Hockey Plays you need to know

We have selected basic plays that we feel all adult no-check players should know. They are fundamental building blocks to any team's strategy. Beginners should be able to execute them at whatever level of skill they possess. If your teams has practices, these plays should be a part of them.

Hockey plays are never executed exactly as diagrammed as the fun and beauty of the game is in the improvisation that every player brings. However, the basic plays we have selected provide a starting point and basic context for getting the puck out of your zone, moving through the neutral zone and executing an effective attack.

You can watch these plays on your computer or you can learn about them on the ice.  Attend Lifetime Hockey's schools in Minnesota and really improve your play.  Click here and find out more.

A few notes on format: We choose to use animation for each play as this is one of the advantages a computer has over a book. Each play is a large file (200 KB or so) and will take some time to down load. We have provided an explanation of the play at the top of the web page so you can read about the play as the animation loads. We do not include every player on the team - only those that are important to the play.  The animation will repeat so you can study each player's movement. You can get a "diagram" of each play by clicking the print button on your browser at key times in the animation and thereby get a series of print-outs for the play.  (Please note that the graphics change on these pages in order to accommodate the animated graphics.)

If you want to study these plays, and many more, buy Michael Smith's The Hockey Playbook from our bookstore. Smith's book is beautifully illustrated and easy to understand.  

Basic Hockey Plays