What skills does a CHL forward need to play in the AHL?

Get under 5 ping.

 

My LW ladies and gents....

 

Truth is, most forwards are interchangable between all leagues. It’s much more the case than it is on defense. Making friends plays a huge part in forwards getting a chance.

Chemistry is the key factor that gives most forwards success or not. If you take a 50 assist playmaker and stick him with guys that don’t shoot well, he won’t have much success. There are some guys that are next-level good and perform with nearly everyone, but they are probably <5% of forwards.

Moving up on forward is just a matter of playing with AHL guys, getting one to like you enough, and then getting your shot to play. If you do well, you’ll stick around. Once you stop doing well, you won’t.

 

Here's my list. Note that I play D, so this is only my personal opinion of what makes an *elite* forward, from a defensive dman point of view

Offensively

• Obviously, being able to score and dunk the puck 1 on 1 against a defender. Basically, thumbz & skillz
• Having high-end hockey IQ: being able to anticipate where the play will be, in order to be there when you need to be, not before, not after.
  • This is the hardest thing to defend; some forward will know how to switch sides and overload one side of the ice and catch defense with their pants down. It's really easy to defend against the winger that just stays in the circles open for a one-timer, it's much harder to defend him if he draws you behind the net and cut back to the open space with his body angled to instantly shoot, etc.
• Being able to do the simple play to keep possession and not turn it over 20 times a game (surprisingly a minority of forwards do this, even at the AHL level)
• Being able to see more than 1 play at a time, and pick the good play at the good time. ie., don't get tunnel vision
  • I see this every single game: forward could keep the play alive but decides to fucking do that stupid force in the slot. I know it's gonna work here and there, but it absolutely kills the flow when it doesn't.
• Being unpredictable; sell the shot and go for a pass, sell the pass and go for a shot. Great lines do this all the time, they reverse the play, one touch it and shot from somewhere else.
• Pass the puck quickly. That's basically anticipation and hockey-IQ, so kind of redundant. But the ability to one-touch pass the puck to the open man goes a very long way to creating space for your linemates in the o-zone
• Know when to do that second pass. Shooting the open 1T on the powerplay? That's an ez read. One touch it back for a one-t where the pass came from? This is already a lot harder to defend.
• Know how to use your stick angle to open up the passing lanes. Also works to sell a play by opening up a passing lane on your forehand/backhand, make the dman rotate, then reverse handedness and pass it behind the dman instead of in front of him. This is really hard to stop, especially combined with sauce...
• ... Being able to sauce the puck consistently to exploit the defense. It fucking sucks for us dman, but the game is dumb and the only way to intercept a saucer pass is basically to have it hit our legs. Elite forwards know this and will add sauce to every "force" and make it stick.
  • Side note: we all ear this all the time "damn why didn't my guy take this perfect pass? I was right there!" Yeah, you were there, but the passer put too much airtime on that pass so it was 6 inches over your blade. Bad pass. There is no excuse for this, just spend 1 hour here and there in practice mode doing only saucer passes until you know exactly how long to hold it for each distance
• Understanding offense dynamics; mainly when should you be cycling down low vs. when should you be looking to draw coverage to open up space at the point. A lot of lines only try plays around the net. Sure, they're great at it and can score 2-3 goals against average defense, but better defensive team will just clamp down, collapse and neuter these lines. So understanding this and using the points to open up space down low, or cycling down low to open up space high-up is key to a more balanced offense that's harder to stop.
• Know when to use the third forward (or the dman that jumped up), instead of always going for a dunk or cross-crease pass. It's often the hardest play to defend against.

Transition game

• SLOW THE FUCK DOWN ON THE BREAKOUT. Forwards that sprint to the opposite blueline as soon as the puck is about to change possession is beyond annoying. Yes it works against bad defense and CHL teams, but in my opinion, being able to slow down when you need to, and puck-support your linemates, goes a long way into allowing your team to effectively gain the o-zone with a sustained pressure (vs. only rush the play hoping for a 2 on 1 every single time).
  • Note: it can be great to have a winger up high that opens up the center ice by drawing coverage from both dmen (especially against trapping teams), but if both wingers do this or if only 1 dman is getting drawn out, it's possibly only going to make zone entry a lot harder for your line
• Being able to timely do good cuts. Timing is of essence. If somebody else is cutting, why the fuck are you cutting to the exact same spot? Learn to know how to time your cuts to either draw coverage for a secondary cut by your linemate, or be the second cut to give an option after the first pass is made. This is why some teams beat the trap extra easily while some other teams can't get into Tucson territory without a 50-50 dump&chase play.
• Do whatever it takes to keep possession. And yes, that implies passing it backwards to your dman here and there, you fucking selfish idiots. You're about to get killed? Instead of dumping it (or getting crushed and turn it over right there), pass it to your fellow dman whose job is to be there for you when this happens, instead of causing a terrible turnover that results in a 2-on-1 the other way. In fact, you should always be ready to execute that "plan-b safe pass".
• Center: support the breakout by being close to your defense
  • and giving them an option right in the middle
  • and being ready to cover if they turn the puck over
  • and know exactly where your options are to keep the breakout flowing. As soon as you receive a puck in the middle, you become a huge target. Gotta move it quick.
• Wingers: On the breakout, if the dman hits you with a quick pass on the wing, please understand that you can one-touch it back to him when you're about to get crushed instead of trying to deke at your own blue-line. This is the last place you want to turn it over. The passing lane back to your same-side d-partner is open 90% of the time, use it.

