Positions – Getting Started with Hockey

When developing your hockey skills, you probably think about which position best fits you. Which one is the easiest to learn and play? The easiest position in hockey is the wing. Right and left wings are mostly offensive positions. During offensive possession, they are controlling how the puck is moved. Other teammates move around the zone based on the wing's actions. When on defense, the wing position is the easiest to learn. There are 4 positions in hockey: wing, defenseman, center, and goalie. What makes wing the easiest position? What does a Winger do in Hockey? Hockey wingers' role is to play alongside the boards and keep the puck moving or take a shot. Accurate with their shooting, they must be able to put the puck in the back of the net. There are two wingers on the ice at a time, one of the left side and one on the right. They control the offensive attack. These players have the most elite puck handling skills on the team and are fast skaters. When they are on defensive, their goal is to get the puck out of the zone by forechecking. Simply explained, forechecking is applying pressure to the offensive team to create a turnover and get the puck back. Being a physical player in this position helps out when forechecking against an opponent. If you watch a hockey game and see people blocking shots or setting screens (without committing an interference penalty), that is probably a winger. If you are the best on your team at the wing position, you will be on the power play. Each team has 2 power play units. Since the winger's main job is to score goals, you will find these units loaded with top wingers. Another reason wingers end up in the top of goal scoring categories at the end of the year is because they have the most opportunities in general, but especially when it comes to power play opportunities. What do Defenseman do in Hockey? As their name explains, their main job is defense. Keep the puck out of the back of the net. They are usually matched up with the other team's forwards. One goal is to not let the opposite team's forwards get to your own net. If a defenseman gets beat on the way to the net, it's trouble. They are responsible for exiting the defensive zone or clearing the zone and getting the puck out of the corners when the opposing team dumps the puck in behind the goal, known as 'chip and chase.' On offense, they are the 2 players near the blue lines, so they can be the first guys back on defense if needed. Here is an image to show us where everyone lines up at the start of a game. Image credit: HockeyMonkey. Full website can be found here. Goal scoring is not a big role for this player, but any goals help! If you find a defenseman with high goal-scoring abilities, then you have found a very well rounded player. When they get the puck, they are usually facilitating and passing to another player, or shooting it towards the net, looking for a deflection on the way in, and hoping it makes it past the goalie. On special teams, defenseman play an important role in killing penalties. Players that have encourage and willingness to stand in front of a slap shot get to serve on the penalty kill unit. Not a sexy part of the team, but a position that holds the team together and swings momentum if their team can kill the power play and get back to even strength. You do not see front page headlines or people getting drafted because they are good at killing penalties. Want to be loved by your coaches? Kill penalties well. What does a Centerman do? The centerman is the leader of the line. They are comparable to the the quarterback or point guard. The team runs through the centerman throughout the shift. This player is the most blended in regards to skills on the ice. Where the defenseman and wingers are most heavy on skating or defensive plays, the centerman is right in the middle. Even though it is a balanced skilled position, centers lean toward an offensive position. When they have the puck, the rest of the team follows their lead. Once play has crossed over the blue line and into the offensive zone, they play more of a support role. Although he is running the team, he is trying to facilitate play between players and set up the wingers for a good shot. Centers will probably be the most vocal players on the ice. Participating in the most action during a shift, the center's role in defense is imperative to stopping goals. You will see them pushing offensive players out of the crease. right by the goal. If the goalie stops a puck and the play is whistled dead, the pushing and shoving that ensues involves the center. Removing players from the goalie's vision part of the job description. Centers are not assigned a player on defense, but an area of the ice, right in front of the goalie. They are reading the offensive attack and trying to block a shot or intercept a pass. When clearing the puck from deep in the zone, the process will go through the center. Centers take faceoffs as well. Not a glorified position, centers do a little bit everything, keeping the line going in the right direction. How Important is the Goalie? The most important and hardest job in hockey is the goalie. Yes, you need to score points in hockey, but if you give up 4-5 goals per game, you are not going very far. The physical and mental demands are draining for these players. Everyone is always talking about the goalie's performance, and there are no 'bad games.' If the star player has a bad game, it is easily forgivable. If the goalie has a bad game, they could easily be benched for the next one. A goalie is constantly watching and analyzing the play in front of them through their mask. Teams will do homework on the opposition, knowing what plays they like to run, who shoots most often, who passes more than shoots, etc. Analyzing the data in front of them allows their quick reflexes to move their bodies to the right position, giving themselves a good chance to make the save. If the goalie is out of position, you are not going to save a puck from going in the net, no matter how good your reflexes are. Skills pay the bills, and it is no difference between the pipes. What makes a good goalie is how fast they can develop the needed skill set to perform at the NHL level. Most goalies do not see the professional level until their mid-twenties. This is why you see goalies get picked later in the draft, usually in the third round. This is hard to compare against the earlier writing. If it is the hardest position to play, you would think they would be high picks in the first round. What Position Scores the Most in Hockey? The left and right winger scores the most in hockey. The game is set up and executed for these players to score the most goals through power-play efforts or even strength plays. These players are the highest-paid and most popular among fans for their burning slap shots and high production seasons. Centers will also score a lot of goals. Some teams have centers that outscore everyone else. If a winger is not scoring goals, they will get moved down to the third or fourth line. They might be a really good defensive winger, which are needed in some cases. Maybe they match up really well with the other team's high scoring defenseman. For the most part, they are there for production, but in a few cases, there are other roles for them on the team. If you are trying to get to NHL and you play wing, focus on goal scoring.