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3 Tips for Developing Young Defensemen

By Minnesota Hockey, 01/19/16, 8:00AM CST

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It’s a great time to be a young defenseman in Minnesota.

Why, you ask? Role models.

There are currently 19 defensemen from Minnesota in the National Hockey League (NHL), and many of them are playing at an extremely high level. In fact, if you ranked all of the American born defensemen by points (as of Jan. 15th), nine of the top 16 point producers are from Minnesota, and two of them rank in the Top 20 of all NHL defensemen.

Players such as Ryan McDonagh, Justin Faulk, Matt Niskanen, Dustin Byfuglien and Alex Goligoski are becoming (or have become) household names across the entire country.

And that’s not to mention the Minnesota Wild's standout defenseman, Ryan Suter.

To learn how we can use these role models to enhance the development of young defensemen in Minnesota, we visited with Minnesota Hockey’s New Hockey Programs Manager Mike Terwilliger.

It All Starts with Skating

“In the past, you would often see big players who weren’t great skaters playing defense,” said Terwilliger. “Now, the best defensemen are often best skaters on team.  You’ve got to possess quickness and agility, be good on your edges, be able to pivot well on both sides, and on and on.  Good defensemen are able to do it all.”

Skating is particularly important for defensemen because the majority of time in the defensive zone is spent in small areas where quickness and agility reign as king. Players who are able to consistently win 8-10 foot races are going to have many more opportunities to make a play with the puck and help their team.

“It’s important to always be working on skating,” said Terwilliger, who played four seasons as a defenseman for St. Lawrence University. “Every facet of it needs to be strong, including skating with the puck.  Coaches can be creative and work a multitude of skating skills into existing drills so it’s not always so monotonous and routine.”

A Defensive Cheat Sheet

Coaches of all age levels talk to players about how important it is to “protect the house” and “control the middle of the ice.” Most players understand these concepts, but implementing them is a challenge when facing opponents who attack with speed and skill. In their eagerness to help their team, young players have a tendency to chase opposing forwards, which ends up creating a space behind them and often leads to scoring chances for the other team.

Luckily, hockey rinks provide a built in cheat sheet for players that know how to use them: the dots.

“One great thing about the dots is that they’re a landmark on every rink you see, regardless of playing level or rink size,” said Terwilliger.  “With younger players in Squirts, I like to explain it as good ice and bad ice.  You don’t want the opponent to get the puck into the ‘good ice’ between the dots because that’s where they’re more dangerous.  We want to make them carry it to the ‘bad ice’.”

“Eden Prairie product Nick Leddy was a master in high school of keeping the play to the outside and with his skating ability, very few forwards could ever get to the middle for a prime scoring opportunity.”

As players get older, you can introduce more advanced concepts while building upon the same foundation of using the dots as a reference point.

“A neutral or defensive zone example is when you receive a pass from your partner, you’re better off getting the pass inside the dots to increase your options of what to do next whether it’s better passing angles or skating the puck up yourself,” said Terwilliger. 

Be Patient with Breakouts

“I remember the first time I got called up to play varsity,” said Terwilliger, who won a state title with Edina in 1988. “[Willard] Ikola looked straight at me and said, ‘You’re up here to break the puck out. Make a good first pass.’”

Hockey has experienced a number of changes since Ikola was behind the bench, but his words still ring true. Making a good first pass is a key skill for young defensemen. In order to develop that skill, Terwilliger emphasizes how important it is to have patience.

“Coaches need to be patient in teaching their defensemen to think and encourage them to make plays with the puck,” said Terwilliger.  “It’s a disservice to young players to only have them ring the puck out, or only chip it off the boards.  It may help you win some games at the younger levels, but as those defensemen go up in levels they may struggle.”

“There is certainly a time and place for those plays, but try to arm your defensemen with the skills to be able to make a multitude of smart, creative plays.  Teach your defensemen to use the weak side (D to D, reverses, counters), the net (to outsmart a fore checker or to cut up the post) and the center of the ice so if the strong side wing isn’t open (which in many cases it’s not) your players will have other options to utilize.”

By exposing young defensemen to a variety of options and concepts and being patient when they make mistakes, they will learn to apply those skills in the right situations as they progress to higher levels of play. 

