose pucks in order to retain possession at all costs.
Forechecking
Even the most skilled teams will need to surrender the puck on occasion, but they typically do so by dumping the puck deep into the opponent's ice rather than committing a costly turnover. To retrieve the puck and reclaim possession, teams employ forechecking schemes, which send one or more players chasing after the puck. Forechecking can be aggressive, with players looking to initiate contact, or passive, with forecheckers hanging back to clog ice and intercept passes. Either way, forechecking plays a pivotal role in scoring goals.
Power Plays
Hockey teams compete five-on-five at regular strength. However, when one team commits a penalty, it loses a player to the penalty box for either two or five minutes, giving the other team what's known as a power play. Enjoying a five-on-four manpower advantage makes it far easier to generate offense and outscore the opponent.
Defense
While most would agree scoring more goals than the opposition remains hockey's ultimate objective, certain defensive coaches may look at things a bit differently. For them, hockey's main objective is allowing fewer goals than the opponent. Instead of worrying about ways to score, these defensive minds focus on limiting the opponent's scoring chances, employing trapping schemes at even strength and relying on exceptional penalty killing and reliable goal-tending to win games.
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