In NHL 12 you're able to battle for position in front of the net creating screens, deflections, rebounds and of course protecting against the like. To do this stand next to an opponent and move the RS against him. You pretty much have to stand still to able to battle it out so don't move the LS.
If you're being tied up in front of the goal, move the LS in a circle.
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Showing posts with label Defense. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Defense. Show all posts
I hope that EA adress the effectiveness of the hip-check (R3). Right now (first week since release) it's way too effective and this is being exploited in the EASHL. You pretty much only have to touch a player while crouching to send him down.
Video by TheGreenBastardTPB
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Many times during regular period and especially in overtime. The opponent cannot get into slot so they circle back to the point wind up and shoot; slapshot and it scores. its so fuckin frustrating. I am wondering how to avoid it. For some reason this happens moreso in OT and it pisses me off. The goalie seems to perform horribly in OT and the D cannot prevent this slapshot goal from the point. I hope you understand my frustration and can help me resolve this.
I also have the feeling that scoring gets easier in OT. I don't have any advice that I'm 100 % sure works, but here's what I would do:
1)
Change to Puck side pressure. Your players aggressively pressures the puck carrier. Your team shifts to the side of the ice where the puck is to try to get the puck from them. Not letting them set up too much along the sides and blue line.
2)
Use the Tight Point defensive strategy: Your wingers position themselves right up to the other teams D along your defensive blue line. This prevents them from taking point shots and makes it harder for them to pass around along the outside, but it makes it easier for them to pass in to the slot for shots in close.
3)
When there's a risk for cross-crease-passes. Take control of a D and either hit the reciever or block the pass.
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Defense: I've read all your posts, and my defense has improved, but I've found that if I control any player other than the people at the net when in my D-zone, say to go after the puck, my men at the net will leave someone hopelessly unmarked. This means I end up with long periods of pressure, because I can't leave my defenders to do their job, without taking huge risks...
Matt: That is a problem. I got two options for you (and none of them is 100 % secure).
1) Try using Tight Point strategy (this will make your all your CPU controlled players more aggressive) and perhaps even Puck side or High Pressure. Then take control of a D and play the passing lanes in the slot. Since your CPU-controlled players will (should at least) charge their man, you need to fend the slot (cause the CPU will overcheck from time to time).
2) Use a Winger to put pressure on the opponent when he got the puck at the point and change to controlling a D when the puck is by the boards. Changing player a lot can get messy though (when you don't get to controll the player you want to controll).
I generally allow my opponents some puck controll in my zone. I usually play the collapssing strategy and then I try to cut of passing lanes in the slot and by the boards, trying to force my opponent making a bad pass or take a shot from the point that I can block. You will loose pressure, especially at the points and half boards if you collapse but you won't give away quality scoring chances in the slot or let any (hopefully)cross-crease passes through.
And one more thing. Since your CPU-controlled players kind of sucks... when you put pressure on your opponent, leaving your CPU-players to defend the slot, attack him from the inside. With the inside I mean from the centre - allwoing him to move towards the half boards, boards or to the back of the net, but not towards goal. You should allways try to be positioned between the puck and your own goal.
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First of all - use vision control to skate backwards. Then position yourself so that your stickblade breaks the line between the puck carriers stickblade and the pass receiver. You don't have to do anything but be in the right position. Your player will automatically try to break the pass.
To increase the chance to intercept the pass, press L1 (LB xbox) to put the whole stick in the passing lane. You still need to hold L2, vision control (LT xbox), to skate backwards.
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Allow for the puck carrier to move inclose to you, once infront of, beside, whichever direction he is in, nail BOTH directional pads towards the man.
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On defense I mainly rely on positioning. Body checks are less effective in NHL 10 and focusing on keeping the stick blade in your opponents passing lane will get you a long way.
Strategy wise I try to force the puck carrier towards one side of the ice. This I do by positioning myself in the passing lane over to the weak side (the side where the puck isn't), so that my opponent only have the strong side (the side where the puck is) open to move/pass to.
Also, I kind of set a trap by not challenging the winger but positioning myself near him. When the winger receives the puck, I bodycheck him if he's by the halfboards (and I'm positioned right). If he moves away from the boards, I'll skate backwards, infront of him, letting him get closer until the puck's right infront of me and then I'll go for a poke check. This strategy works well with the Neutral Zone Trap.
I very rarely go for open ice bodychecks and on D I'm carefull when moving my players. Overchecking will send your players all over the ice, and that's what breaks down your defense. I skate backwards slowly (I sort of pump the LS with little moves in the direction I want to go), and I focus on following my opponents body (not the puck), letting him get closer until, when he's close enough, I make my move.
1 on 1, I position myself between the opponent and my own goal (quite obvious) and a little bit over to the weak side (trying to force him over to the near post). Letting him get closer, I try to challenge him, at least, before he pass the line between the face off points.
Here's a video with some solid defensive play from both teams (my opponent was actually better). I especially like how he body checks the pass reciever instead of going for the puck carrier (0:10).
Here's an example showing the importance of positioning. I play C here and instead of challenging the puck carrier all the time, I stay in the centre, trying to cut off the passing lanes, until I get an opportunity to win the puck.
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Here's an instructional series from Canadian television:
Think Hockey part 1 - 9
This is from a match I played on friday and it shows the most common misstake that beginners make when on defence. I know I allways nag about this but you should never go for the body if you're not certain that you'll connect the tackle. Better to concentrate on small moves and being in the right pos with your D's like I've written in previous posts:
Keep your defenders in the slot
Discipline
This video also shows how much can be accomplished just by being positioned right:
With that said I must admit that I tend to be too passive when defending. Well timed tackles in the slot is very effective but like I stated before - you need to know what you're doing.
