What skills does a CHL defenseman need to make the AHL?

dont overthink it just make quick decisions with confidence.. trust your forwards are gonna be in position and put the put in safe spots. Gotta have a nice stretch pass leading your guys into the zone. Use your center as a safety blanket. Cover the back door and play physical with their guys in front of the net... gotta own the net

 

Can confirm my party presence has gotten me a lot farther than my skills have.

 

Stay back only remember you are a defence and not a forward
Make good smart breakouts
Make fast and smart passes
* The key of defence is to stay back and shut those forwards down from scoring and win the game points are not needed as a defence!

 

This is a good thing. Lot of ESHL footage out there with some of the markee "Top" defensemen being on those team that go far into tournaments. There's a lot of things we could get into.

First thing needs to be don't be afraid to keep the puck. Very rare are the AHL teams you'll see that will press hard. Most of the teams are trying to get back to defense as soon as they lose control of the puck. Too many defensemen just want to throw it up the ice and pray it doesn't get intercepted.

Secondly, Use all 4 skaters around you. Personally as a defenseman my looks were usually Center first, D partner second, and then my wingers. I think too often CHL and most AHL defensemen get caught just throwing it up trying to get it out of the zone, but that's exactly what the other team expects you to do. Try and work a little more East-West rather than North-South. That's how you get defenders to chase out of position and open those "cuts" everyone talks about in here.

Next, I'd say is denying the blue line. If you don't press the blue line, people will just start entering through there over and over again. That doesn't mean go for a hit everytime, it just means learn to time plays and passes over there. Berube talks about gap control, that's basically it. You want to give them enough room for their teammate to think they're open, but as soon as the pucks gets there, you're already on em. It's basically learning timing and distances. Having played with Dups77 recently, he's one of the good LD's as it. Plays ESHL for 6th Sense. While Lemelin who Berube talked about is up there with the best at RD. Being good at it takes reps. You'll make mistakes. Aggressive mistakes are good if your teammates are near by, if they ain't then you might wanna be a little more passive and just keep your body in the way.

Just use your head and have fun. Having played at every level of LG there is, the gap isn't necessarily as big as some might think. Consistency and creativity are the big differences.

I could go on and on about this, but hope this helps a little.

 

Thanks boys: this gave me confidence to step forward to go for it. If you see me in the chat box, invite me. I'll attempt to keep all of this in mind going forward and will continuously review to keep me near the path.

 

hey man, lots of great advice in here but I wanted to add my own commentary in some quick bullets as well

Defensively
-always take away the inside of the ice
-use your stick to maintain a bubble around your ice
-cuts to the middle try and meet them with your body
-when on the weak side always check to see who is open back door/position yourself on the back post for rebounds wraps

Breakouts
-I use a check system when breaking out, meaning I prioritize an area of the ice I want the puck to go (central, same boards, opposite boards, d to d) and if it isnt there I move on quickly
-If on the boards, use the boards, if in the middle, use the middle, if nothing is there give it to your partner
-Never be to humble to skate back when being trapped and reset
-COMMUNICATE, if you want to dump, say it, if you're carrying the puck, say it

Offensively
-in zone you cannot lose the puck or it will always be a 2 on 1 to minimize your chances of losing the puck I usually do one of 3 things
-Pass back to to where the pass came from to reopen the space (ex. LW sends a pass same boards to LD, give it right back)
-Skate to the middle and turd
-If there isn't a shadow of a doubt it will get picked D to D

If you have any other questions feel free to PM me, good luck!

 

Just keep coming and playing with me like last night and you will be fine