BREAKOUT BASICS
The best option for defensemen is to find a good first pass to the center, and the center distributes to a winger who will usually lead the offense the other way.
Breakouts that happen on the fly (the first situation referenced above) have a fairly standard set of plays used by teams throughout not only the NHL, but hockey in general.
Defensemen defending against a dump in during a line change also use a stretch pass to a forward wide to take advantage of the lack of defensive coverage.
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES
HOCKEY CONCEPTS - BREAKOUTS
Defensive Zone Breakout:
There may be no more important set play than the defensive zone breakout for understanding the importance of playing your position in hockey.
Role Of Defense On A Breakout:
A basic breakout play begins when a defenseman gains control of the puck. They should immediately begin skating to a soft area of the ice, often the “quiet zone” behind the net.
The goal in the defensive zone is to keep possession and give the forwards time to get set up in a breakout formation. Defensemen also need to give themselves time and space to make a good first pass.
If one defenseman has the puck the other needs to release from the front of the net, and get behind the net for a pass from their partner.
Role Of Wingers In Breakout:
Wingers should set up near the top of the circle with their back to the boards. If one of their defensemen gets the puck they will be looking to make a good first pass. Be ready!
Role Of Centre In Breakout:
Centers need to swing low to initiate a breakout. This will usually involve skating deeper into their own zone and mirroring where the puck goes.
When the puck is controlled by a defenseman, the center should NEVER turn their back to their teammates and quickly rush up the ice. It is nearly impossible to make a clean pass from deep in the zone, over the blue line, through multiple defensemen.
BASIC BREAKOUT STRATEGIES
(Jan 2017)
In short, the breakout is a set of positions and decisions that structure the act of moving the puck from the defensive zone to the neutral zone.
Defensemen:
At its most basic however, defensemen must simply find empty space, control the puck and make a pass. The defender away from the puck should remain near the net, but may step behind the goal line to provide an outlet pass for his partner.
Forwards:
The forwards usually swing low to initiate a breakout. This will usually involve skating deeper into your own zone, often just below the faceoff dot.
Having your back directly to the passer is rarely a good choice. Also (and especially in full-contact hockey), skating backward up the ice to catch a pass can be risky and dangerous to your health.
The First Pass:
The “strong side” WING (the side with the puck) and the CENTER should both make sure they are available to receive the puck as they cross the hash marks
Exiting The Zone:
A winger who gets the puck on the boards is usually face to face with the opposing defenseman. The defender has two options that dictate how to play:. Fall back or stand up.
Aggressive Strategy: Fly The Wing
For an aggressive strategy, when a defender gains clear control of the puck and it is obvious to which side the breakout will move, the weak side winger can try to leave the zone early.
The breakout should proceed normally to the strong side wing on the boards, or the center up the middle. These players then have the option to chip or pass out to the weak side winger for a breakaway or rush.The flying winger often moves diagonally across the ice to be more available for a pass and to reach any pucks chipped up the strong side boards.
Defensemen:
Gain Control of the Puck
Find Space
Make a pass (five options)
Boards Pass (usually to wing)
Middle Pass (usually to center)
D-to-D (behind the net)
Rim
High off the Glass
Minimize Risks
No stretch passes
No dirty dangles in your own circle
No passes through the “scoring area”
Forwards:
Swing low
Curl to strong side
Face the middle (the puck and potential defenders)
Make a quick pass, or chip off the boards
Maintain awareness of your defensive position
Avoid standing still
TRANSITION PLAY
(Apr 2021)
There are three primary on-ice factors that allow Barzal to thrive in transition: Support Routes, Processing Speed, Skating.
as a centre, you need to get low in the DZ to support your Ds.
It seems counterintuitive, but the reason that Barzal generates exits and entries more quickly than anyone else is because he’s further away from the blue line and comes back as deep as he can in support during DZC.
· Low support route to allow for ample time and space to build speed upon puck acquisition
· Early up-ice scan to identify eventual forecheck pressure
· Elite weight shifts + edge work to shift gears up and down, dictate the defender and generate a controlled exit + entry for NYI
BREAKOUT PLAYS
The five most common pressure breakouts in the NHL are Wheel plays, Reverses, Overs, Ups, and Rims.
