In women’s hockey, hitting is not allowed in most leagues around the world. Only in Sweden, within the SDHL and Division 1, can players leverage “tackles” in certain circumstances in order to separate their opponents from the puck. While other leagues ban “tackles” and “hits”, this doesn’t mean that physical play is not important in women’s hockey.
By nature, especially at the highest levels of the game, hockey is a contact sport. Therefore, the physical aspect of the game of hockey is not limited to the idea of “finishing your hits” or “bodying your opponent” as some traditional hockey people might like to think.
On the contrary, the broad concept of physical play can sometimes be a catalyst driving high value puck possession hockey. For instance, by efficiently leveraging physicality to win 50/50 battles, teams can enjoy the benefits of successfully retrieving pucks in the OZ to prolong possession sequences.
Physical Play as a Skill Set
Within the SARAH framework, we had defined the idea of physical play as a skill set which encompassed the habits primarily requiring players to leverage their body to influence the play.
In short, we had identified the following 3 habits as part of this skill set:
Initiating Contact = in board battles, willingness to initiate contact with the opponent to win the puck.
Puck Protection with Body = ability to use body as a shield between puck and opponent.
Fitness Level = overall ability to keep up with the pace of the game (& have reasonable shift lengths).
Based on the results of SARAH 2, these 3 habits were distributed as follows:
It is also interesting to note that both the habits of contact initiation and puck protection are “relevant” to the events pertaining to puck battles: they positively drive puck battle wins and negatively impact puck battle losses.
Puck Battle Efficiency
Therefore, successfully initiating contact in battle and protecting the puck after retrieval are key success factors pertaining to puck battle efficiency.
However, on a case by case basis, puck battles and their outcome are largely affected by situational factors. More specifically, when talking to players about puck battles and how to approach them efficiently, the first thing I bring to their attention is the situation of the puck.
In other words, when entering a 50/50 battle, arriving first to the puck is the optimal scenario to gain positional advantage. However, when arriving second, the puck might either be marginally exposed (and somewhat free for the taking) or protected by an opponent. Depending on the situation, a contingency approach can be leveraged to successfully retrieve the puck.
Scenario 1
IF the puck is marginally exposed (and therefore somewhat free for the taking):
THEN players should approach the battle by going “stick-on-puck”
The clip above exemplifies this idea very well. Following the dump in, USA12 gains a positional advantage, but does not efficiently leverage her body to protect the puck. This makes it exposed for the taking and CAN29 attacks this battle by leading with her stick (i.e., “stick-on-puck”) which allows her to successfully retrieve the puck for her team.
Scenario 2
IF the puck is protected (and therefore not free for the taking):
THEN players should approach the battle by initiating contact
This second clip illustrates the concept of contact initiation used effectively within the context of a 50/50 battle. As the puck is protected following the retrieval by USA13, CAN3 initiates contact with her opponent to force her to free up the puck. Following this, CAN40 swoops in and she reaches for the puck with her stick to win the battle for her team.
To summarize, approaching puck battles in the right order of operations is the key to ensuring efficiency in this aspect of the game, not only at the individual level but also as a team.
Only leveraging contact initiation is not optimal. But neglecting this aspect of the game (even in women’s hockey) can be detrimental to the overall performance of the team. Ultimately, the goal is for these concepts to become instinctive for players when they step on the ice.
As the off-season is coming to an end, I wanted to take the time to thank each and everyone of you who have been reading my posts on a weekly basis.
As my focus will shift to a new team and the PHF season, starting in a few weeks, I will only be posting occasionally on my newsletter and featuring some guest posts from talented young hockey analysts throughout the season.
If you have any suggestions or specific topics you would like to see covered in these occasional posts, feel free to email them to me at mikael.nahabedian@mail.mcgill.ca.
I will be back next summer, with my regular weekly posts, to discuss more of hockey analytics, tactics, scouting and player development with you.
Have a good season!
Thanks,
Mik