On March 10th’s practice, the “last” of 8, we worked on an extremely useful skill: the button hook.

What is a button hook? It’s when the puck carrier gains the offensive zone, then hooks (using a tight or punch turn usually sometimes with a stop) towards the boards while protecting the puck. This short delay allows for new passing options to open up or more help to arrive from the neutral zone.

Often times, the puck carrier entering the offensive zone may be further ahead of the play than his or her teammates. Waiting for help can be a great option if no clear and immediate passing or shooting option presents itself.

It also forces the defense to stop and attack you (as opposed to angling you into the boards or simply maintaining a tight gap into the zone) which can also present additional opportunities.

Warm-Up Skills Drill: Continuous Cycle

As a warm-up and skills drill, we did dozens and dozens of reps of cycle passing (passing along the boards to a teammate) to get the feet moving, passing going and ensure we were all comfortable mechanically with cycle passing on our backhand (strong) and forehand (weak) sides.

Cycle passing is important especially in the offensive zone as due to defensive pressure, a direct pass to a teammate may not always be possible. Cycle passing allows us to use the less contested spaces along the perimeter of the ice to move the play around, cause the defense to move and (hopefully) create time and space and force an error which will allow us to get the puck on net.

Important things to remember:

• The cycle pass should always be made on the boards-side. Cycle passing towards the middle of the ice increases the likelihood a defender can intercept.
• The cycle pass needs to cover a decent amount of distance. Sometimes players make the mistake of dropping the puck only a few feet back during a cycle, which is easy for the defender to react to. The idea is you want the defender to have to move substantially to keep up with the cycle.
• If you’re looking for a cycle pass to be made to you, call for it! That can’t be over-stated. In most games, the player with the puck will most often have no idea you’re there; communication is key!

Skills Drill: Button Hook to Trailer

As mentioned above, with the first button hook drill we start with a skater with the puck entering the offensive zone wide. A second player is looping around the center faceoff circle (essentially just killing time so they can mimic how a trailer would enter the zone late in an actual game).

The skater with the puck should be trying to drive as deep into the zone as possible (which pulls the defender with them – the more you draw the defender in, the more space you’re creating for the trailer).

As is the case in many game situations, in this circumstance, you may decide that you have little chance of getting a good scoring chance and that since you’re in the zone alone, you’re better off waiting for some help from your teammates that are right behind you.

So, the button hook – you did your job drawing the defense in, you protect the puck as you curl toward the boards, and are able to slip a pass to the trailer perfectly entering the zone at the right time.

We did this drill on both sides, and without a defender to start (added in a coach as defense for better game simulation).

Skills Drill: Button Hook to Cycle

Next up: What happens if, after you button-hook, you realize there’s no suitable trailer option to pass to?

The answer, according to most low-level beer league players: force the puck into the center of the ice! Nothing like a good turnover, right?

Our answer since we spent all that time practicing: cycle the puck into the corner!

Going from a 2v1 to a button-hook sets us up into the perfect situation to perform a cycle pass into the corner. It requires 2 things:

1. The awareness for the puck carrier to not force the puck into the center of the ice but instead move the puck around the boards (cycle)
2. The teammate driving the net having the awareness to call for the cycle pass instead of just staying in front of the net (provided no good shooting opportunity)

Once the cycle pass is made, the player receiving the puck can choose to continue up the same boards, carry the puck behind the net, or any other variety of plays.

Important note for the “driving” player: Don’t wait until you’re in the corner coming up the boards to call for the cycle! Call for it as soon as you recognize the opportunity and when you know you can get there first. Waiting until you actually get there diminishes the deceptiveness of the play and makes it easier for the defender to anticipate it.