Consider this scenario: You enter the offensive zone alone and have two defenders in front of you. You need to buy some time and space, and you also need support from your other linemates. What should you do?  

Trying to take on two defensemen yourself can be a difficult task and usually results in a turnover. What most players will do in this situation is use a skill called an “escape.” This means to drive down the boards with speed and make a hard turn towards the wall to elude the defenders. This will give you the time to think and the space to be able to make a play.

How do we do this? This is slightly different than a power turn. A power turn is used on both edges and is used to not lose any speed at all. The basic power turn is a bit wider than this turn. This specific escape turn will allow you to turn tighter. 

Depending on how tight of a space you have to work with or how tight you are to the boards will determine what your feet do. Because you are coming with so much speed and need to make a hard 180-degree turn, you will need to take the front of the lead foot and turn it out so it causes a slide stop on your outside edge. The outside foot continues to turn on a solid edge. The more you turn the inside foot in, the tighter you will turn. This will allow you to decelerate and turn tighter. Decelerating allows you to not make a wide turn and go crashing into the boards.  

This turn is very difficult to do. If a skater is not able to stop on one foot on an outside edge (T stop), then it will be impossible to do this in a game situation with a puck. Because of the speed going into this turn, it will take practice and a lot of repetition to acquire this skill. 

Another nifty escape that is perfect for the D is a backward-to-forward escape. The D will skate backwards with the puck, open his/her feet, push off of that outside leg, and perform a turn going the opposite direction. As you come out of the turn, you should have a wide base with a good knee bend attaching yourself to the ice like a magnet. Depending on the situation, you may be able to add some crossovers to generate some speed out of that escape as well. It is also important to remember to turn around the puck. This will make it a much easier turn without the puck flying off your stick. You will see defensemen use this in the neutral zone or corners of the D zone to elude oncoming forecheckers.  

This is an area in which many of the NHL skaters I work with are extremely efficient. They are able to turn on a dime while controlling the puck and keeping their head up. If you get a chance, in the next NHL or NCAA game, watch how many turns and escapes the players will make while maintaining puck control. This skill will take much practice, but can always be improved upon.  

Andy Ness is the head skating and skill coach for the Minnesota Wild. He has also been an assistant skating instructor for the New Jersey Devils, the University of Minnesota men’s and women’s hockey teams and the U.S. Women’s Olympic Hockey Team.