Up:
The idea of quick-up breakouts is to catch the opposition when they’re forechecking hard. If done right, the good guys should theoretically get more transition rushes.
The best time to use this breakout is when the other team has players near the net, or behind the net (or moving to that zone) and the best option is to move the puck right away up the strong side of the ice.
Over:
This breakout is frequently used to beat the strong-side overload.
The best time to use this breakout is when the other team has flooded D1’s side of the ice and D2 can quickly move to get a pass behind the net.
Wheel:
Basic wheel breakouts are fairly easy to pick up on TV. D1 will receive the puck on the strong side boards. Instead of making an immediate play, D1 will quickly round the net (hopefully having a stride on the forechecker) and quickly head up ice. All good wheel breakouts will have D1 cutting as close to the net as possible, almost as if he’s using the net as a screen.
you only want to call this breakout if D1 is a strong skater.
The best time to use this breakout is when D1 has some speed, and the other team does not have pressure down low.
Reverse:
Reverse breakouts generally look like wheels from the outset, but instead of D1 rounding the net, he will backhand the puck off the boards behind him leaving it for D2 to pick up. D2 then retrieves the puck from behind the goal line and breaks out in the other direction.
The best time to use this breakout is when D1 initiates a WHEEL breakout, but cannot complete it due to a quick forechecker right on his tail.
Rim:
The RIM breakout is used when the other team is forechecking hard and the best option is to send the puck hard around the boards to the winger.
Against teams who pinch down with their defense on rimmed pucks, the wingers who receive the rim must be able to protect the puck, control it, and then move it to support
As a coach I prefer to see direct passes, many newer players will ALWAYS rim the puck as it is the easiest way to send it up the ice. Usually it’s laziness
POSSESSION VS DUMP OUTS
ZONE EXITS DEFENSEMEN
(Aug 2014)
Exits As Percentages
start looking at some of the events that can lead to shots, like zone entries and zone exits, and see what contributions specific players are making as far as getting the puck up the ice and into better position to score.
The most important stat is the one for zone exits that resulted in the Leafs maintaining possession.
puck-moving defencemen may not be the defensive liability they’re often said to be.
Exit Rates Per 60:
Since teams spend close to 2/3 of the game in transition, a player who gets the puck out of the defensive zone at a high rate has an awful lot of value.
Add Corsi:
· Both exits and touches correlate far more highly to Corsi for than Corsi against.
· The correlation between exits and shot attempts for is extremely strong, as we would probably expect.
· But the correlation between touches and shot attempts against is virtually zero.
· Gaining the puck more often in the defensive zone seems to have almost nothing to do with shot prevention. Why not? I don’t know.
These numbers correlate very strongly with offensive output so I think it’s safe to say that, for example, Morgan Rielly’s play in the defensive zone is creating more offence than anyone else’s.
ZONE EXITS FORWARDS
(Aug 2014)
Exits as raw percentages might give us a bit of an idea about efficiency, but I think it’s when we look at zone exits per 60 minutes that things start to get really interesting
Exit Rates Per 60:
The strong correlation that existed between exits and CF/60 for defencemen has all but vanished for forwards.
This leads me to believe that the Leafs had a systematic issue last year (at least in the first 46 games) that was leading to zone exits for forwards being significantly suppressed, especially for their centres. The forwards are playing too deep in their own zone.
DEFENSIVE BREAKDOWNS
Virtually every breakout play used when the defense is under pressure in the defensive zone (i.e. not simply moving the puck back into the defensive zone to regroup with perhaps one forechecker pressuring) involves moving the puck up the boards to a waiting forward.
Whether the breakout is an Over, Wheel, Reverse, Rim, Up, etc…, the defense ends up moving the puck to a forward at or preferably, above the faceoff circle near the boards. This cuts down on the risk associated with making a cross ice pass with heavy pressure from the attacking players in the defensive zone.
When there has been a board battle, particularly when it is below the faceoff circles or near the end boards, the defensive formation tends to collapse down toward the net creating a lot of congestion and traffic.