Defensively

• On the backcheck, understand that your position has nothing to do with where you should be on the ice. It doesn't matter if you're not the center, you gotta be first man back if you're closer to the puck on a possession change. The 3 forwards must be able to interchange their responsibilities defensively at all time. It's not C/LW/RW, defensively, it's F1, F2, F3; first man back should always cover the middle and take "center" duties. Feel free to switch back once all forwards are back, but communicate it clearly.
  
• In the d-zone, understand what sort of offense the opposing team is using, and be there to help down low when needed, and make sure those easy passes to the point aren't so easy. This is probably the toughest for wingers, and great 2-way wingers are absolutely underrated and under acknowledged. Great centers are renown for their 2-way game, IMO it should be the same for great wingers.
• Don't ever let any forward loose in the high slot. Your 2 dmen cannot be covering all 3 forwards at all time, so whoever has center duty can't let any pass reach the third forward in the high slot.
  • This is really tough against great offensive team that know how to overload a side with quick short passes and cut to the empty space.

 

just sprint up the ice and call omaha every other play

 

Read bigdiskk's post and work on the things he mentioned. I was nodding in agreement so much I had flashback's to college when I was a wingman for my buddy and I had to entertain the ugly one.

 

As Disk was saying in his post the biggest key to being successful in this game is patience. I still play a lot with my CHL buddies and all they do is rush plays, don’t be afraid to reset to your dmen on the breakout. Using your dmen in the ozone is just as important. If your offensive strategy is just force middle and shoot the other team will collapse and not even give the points a look. Have to remember that all 5 players on your line are capable of scoring, not just 3. Finally, and in my opinion most importantly, if you do get on a AHL team, build chemistry with your line mates, there’s almost nothing that can stop 5 players who all know how each other play and where they are going to be in certain situations. Hope this helps. I spent 9 seasons in the CHL, keep grinding someone will notice you.

 

snub the wide open point all game

 

The main difference of Ahl players to chl, is the defensive awareness. Ahl teams tend to trap compared to chl you can just straight line

 

This, 100%.

 

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You wanna make it to the next league you gotta have a 2 way game. Understanding that half of your games are gonna end 3-2 or 2-1 and your point production doesn’t matter as long as you’re keeping the puck out of your own net and picking up wins. The best teams come playoff time are always the teams that play great trap defense as a unit and capitalize on their 1-2 grade A chances a game. It’s gonna be hard playing a solid 2 way game in the CHL because 90% of those dudes are a lost cause in the D zone. Just get your name out there by playing with people from the AHL shoutbox and if you play a solid team game somebody will give you a look.

 

To make AHL:

-pass puck quick to the open guys

-Don’t chase in dzone

-Understand the “basics” in positioning. For example on defense the winger doesn’t just cover the d man. If the puck is in the far corner they should collapse to the slot.

- another big thing is in ahl the better players usually trap on the blue line.... and in the neutral zone the forwards will regroup with the d instead of forcing it to a forward who’s covered or in a bad spot to keep possession.



I actually play with chl guys a fair amount and these are things most of them need to work on to move up. #1 is definitely passing and #2 is positioning/hockey iq. the thumbs aren’t even that important.

 

(1,) 5 man defence always as a forward come back and help your defence dont be lazy!
(2,) As a defence make sure your back for the most part of the game thinking of that WIN and not the points
(* 5 man defence the trap goes a long ways and if everyone chips in and does there job your golden!)
*GOALIES = A goalie is only as good as there team dont leave the goalie to dry dont be selfish there 1 of the main positions in the game respect your tendy!

 

bahahahaha dude this had me dying