The more girls’ hockey games I watch, the more I see teams playing a full pressure system when they don’t have the puck. Sometimes it looks like there is no system at all – players are just chasing that little black thing all around the ice no matter where it goes.

Now don’t get me wrong – it is definitely a challenge to play against a hard pressuring system, especially when it comes to breaking the puck out of your own end. But it also means that if you come up against a team that can pass the puck well, you are going to find yourself chasing the game all night long.

The entire game of hockey really breaks down to a series of 1-on-1 battles. A forechecker against a defenseman who is looking to make the first breakout pass. A goalie against a shooter with a breakaway. A forward looking to beat a defenseman to get a scoring chance in the offensive zone.  In order to play any of these 1-on-1’s effectively, players must first understand the most critical defensive concept (or as I like to call it, play without the puck concept) which is “pressure vs. contain.”

When defending in all parts of the ice, players must understand when to directly pressure the puck carrier and when to simply contain them. Generally speaking, when we outnumber our opponent (i.e. we have two defending players closest to one of their attackers) or they do not have clear possession of the puck, we want to pressure them hard. If they have full possession and it’s a 1-on-1 battle (even numbers), you have to be a bit more conservative but still want to get stick on puck and body on body as quickly as you can. 

If they outnumber us (two attackers to only one defender), you have to be in contain-mode – use your stick and body positioning to take away skating and passing options while you wait for support from your teammates.

Let’s look at a few specific examples of when you might have to make this pressure vs. contain decision when playing without the puck.

On the forecheck
We’re just going to talk about when you are the first player in on the forecheck here. I’m going to assume your team isn’t running a trap and that you are using either a 1-2-2 or 2-1-2 forechecking system – or some variation of one of those. Generally, the first player in is going to pressure hard if the puck carrier’s back is to you and/or they don’t have clear possession of the puck. If they have full possession with their head up and are skating up the ice, you are going to contain. Please note that containing doesn’t mean that you don’t pressure at all. It means you’re slightly less aggressive, using your angling with your body and steering with your stick to force them to skate where you want them to go, instead of skating at them full-steam and having them fly right by you.

On the backcheck
In this example, we’re mainly focusing on the first forward coming back hard on the backcheck. Let’s say we outnumber our opponent on the backcheck – so we’ve got a D defending the attacker 1-on-1 and a backchecker close to the attacker as well. In this scenario, we are in full pressure mode and we want our backchecker to catch the attacker, get the pin and allow our D to pick up the puck and start the regroup/attack. We sometimes refer to this as a pressure sandwich – the D closes the gap to pressure from one side and the backchecker skates hard to pressure from the other side.  

If the opponents have full possession and outnumber us (so let’s say it’s a 2-on-1 against us and the backchecker can’t catch the puck carrier), we have to be a bit more conservative. This means that our D has to play it like a true 2-on-1 situation until the backchecker can gain inside positioning on their second attacker. While the back-checker is working hard to gain that inside positioning, she is using her stick and body to take away east-west passing options on the 2-on-1 so that the D can focus a little more attention on the 1-on-1 situation.

In the defensive zone
In the hierarchy of importance, understanding pressure vs. contain is most critical in our defensive zone. If you are the closest defender to the puck carrier, and she doesn’t have full control of the puck or has her back turned to you, you want to pressure her hard. Get your stick on the puck and your body on her body and try to get that player/puck stopped on the wall if at all possible. It’s important that our first defender isn’t trying to steal the puck (or at least that isn’t her primary focus). She’s trying to get the puck and player stopped so that our second defender in can pick it up and initiate the breakout/attack.  

If the opponent has full control and is skating at you with the puck, you have to ease off on the pressure a bit and look to contain. It doesn’t mean you back off pressure entirely, but instead you try to keep her in a small area of the ice by using a good stick and good body positioning while you wait for your second defender to come in and support you. Once you have that second player support, you can go back into full pressure mode.

These are just some very basic examples of that pressure vs contain read. There are countless more and they aren’t always black and white. No matter how complicated the situation, you must make sure that all your players understand this basic defensive concept or else your play without the puck will always look like chaos. It’s great to pressure hard, but you must understand when it’s appropriate and how to do it properly, or you risk looking like you’re running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

To learn more about getting to the next level, visit www.totalfemalehockey.com. Kim McCullough, M.Sc., YCS is a highly sought-after expert in the development of aspiring hockey players and has played and coached at the highest level of women’s hockey in the world for the last decade. She is a former NCAA Division I captain, strength and conditioning All-American and played in the NWHL/CWHL for seven years. She is the Director & Founder of Total Female Hockey and is currently coaching the Toronto-Leaside Jr. Wildcats of the Provincial Women’s Hockey League (PWHL).