@rsandersr47 wrote:
You can be a defender standing RIGHT in front of the forward going for the 1T.. it can go right between your legs and get scored. It's not a deficiency on the player 🤣.. it's just some of us play defenseman and understand how handicapped they are and some don't. I'd love to watch you stream some night though! Play defense for a night! You sound really good!
sure, there are times a defender misses a pass in their feet. That happens in real life too. I've seen legit clips of people standing in the crease and the puck going 'through' them.
However, I've always stated that defending needs to be active. Many people make the same claims, "I'm standing right there and it goes through me!"

Don't stand there. Be active. engage the puck carrier or engage the intended recipient. Don't simply stand there. And Square up by feathering vision control. Don't commit to back/forward skating in these scenarios as it limits your reaction time and ability to disrupt a pass.

When trying to stop a cross-crease without engaging either the puck carrer or the recipient and/or squaring up in the passing lane, your success rate of disrupting that play shoots down considerably. Defensemen should know this.
I am actually a very good defender. The reason why I'm not here protesting against forwards and demanding defence be buffed is because I'm adept enough at the mechanics and understand them enough to compete with top 100 OVP players on a regular basis. I frustrate those players by angling them out, closing the passing lanes they're used to having wide open - and forcing them to try different offensive tactics, which opens the game up and results in a more dynamic flow.
When you're stuck defending the same way because you're convinced the game is designed to pigeonhole you into a certain way of defending, it won't be fun for you.
@rsandersr47 wrote:
Yeah, this game there is no way to really defend just gotta mess them up and hope for the best. The defense is extremely handicapped. you can't play this game like real hockey imo gotta play it like EA hockey.
This defeatist attitude will ensure you're never going to be satisfied. I assure you - you can play this game like a real defender and find success.
@rsandersr47 wrote:
A lot of times I pretend I'm gonna take the guy without the puck then switch last second and hope they're not quick enough to pass..
Force your opponent to make a move. Trying to trick them into doing it will not work when you're playing against seasoned veterans who are skilled at this game. You need to develop skills with the tools in order to force the puck carrier to make a choice. OR, engage the recipient and force the puck carrier to make another decision. As a side note: If you're constantly seeing 2-on-1's - then there's a deficiency in your neutral zone or you're pushing too far into the O-Zone. Often times, the seeds of a goal are planted very early on and the 2-on-1's you're consistently facing are symptoms of other defensive deficiencies.
Here's a good clip:

MOST players will have either rushed the puck carrier in this scenario Or they would've switched to forward skating (rather than keeping square with the puck carrier) allowing a sauce pass or a very fast pass to squeak through. Now, notice what I did with my defender? I'm feathering vision control so as not to completely turn my body away from the puck carrier. I feather it so that I am squared up with the puck carrier the whole time they're looking for a pass into the slot or across the crease". I never once enter a full backskate or a full forward-skate. I keep squared up, slowly close the gap (going unnoticed by a player looking for a pass) and knock the puck off with a well timed poke check.
