PP ZONE ENTRIES
DROP BACK PASS
DROP BACK PASS ENTRY
It accomplishes one of the big goals of a breakout, which is to approach the line with speed — the receiver of a successful drop pass has gained speed leading up to his reception of the puck — while freezing the defenders, who have been approaching the entry as though they need to close down and gain an angle on F1, only to see the puck dropped back and the dynamic change completely
Most drop pass plays can be categorized as either what I call a “Drop Pass Individual,” in which the player who accepts the drop pass carries directly into the zone, a “Drop Pass Wide,” in which said player dishes the puck to a player hugging the boards on either side, seeing how the defenders are likely now flat-footed near the center of the ice, or a “Drop Pass D-to-D,” in which the pass receiver has another skater alongside him, also gaining speed, who accepts a second pass and hits the line opposite where the defenders have now adjusted towards.
ARE DBP ENTRIES EFFECTIVE
The idea is sound. The drop-pass freezes the four defenders and four attackers. The only one in motion is the drop-pass receiver.
The speed differential is the key to getting through the blue line.
But changing it up — a simple dump-and-chase, or a straight carry once in a while — could do more to make the drop-pass more effective by keeping the defenders off guard.
Some teams like to begin their breakout with two players trailing.
The advantage to dropping with two men back is an ability to shift the focus of the entry to the weak side, where you’ll usually find less defenders trying to hold the line.
The biggest advantage to the drop pass play overall, of course, is catching the penalty killers flat-footed as they slow down to try and hold the line against the puck carrier.
How effective have drop pass plays been at 5-on-4?
Drop pass attempts lead to slightly more offensive zone time than non-drop entries, but it's close.
The gap is bigger when it comes to shot attempts – 0.84 to 0.70 shots per entry attempt – in favor of the drop pass play.
Stretch passes for obvious reasons take the quickest to execute, and drop passes take the longest – the numbers here are 15.49, 12.56 and 10.37 seconds respectively.
Overall, it doesn’t seem like there’s much of a difference in success between regular and drop entries.
If it were my team, I would have a polished regular AND drop pass scheme, and go to the drop pass in situations when my primary scheme was in a slump.
Flaws in using DBP:
The hazard of using the drop back pass includes dropping the puck too far back, eliminating the gains from the drop pass.
The big gap in the drop pass effectively neutralizes the team’s speed and forces everybody to come to a hard stop at the blue line.
The lack of speed up ice results in clumsy entries making it easy for penalty killers to disrupt plays.
ZONE ENTRY – DUMP-INS
IS DUMPING THE PUCK IN DAMAGING ON THE PP
Dump-ins aren’t nearly as damaging relative to controlled entries up a man than they are at even strength.
when dumping the puck in on the power play – if the dump is well executed – you can initiate 2-vs-1 battles rather than 1-vs-1 battles.
That said, it’s clear that controlled entries are still the preference. With a 5-on-4 or especially 5-on-3 advantage, teams should be able to craft meticulously rehearsed entries to free up an open man.
Even in situations like that, though, I would want my team to have specific set dump plays that were rehearsed and tricked the penalty killers into following the puck onto the wrong side, thus creating 2-on-1 or 3-on-1 battles to recover the puck. In other words, structured dump ins as a last resort? Yes.
ZONE ENTRIES – SINGLE SWING
SINGLE SWING ENTRY
(Single swing entry play)
The Capitals always have righties take power play faceoffs on the right side, and lefties on the left, whether that be wingers or centers.
The Capitals’ single swing entry accounts for the majority of their full regroups, and it is the most, if not one of the most, successful power play entry schemes in the NHL
This play is also designed and implemented in the interest of limiting the time it takes the team to get set up once in the zone. Every player enters at the east-west location where they will ultimately reside and quite possibly score.
enter the zone on his off-wing, this entry also means the player can easily drop the puck back to the point off the boards once in the zone or rush in for an off-wing
In other words, a lot of teams have players enter the zone on the strong side, and then it takes 10-15 seconds for players to get into position on their off-wings
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