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It’s a great time to be a young defenseman in Minnesota.

Why, you ask? Role models.

There are currently 19 defensemen from Minnesota in the National Hockey League (NHL), and many of them are playing at an extremely high level. In fact, if you ranked all of the American born defensemen by points (as of Jan. 15th), nine of the top 16 point producers are from Minnesota, and two of them rank in the Top 20 of all NHL defensemen.

Players such as Ryan McDonagh, Justin Faulk, Matt Niskanen, Dustin Byfuglien and Alex Goligoski are becoming (or have become) household names across the entire country.

And that’s not to the Minnesota Wild's standout defenseman, Ryan Suter.

To learn how we can use these role models to enhance the development of young defensemen in Minnesota, we visited with Minnesota Hockey’s New Hockey Programs Manager Mike Terwilliger.

It All Starts with Skating

“In the past, you would often see big players who weren’t great skaters playing defense,” said Terwilliger. “Now, the best defensemen are often best skaters on team.  You’ve got to possess quickness and agility, be good on your edges, be able to pivot well on both sides, and on and on.  Good defensemen are able to do it all.”

Skating is particularly important for defensemen because the majority of time in the defensive zone is spent in small areas where quickness and agility reign as king. Players who are able to consistently win 8-10 foot races are going to have many more opportunities to make a play with the puck and help their team.

“It’s important to always be working on skating,” said Terwilliger, who played four seasons as a defenseman for St. Lawrence University. “Every facet of it needs to be strong, including skating with the puck.  Coaches can be creative and work a multitude of skating skills into existing drills so it’s not always so monotonous and routine.”

A Defensive Cheat Sheet

Coaches of all age levels talk to players about how important it is to “protect the house” and “control the middle of the ice.” Most players understand these concepts, but implementing them is a challenge when facing opponents who attack with speed and skill. In their eagerness to help their team, young players have a tendency to chase opposing forwards, which ends up creating a space behind them and often leads to scoring chances for the other team.

Luckily, hockey rinks provide a built in cheat sheet for players that know how to use them: the dots.

“One great thing about the dots is that they’re a landmark on every rink you see, regardless of playing level or rink size,” said Terwilliger.  “With younger players in Squirts, I like to explain it as good ice and bad ice.  You don’t want the opponent to get the puck into the ‘good ice’ between the dots because that’s where they’re more dangerous.  We want to make them carry it to the ‘bad ice’.”

“Eden Prairie product Nick Leddy was a master in high school of keeping the play to the outside and with his skating ability, very few forwards could ever get to the middle for a prime scoring opportunity.”

As players get older, you can introduce more advanced concepts while building upon the same foundation of using the dots as a reference point.

“A neutral or defensive zone example is when you receive a pass from your partner, you’re better off getting the pass inside the dots to increase your options of what to do next whether it’s better passing angles or skating the puck up yourself,” said Terwilliger. 

Be Patient with Breakouts

“I remember the first time I got called up to play varsity,” said Terwilliger, who won a state title with Edina in 1988. “[Willard] Ikola looked straight at me and said, ‘You’re up here to break the puck out. Make a good first pass.’”

Hockey has experienced a number of changes since Ikola was behind the bench, but his words still ring true. Making a good first pass is a key skill for young defensemen. In order to develop that skill, Terwilliger emphasizes how important it is to have patience.

“Coaches need to be patient in teaching their defensemen to think and encourage them to make plays with the puck,” said Terwilliger.  “It’s a disservice to young players to only have them ring the puck out, or only chip it off the boards.  It may help you win some games at the younger levels, but as those defensemen go up in levels they may struggle.”

“There is certainly a time and place for those plays, but try to arm your defensemen with the skills to be able to make a multitude of smart, creative plays.  Teach your defensemen to use the weak side (D to D, reverses, counters), the net (to outsmart a fore checker or to cut up the post) and the center of the ice so if the strong side wing isn’t open (which in many cases it’s not) your players will have other options to utilize.”

By exposing young defensemen to a variety of options and concepts and being patient when they make mistakes, they will learn to apply those skills in the right situations as they progress to higher levels of play. 

Most Popular