As an old coach of mine often said, the puck travels faster than any player on the ice. Ensuring your team supports the puck carrier in strategic locations can facilitate puck movement within the offensive zone, disrupting the opponent’s defensive coverage. Team Canada demonstrated this effectively in their overtime win against the USA during the 4 Nations tournament. The US weakside winger failed to recover quick enough to cover McDavid, and their defenseman was unable to reach Marner in time to prevent the pass.
Utilizing releases in the offensive zone is a strategy to enhance puck procession under pressure by directing the puck to less contested areas of the ice. The specific locations of these areas can vary based on your team’s positioning in the offensive zone, but you generally have three choices;