One way attacking players try to create shooting lanes when the defensive formation is compressed or collapsed down low in the zone is to move the puck back up high in the zone. This causes a lot of movement by the defensive players and provides an opportunity for the attacking players to find a lane to get a shot off.
ZONE EXIT BREAKOUTS – NASHVILLE VS CHICAGO
Nashville pulls the defensemen back behind the net fairly often to wait for line changes to be done and then started the attack. This allowed D1 (player behind the net with the puck) to have lower pressure on him while the rest of the team got set to go on the offensive.
The main bonus to this set up is that it gives more time to the defensemen to read the coverage in the neutral zone.
Because the first pass on the breakout is the most important, this conservative option is attractive.
Further, having the net between the defenseman and the forechecking forward creates far less opportunity for turnovers.
The majority of Chicago’s attacks started from a motion regroup high in the defensive zone. The defensemen rarely got as low as the faceoff dots during these regroups.
The danger of this system is turnovers.
Early in the series, Chicago used a drop pass play up the middle of the ice to create space for the forwards to carry the puck into the zone. This was in response to Nashville’s use of a style similar to the trap to defend entries
This type of play is only really effective if the forward who will ultimately receive the drop pass is a real threat to carry the puck into the zone and also a passer capable of getting the puck to the forwards swinging wide in the neutral zone.
Both teams actually fared better in gaining the offensive zone by using motion regroups as opposed to breakouts starting behind the net.
THE DANGERS OF DUMPING THE PUCK OUT
· Controlled Exit
o Carry Out
§ One of the defending players gains control of the puck and skates it across the blue line;
o Exit Pass
§ One of the defending players gains control of the puck and makes a tape to tape pass to a teammate in the neutral zone;
· Uncontrolled Exit
o Dump Out
§ One of the defending players gains control of the puck and shoots it into the neutral zone:
· Missing the intended target;
· Without an intended target, i.e. simply to get the puck out of the defensive zone;
· To execute a line change.
If the point of getting the puck out of the defensive zone is to go on the offensive attack, logically, an exit pass or carry out seems like the best plan to move the puck into the offensive zone. Dump outs have a high likelihood of going to a player on the opposing team.
§ A failed zone entry resulted in a zone entry attempt by the opponent, i.e. a change in possession, 71.12% of the time at even strength play.
§ Controlled zone exits, carrying the puck out or passing the puck to a teammate in the neutral zone, are preferred because the team moving the puck maintains possession.
§ Controlled zone exits led to a zone entry attempt for the exiting team 88.27% of the time.
§ Dumping the puck out of the defensive zone resulted in an offensive zone entry attempt by the exiting team 28.73% of the time.
§ Dumping the puck out of the defensive zone resulted in an offensive zone entry attempt by the opponent 71.27% of the time.
The type of successful zone exit eventually used by the defending team:
· Controlled (Carry out or Tape to Tape Pass) 69.38%
· Uncontrolled (Dump Out without the necessity of a turnover being forced by the defending team in the neutral or offensive zone) 14.34%
· Uncontrolled with Turnover Forced by Defending Team (in the neutral zone or offensive zone) 8.91%
Many of the dump out attempts came after turnovers in the defensive zone, whether directly off of a defending player’s stick or due to poor passes. They also occurred after players simply swatted the puck to an area such as when trying to clear the front of the net.
Controlled actions and possession are far more effective than leaving things up to chance.
CONTROLLED ZONE EXITS
If a team uses anything but a controlled zone exit to get out of their defensive zone, they are leaving their entry into the offensive zone up to chance and they odds are stacked against them.
When the team exited the zone with control (through a tape to tape pass or by carrying the puck out), they registered the next offensive zone entry attempt 88% of the time. That same work found that only 28% of pucks dumped out of the defensive zone led to an offensive zone entry attempt on behalf of the team dumping the puck out.
dumping the puck in would dictate that these teams don’t produce as many shots as teams who carry it in, but you would be wrong.