A couple of days ago I played another guy who tried the Pull the goalie stunt on me. Actually he tried it three times and I scored on him every time.I havn't seen the move for a while. The idea is to pull the goalie so that he skates into the player who's moving towards the goal, which automatically results in the player falling. I have never used this strategy and I never will. I think it looks stupid and the guys who tried it on me have only had success with it 20% of the times. I don't know - do you use this move with any success? I mean, I score 8 times out of 10 when someone tries this move on me and on an ordinary breakawy I do NOT score that often.
Why? Because on rebounds and passes from your goalie, he'll freeze your AI up and leave them staring at the puck. In fact, if you try to make a pass with your goalie, the puck will be invisible to your AI-controlled players for about one to two seconds. Think about this when the slot is crowded. An experienced opponent will wait like a hyena, about two skater lengths away from your goalie, and steal the puck easy as that! So try to take controll over a player in the slot on rebounds and don't skate away from the puck when the goalie let's go off it.
If you think about it, any situation where the goalie goes for a pass is a 1 on 1 battle for the puck the first 2 seconds, unless you got more human controlled players on your team, in the slot, than your opponent.
Of course, when you're attacking, Mr. Freeze can be your best friend.
This is a trick that I don't use myself but I've played a couple of guys who've pulled it on me. What they do is they pull their goalie (L1 + Select), a yard before I reach the crease on the breakaway. When the goalie leaves his goal my player automatically falls if the goalie skates into him.
Personally I find this move pretty unrealistic, but as it's a risky move I'm willing to accept it.
I can't really go into detail on how to execute this move, but I guess you could also do this by controlling the goalie manually (L1 + hold X) and just skate into the approaching player. This is of course a pretty stupid move to pull repeatedly or on a opponent who shoots rather than go for dekes.
1. Protect the middle lane. If you can keep your opponents wide, along the boards, they are less likely to score.
2. Limit the amount of time and space available to your opponent. The faster you can get to the puck carrier, the less time and space the player has to make a play. Know who your check is, and stay no more than two stick lengths away, even when your check doesn't have the puck.
3. Keep between your check and the net in the defensive zone, and
between your check and the puck in other areas of the ice.
A lot of people use their defenders to chase attackers to the boards as soon as they enter the zone. This is a very dangerous playing style since it leaves an opening in the slot and that's just what the attacking team is looking for.
So instead of using your D's to hunt down attackers by the boards, use a winger to take away the attackers space and leave the D's defending the slot. Defenders has often got better defensive awareness, wich means they are better at blocking passes by just being positioned right, and they are also better at shot blocking.
The boards are useful for puck transportation both in defence and offense.
Instead of dumping the puck, a slapshot via the boards is a very good way to get the puck out of the zone, and as a bonus you won't risk putting the puck over the glass when on PK.
When attacking, using the boards is a snekay and pretty safe way to get passes through to a player behind the net. Also (and this is pretty obvious), if it looks like you're going to get body checked, shoot or pass the puck along the boards to avoid a counter attack.
With the latest patch, the ref makes way more calls for interference, cross checking and slashing. This makes positioning even more important than before. Blocking the passing lanes is a very safe strategy, since you don't have to do anything except be in the right position, which is quite easy when you're not checking. You will automatically poke the puck away if the pass comes close enough to you. This is a good strategy to use when facing an opponent who does a lot of one-timers.
To successfully block passes:
a) Have two or more players in the passing lane - if you miss, your team mates might poke the puck away.
b) Move with very little speed, be still if possible, as this raises your chances of a successful block.
c) Have the blade of your stick in the passing lane.
In this clip I'm playing the center and I position myself in the middle slightly in front of my defenders.
Here's an example of what you can accomplish, outnumbred 2-1, just by being positioned right.
I would say discipline, positioning and timing is the key to solid defence. When I started playing I was skating around way too much - trying to pick up speed for a great tackle but missing my target most of the time. The truth is you can pretty much be still when checking - you just need to make your move when the opponent is close enough.
Just skate backwards slowly (skate-stop-skate-stop), position yourself in the line between the attacker and your own goal and let the defender near you. When he's right in front of you - bodycheck, poke or lift his stick.
With this in mind - control the slot and don't let your opponent sneak up from behind the net and score an easy goal, near post.
I really only have one tip when it comes to defence - controll the slot!
A common mistake is to aggressivly attack the puck handler while leaving the slot open. In reality, it is generally more effective to stay in the slot and play the passing lanes and keep the goal area clear, even if it means allowing the puck handler to take an uncontested shot outside the slot.
If your behind the attacker a sticklift is very useful. Try to come up from behind on the side he's holding his stick before you execute the move. If you're right behind the attacker, you'll risk a penality for high sticking.
So don't go for the big body check along the boards unless you're certain that you will win the puck. Even if you hit the player, he might get a pass through with you out of position. If you poke check instead, even if you don't win the puck, you're still between the opponent and the goal.
If your behind the attacker a sticklift is very useful. Try to come up from behind on the side he's holding his stick before you execute the move. If you're right behind the attacker, you'll risk a penality for high sticking.
Here's an example of bad defence. Not only do I get beaten to the puck - I'm on the wrong side of the attacker (I should allways position myself between the attacker and my own goal) and my teammates goes out on attack, leaving the slot .
To win the face off start your poke when the referee sticks his arm out to drop the puck. I've read that you should start the poke just before the puck touches the ice - this is not true, at least it doesn't work for me on my PS3.
Online it's something it's something that needs to be "felt out", due to the varying latency of each game. But most of the time you want to start just before the ref sticks his arm out.In other words, anticipate the ref’s drop, and try to start your poke just before he begins his drop animation.
Also keep an eye on your opponent’s stick before the drop - if you see that your opponent is way out in front and left out of position after his initial swipe - you can play it safe and wait for the ref to drop the puck.
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