Hockey is a unique game, unlike popular sports such as basketball, football and soccer, where gameplay is physically contained by only a marking on the ground that players can easily step in and out of. Whiteboards completely surround hockey’s gameplay area. Hockey’s area of play also isn’t even as close to as big as a football and soccer arena, so a lot of gameplay happens along the boards. In hockey, you must be able to take hits and win puck battles along the boards. So let’s look at ways to improve our game along the boards.
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Many times the beauty is in the approach when it comes to winning puck battles. It’s the player who prepares himself, the one who expects physicalness, who knows how to prepare for it, is who comes out on top with the puck on their stick.
Especially in a 1-on-1 board battle, nine times out of ten the player who first touches the puck will win. So, in the meetup towards the puck, it’s important to make sure that you’re the one who touches it first, so you must be a step ahead of your opponent. Although board battles have a high frequency count they’re typically not long at all, so possession of the puck doesn’t go back and forth between teams during an occurrence along the boards. So, you must do whatever it takes to get to the puck first.
In the paragraph above, I stressed how important it is to be the first to touch the puck, while this is true you cannot come in with too much speed or at least you can’t be skating too much faster than your opponent. The problem with this is twofold. First, you could get involved in a dangerous situation where you come crashing into the boards. Hockey is a fast-paced and physical game. If you’re on your way to the puck and a defender bumps you it could force you to lose your footing and send you crashing into the boards. Possibly leading to serious injury, so don’t do this. The video below demonstrates this exact thing happening to Brayden Point.
Secondly, if you’re coming in too quickly you might fumble the puck, so although you touched it first possession might ultimately end up with the other team. In board battles the puck is rarely still and completely flat on the ice so it’s difficult to control it on your stick blade, toss in a big-bodied defender who is letting you know they’re there and obtaining possession of the puck is difficult. A defender who is approaching the puck slower and has a strong stick will be able to knock the puck away from you the moment you touch it. When this happens you will slam on the breaks and backtrack but the puck will likely have been moved out of the area and you will have lost the battle.
The moral of the story is it’s critical to touch the puck first but you must do it under the right circumstances. A good rule of thumb would be to approach board battles being just slightly faster than your opponent. You want to be going fast enough that you touch the puck first but slow enough that you’re not putting yourself into a dangerous situation and slow enough that when you make contact with the puck you’re able to possess it and take control.
Despite what you may think. Physical strength doesn’t have all that much to do with winning board battles. Players such as Brendan Gallagher and Zach Parise who are known for being mixed up in a few battles along the boards are far from being the biggest and strongest players on the ice. So, if winning board battles doesn’t have that much to do with one’s physical attributes how can one be successful?
If you’re along the boards and the puck is on your blade or in your feet, the two most important things to remember are to be aware of your surroundings and always move your feet.
Whenever you’re along the boards the only thing that will truly make you ineffective is if you’re pinned and cannot move. If this occurs, the player who wins the battle is likely the next player who joins in cause they can just grab the puck and leave. It’s the player that moves their feet constantly who is the toughest to lockdown in battles along the boards. This is why players like Brendan Gallagher, Nazem Kadri and Zach Hyman are killers in the NHL today because they’re tenacious in board battles and one thing these players all share is that they’re not big-bodied NHL players.
Due to the amount of bodies and physical nature of board battles it’s difficult for a player to just skate out of the scrum with clear possession of the puck, many times the puck is passed or chipped out of the danger area. So, if you have possession of the puck during a puck battle it’s best to be aware of your surroundings and know where your teammates are so you can give them the puck and get out of there victorious.
There are two takeaways to remember if you’re defending in a board battle. The first is to be on the right side of the puck. Always be between you and your net. It’s amazing how many times the puck will just come to you and the only thing that you’ll have done is put your stick on the ice and be in the right position. If you’re on the wrong side of the puck you’re two steps behind. If you’re successfully able to retrieve the puck your back will probably be facing the opposing zone and by the time you turn around, all you will see are the opposing colour jerseys because they will be on the right side of the puck and will jump on you the moment you come out of the scrum. If the puck comes out of the battle on the other player’s stick they have a clearer line to your goalie because you’re behind them. You can’t do anything from back there.
Secondly, when targeting an opposing player you want to place a physical focus on their lower body. Remember, a key takeaway for board battle success is to always move your feet, so you want to prevent the opposing player from doing this. Players push/cross-check during board battles and if you push someone’s upper body they will feel it, but they can still move their feet. By targeting a player’s hips or pushing directly at their center of gravity it derails them and makes them lose their balance. Obviously, pushing a player’s upper body can derail and knock them over but it’s not as effective and it’s more noticeable to referees. Many times you will see a ref raise their hand when they witness a cross-check in a board battle even though that push wasn’t that overly bearing the player just fell. Pushes and shoves like this happen all the time during board battles it’s just that if it’s an upper-body shove it’s much more noticeable.
Take note of the following video of Tomas Nosek’s cross-check from behind on Timothy Liljegren. While deserving of a penalty Nosek’s cross-check wasn’t as bad as it looks. It’s not like he took 4 or 5 strides and laid a massive hit on him he was basically at a stand-still and cross-checked Liljegren in the mid-back area and fell. Witnessing it all, the referee raised his hand and made the call. If Mr. Nosek had instead pushed his lower body, like his hips, Timmy probably would’ve stumbled instead of falling and this play would’ve never been clipped to YouTube.
As odd as this may sound, you should always stick to the boards if you’re on the receiving end of a hit. Unless you’re skating towards the puck by the boards with speed and are expecting a hit that will knock you into the boards, then what you want to do is slow down. But if you’re along the boards and a player is going to skate up and hit you the best thing to do is to fully brace yourself and stick to the boards like you’re glued to it.
I’m assuming of course that the player coming to hit you isn’t coming at full speed, they’re taking 1 to 2 strides max and then laying the hit. If a player is coming at you at full speed it’s best to ignore the puck and get out of the way.
This might be odd advice and difficult to grasp your head around but the belief of this opinion does come from experience and the proof actually lies in Physics. Newton’s Third Law of Motion is ‘whenever one object exerts a force on another object, the second object exerts an equal and opposite on the first.’ In this situation, the opposing player, the one making the hit is the first object and if you’re glued to the boards, you and the boards are the second object. The moment the opposing player makes the hit, they make contact with the boards and from Newton’s theory a force on an object has an equal and opposite reaction, so the boards (the second object) will essentially push back leaving a separation between you and them, and this is when you take the puck and go. This gap won’t last very long so you need to take advantage and explode out of there.
This one sounds like a cliche but it’s true. By now you should be able to garner that one’s physical attributes don’t really affect the outcome of a board battle. It’s the intangibles, not the tangibles that matter. There are so many bodies and sticks that there’s a random component to board battles and this can’t be picked up by statistics. Something that is also intangible is the will of the players. The battles along the boards are ruthless. They take a physical and mental toll on all players. When it comes to gritty situations such as this, the adage still rings true, “What counts is not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.” It’s the player who can not only endure but loves the puck battles and wants to come out victorious that does.
Hate ’em or love ’em board battles are a part of hockey. Winning them is difficult and many variables can affect the outcome. However, there are things you can do to increase your chances of coming out with the puck on your stick. Speed is important because the player who first touches the puck will usually win it but be careful because going into battles with speed can result in serious injuries and don’t forfeit puck control for speed because you won’t win the battle if you don’t have possession of the puck.
Moving your feet, being on the right side of the puck, targeting the opponent’s center of gravity and being willing not only to enter but come out on top are critical steps a hockey player must take to ensure they win their next board battle.
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