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General Positioning - Part 1
 

The top third of the rink represents the offensive zone. The opposing players are violet circles. We are labelled in blue according to where every player should be when our Left Winger has the puck near the boards. The black outlined rectangles represent the general area that each defensewoman should occupy. The area between the blue lines represents the Neutral Zone. The bottom third of the rink represents the defensive zone. The opposing players are violet circles. We are labelled in green according to where every player should be when the other team's Right Winger has the puck near the corner. The black outlined rectangles represent the general area that each Winger should occupy to cover their defensewomen.

General Positioning - Part 2
 

Left Defense

Right Defense

Centre

Left Wing

Right Wing

Offensive Zone         Defensive Zone

 
 

General Positioning - Part 3
 

1

2

3

4

5

The above 5 diagrams show, in a very general way, how the players should be distributed on the ice. Things to notice: the centre occupies the grey area, the other 4 players occupy the rectangles as outlined in green. the thick green lines are areas of overlapping responsibility.  Note that the centre's area overlaps all the other players areas. all 5 players occupy an area (the entire green rectangle) that's about 1/3 the length of the ice. although the 5 positions are labelled, any player could be in any of the 5 positions, as long as there is only one player in each region Consider the sequence from left to right (1 to 5), and that any of the forwards are carrying the puck up the ice and into the offensive zone: In #2 the defence are approaching our blue line as the forwards are approaching the red line. In #3 the defence have crossed our blue line as the forwards are approaching the other blue line. In #4 the defence are approaching the other blue line as the forwards have crossed the other blue line. In #5 the defence have crossed the other blue line as the forwards are deep in the offensive zone. Special note: if we have control of the puck deep in their end (#5) this is the perfect time to sub off. Consider the sequence from right to left (5 to 1), such that the other team is bringing the puck into our end: First, this is a bad time to sub off. The puck carrier is between the LW and LD for example. The defence simply back up and make sure everyone stays in front of you (conversely: nobody gets behind you). The forwards are skating as fast as you can to backcheck and hopefully disrupt the other team advancing toward our end. If the puck gets into our end, the first forward back over our blue line will become the Centre, the other two forwards will become wingers and cover the other team's defence. Generally, the defence should stay at defence and the forwards should stay at forward, however, given the nature of the game, positions can change quickly and you should be comfortable occupying any position on the ice.  You should also be constantly observing where everyone on your team is, and where the puck is, so that you can ensure that every player region is occupied. The two most important regions to occupy are the defence, since, if there is only one defence, this can lead to trouble.  This makes it very important for the forwards to be aware if a defencewoman has rushed up the ice (for whatever reason) and, therefore, the forward has to cover that defencewoman's position.  Now, if a defencewoman has gone forward, you need to remain a forward as long as necessary and continue playing until a whistle occurs or until positions during the play change naturally.     Then, taking all of the positions shown (from parts 1, 2 and 3 on this page), you can play as a team to produce good play.

 
 
 

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