We see teams producing shots regardless of the way they got into the offensive zone and prioritizing controlled zone exits. We also see that despite all of the skill of these teams, recovering pucks dumped out of the defensive zone, even with a plan for such an occasion, was often a fruitless effort. While it is prudent to plan for such situations to help increase your odds of recovering the puck, you certainly would not want to use a tactic with a measly 0-25% success rate all of the time.
TRANSITIONAL DEFENSE
(May 2016)
The most important of these are own-zone breakouts, which in essence transition from defence to offence
Being able to effectively transition the puck out of the defensive zone is an essential quality for a blueliner to wield. Hockey is a fluid game and it can be difficult to differentiate between the different phases of action.
It’s remarkable how much one distinct sequence, like a simple breakout, can affect subsequent plays.
PROTECTING THE BLUE LINE AND DRIVING BREAKOUTS
Mitigating controlled entries against % is a highly repeatable skill. Past performance should be predictive of future performance.
ZEA with control (% and per 60) show a meaningful relationship with xGF%, CF% and CA/60
However, it is interesting to note that when you focus on individual impact (i.e. rel stats), the relationship is considerably weaker than with unadjusted on-ice stats, which are more influenced by teammates. As such, while preventing controlled ZEA is repeatable, and does meaningfully impact goals and shot rates – there may also be team/system impacts that are difficult to separate out from the individual contribution
There is a direct relationship between reducing controlled entries against and improving expected goals.
Controlled Zone Exits are a repeatable skill
First, zone exits with control have a fairly meek impact on GF% and xGF% directly
having a defender who is strong puck mover can definitely begin to ‘move the needle’ on winning the shot-differential battle.
strong individual play from puck-moving defensemen can have a major CF% impact strictly from their ability to exit the zone with control.
A great puck-moving defender can have a substantial impact on his team’s shot-attempts, as well as overall shot attempt differential, through his ability to Drive Break Outs. Further, a defenseman who excels at Protecting the Blue-line will have the greatest impact when surrounded by teammates and playing within a system that does so as well.
CONTROLLING THE BLUE LINE
· Controlled Zone Entries generate about twice as many unblocked shots as uncontrolled zone entries
· Preventing Zone Entries is a repeatable skill
· Defenders who generate a Zone Exit with control can move the possession needle
For a team to succeed, ideally they’d have some great puck carriers on their team who can gain the zone with control, and on the other end have defenders who can deny controlled zone entries.
Zone Exits:
Players who can exit the zone with control at the very least are giving their team the opportunity to transition the puck from defense to offense
Defending Entries: defenders who can either break up the play at their own blue line, or force the opponent to dump the puck in are far less prone to giving up shots on net
WHY POSSESSION IS KEY TO ZONE EXITS
Maintaining possession is crucial for successful zone exits, and breakouts should be structured with this in mind.
Zone exit criteria should be based on the next zone entry. The goal of a zone exit is to take the puck from the defensive zone and start moving it to the offensive zone. Without gaining the next entry, a zone exit is a small victory in an overall failure
A carry or pass-out is almost 4 times as likely to work as a dump-out.
Success rates for each exit type barely drop at all when there is pressure. This indicates that the success of possession exits is not just indicative of the situation’s easiness.
EXIT TYPES DON’T AFFECT ENTRY QUALITY MUCH
a team exiting its defensive zone with possession is much more likely to enter their offensive zone. But, do the advantages end there, or do possession exits also improve the quality of zone entrances?
It turns out that there is not much of a difference in entry quality by exit type; exiting with possession makes it more likely to gain the offensive zone, but the advantages quickly dissipate.
Exit Types Influence Entry Types To A Small Degree:
Carrying the puck into the zone is better than dumping it in because entries with possession are more likely to get shot attempts. That continues to hold true for our zone entry sample: carry-ins average 0.6 shots per entry while dump-ins had 0.3.
When a transition gets the puck from the defensive zone to the offensive one, it’s more likely to be a carry-in if the breakout was started with a pass than with a dump-out
If a zone entry occurs, its quality probably doesn’t have much to do with the zone exit that preceded it. Therefore, the crucial portion of a zone exit is ensuring that there’s any zone entry at all. Once the team breaking out is in a full-on attack into the offensive zone, it’s a whole new game.
