My Position

One of my favourite hockey quote is “the best offensive is the defence”. When I first started hockey I was training to be a defenceman. I had my skates profiled for a defenceman, my stick was bigger than me for a defenceman and I had the knowledge of a defenceman. However, I was a very bad defenceman. I always had the urge to attack for the puck. This is bad because if they beat me to the puck there is no chance for me to get it back. They will just blow straight by me. All of my coaches hated me for that.

So, in my third year of hockey, I switched to a centerman. The centerman is the most important position in hockey. The centerman is the “support man” this means he is helping out the other players when they are in trouble, the centerman is also considered the quarterback due to he needs to win faceoffs, and lead breakouts. The wingers typically stick to their side of the ice, however, the centermen has more freedom to roam. Even though the centerman covers the most amount of ice (and usually does the most skating) that does not mean you can just skate around and hope you get the puck. The duties as a centerman are to win faceoffs, cause trouble in front of the other teams net, stop players and pucks in front of your own net, score goals, make passes, help out your wingers, lead break-outs and backcheck. Lots of backchecking.

So for the past years, I practiced and learned the skills to be a centerman and continue to pursue that direction. I am thankful for taking that risk and continue to stand by the quote (The best offensive is the best defence).

Requirements/tips:

• A huge requirement for being a centerman is learning the right strategies and techniques to win faceoffs. A good centerman should win 75% of faceoffs. Winning faceoffs isn’t all about pulling the puck back to the D but you can also win a faceoff by tieing the man up. Make a plan with your winger to rush in as soon as the puck drops. The centerman will be tied up and you can either push the puck to the D or go forward with an odd-man rush.
• Having good stamina is crucial to all positions in hockey, however, the centerman is just on a whole new level. The centerman is everywhere, it has no limitations like wingers, who have stayed on their own side of the ice. They are always on the puck trying to score or get the puck back from the opponents. With all that, excellent stamina is crucial and to improve it a daily jog around your block can hugely enhance it.
• Therefore, being an excellent centerman takes a lot of practice, knowledge and experience. You need to be able to win faceoffs, cause trouble in front of the other teams net, stop players and pucks in front of your own net, score goals, make passes, help out your wingers and lead break-outs and backcheck.