Attention: more and more non-NHLers are skilling it up like Trevor Zegras.
Here’s a scene from a U18AAA preseason game earlier this week:
#96 rolls off a defender by using a well-timed “spread eagle” (a term employed by colleague Daniel Bochner), gains the back of the net, scoops the puck onto his stick blade and then tucks it in.
Watch the play unfold by focusing on the goal-scorer. Then re-watch it from the defenders’ perspective.
You’ll see that, instead of pressuring the puck carrier as he dives behind the net, the defenders are collapsing to net-front.
Hockey is all about tradeoffs. What appears to be a sensible defensive tradeoff (leave the puck carrier alone behind the net) results in public humiliation when used at the wrong moment against the wrong individual. No defensive breakdowns occurred here. It’s all part of a plan that’s optimal 99% of the time.
Here’s what I wrote about this passive DZ tactic in January, days after Zegras pulled off his first lacrosse goal vs. BUF:
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