The larger carry-in percentage for pass-outs give further weight to the argument that pass-outs are the best possible zone exit.
TEAM LEVEL ZONE EXITS
teams average 96 zone exits a game.
Every team, including them, loses the puck at least 70% of the time they dump it out.
More importantly, teams may not have very much control over their recoveries at all. They can only do that if recovering dump outs is a repeatable skill. If not, no team is likely to sustain particularly good results. And it turns out that recovering dump outs is not repeatable at all.
Once they dump out the puck, it’s literally out of their hands, and they have little ability to control what happens next.
teams would be better served by trying to leave the zone with control of the puck more often. Any that think they are particularly good at recovering it in the neutral zone are likely fooling themselves.
PASSING CLUSTERS TO EVALUATE BREAKOUTS
Quick breakouts – trying to move the puck out of your zone right after gaining possession – make up roughly 38% of possessions and account for 22% of all shots and 22.4% of Expected Goals
There is evidence that passes from the defensive half boards by wingers inside produce more offense than those straight up ice.
Three passes account for 65% of all set ups to the winger passes. They are behind the net and beside the net (rims usually), and straight up the half wall (direct)
rims are much more likely to result in a turnover (since the opponent has more time to pressure the receiving winger), they become a very inferior play option.
Rims are much less frequently followed by a stretch pass than Ups.
STRETCH PASS
One solution to a lack of elite puck carriers is to have Fs stretching to the far blue line and Ds firing long-range passes, as to spend as little time in the NZ as possible.
WHY THE STRETCH PASS IS STILL THE RIGHT APPROACH
(Sept 20, 2018)
The volume approach is the right one for two simple reasons.
· The majority of goals scored off zone entries occur within seconds of entering the zone.
· The reward of a completed stretch pass vastly outweighs the risk of an incompletion.
for every 9 scoring chances they got from a completion, they allowed 1 from an incompletion. Looking at goals, again the risk was worth the reward at a 14:1 ratio. The league-wide average was 9:1.
75% of goals scored off entries last season came within ten seconds.
As for incompletions, more often than not an incomplete stretch pass will lead to a neutral zone puck battle that can be won by either team. Rarely are these passes picked off clean and taken back the other way for a quality chance and if they are, there’s always at least one defender back – you guessed it, the guy who made the pass.
The volume approach, stretching passes into the neutral zone, is the right one for them and should be employed by any team that is speed heavy at the forward position.
WHY THE STRETCH PASS IS A GREAT EXIT STRATEGY
(Nov 12, 2018)
the reward of a completed stretch-pass (a pass from the defensive zone to beyond the red line) far outweighs the risk of an incompletion, therefore, it really doesn’t matter if a team fails on a high number of its attempts.
How often a team opts for a stretch pass as opposed to a D-to-D pass or outlet pass (any north pass from the defensive zone that is received before the red line) tells us how aggressive they are in pursuing this strategy.
Teams created scoring chances at a 9:1 ratio off completions relative to what they gave up off incompletions.
Stretch pass = good.
The reward of a completed stretch-pass currently outweighs the risk of an incompletion by a more than a 7:1 ratio league-wide in terms of scoring chances, and by a 32:1 ratio in terms of goals scored.
There continues to be a lot more reward than risk when it comes to this defensive zone breakout tactic.
NORTH-SOUTH BREAKOUTS
TACTICAL PITFALLS OF NORTH-SOUTH BREAKOUT
(Feb 2021)
They look to employ a strictly north-south breakout, which leads to the following tactical pitfalls:
· All 3 forwards cutting the ice in half for themselves, which eliminates any and all lateral optionality
· The 3-forward clump results in turnovers or the necessity to jam pucks up the strong side via chips or dumps
· No effective weak-side D activation to provide an outlet for forwards who receive pressure on the strong side or through the middle
· Tunnel vision’ for the forwards, who, through no fault of their own, see no other options than to just cram the puck up the boards or dump it and chase
· Start activating weak side Ds properly to provide outlets for Fs or D partner
· Encourage cutbacks from Ds and Fs if they don’t like their initial look
· Emphasize filling space regardless of position and lateral movement to evade forechecking structures and converging D-men