How to play defense in hockey

Updated October 17, 2026

Good defense is mostly about where you are. Stay between your player and your net, keep your stick on the ice and hold the right distance from the puck carrier, and a lot of plays end before your goalie has to make a big save. This guide is written for defensemen, but every skater has to defend. Here's how, from gap control to the first pass out of your zone, plus drills to practice.

Stay on the defensive side

The defensive side, also called goal side or inside position, means you're between the player you're covering and your own net, and a little closer to the middle of the ice than they are. From there, they have to go around you to reach the net.

Hockey Canada teaches young defenders to line up their helmet with the attacker's inside shoulder, the one closer to the middle, and to steer them toward the boards while skating backward. That's the whole idea: you own the middle, they get the outside.

• Head on a swivel. Know where the puck is and where your player is. If you can only see one of them, move until you can see both.
• Stick on the ice. Blade down, in the lane they'd pass through.
• Middle first. The slot, the area in front of your net between the faceoff circles, is where the best chances come from. Protect it before you chase anything.

The hockey positions guide covers the rest of the job.

Gap control

Your gap is the space between you and the puck carrier as they come at you. Give them too much and they have time to shoot, pass or pick a lane. Give them too little, or close too fast, and they can chip it past you and go.

• Stay close. Many coaches teach young defenders to stay within about two stick lengths. Hockey Canada's gap drill for young players uses that distance.
• Match their speed. Start skating backward before they reach you, so you aren't caught standing still.
• Close when you can. If they're slow, looking down or bobbling the puck, step up and take it. If they're flying, give a bit more room and steer them wide.
• Don't back in too far. Backing into your own crease gives the shooter a free look and screens your goalie.

A tight gap is easier when your forwards backcheck.

Angling the puck carrier to the boards

Angling means skating a path that steers the puck carrier where you want them, usually toward the boards, and closing the space until they run out of room. USA Hockey's rulebook calls it a legal defensive skill, and it's how you defend in leagues with no body checking.

1. Skate to where they're going, not where they are.
2. Take an inside-out path: come from the middle of the ice, so the only way open is the outside.
3. Keep your inside shoulder just ahead of their inside shoulder.
4. Close the gap under control. Come in too fast and they cut back to the middle.
5. When they run out of room, take the puck: play their stick, get your body between them and the puck, and work it free.

Body checking is only allowed in some older age groups and divisions. USA Hockey doesn't allow it at 12U and younger or in girls' and women's hockey, and Hockey Canada hasn't allowed it at U13 (peewee) or younger since 2013. Where it is allowed, good angling sets it up. Body checking explained covers how to give and take a check safely and legally.

Stick on puck

• Stick out in front, blade on the ice. It takes away passing lanes.
• Poke check from balance. Make a quick jab with your top hand when the puck is away from their body, then pull your stick back. If you lunge and miss, you're out of the play.
• Go for the puck or the stick. Hockey Canada's checking drills teach players to attack the stick where the blade meets the shaft.
• Stick first, then body. USA Hockey's rulebook says proper body checking technique starts with stick on puck.
• No slashing, hooking or holding. Penalties put your team short.

Backward skating and pivots

Defensemen play facing the rush, so you'll skate backward a lot.

• Backward stance. Knees bent, chest up, seat down as if you're sitting in a chair, head up, stick out in front.
• C-cuts. Push out with one skate in a C shape, bring it back under you, then do the other side. Keep your upper body quiet.
• Backward crossovers. Cross one skate over the other to move sideways while staying in front of a wide attacker.
• Pivots. Turn from forward to backward, and backward to forward, without losing speed. Turn your hips and keep your eyes on the puck carrier the whole way. When an attacker gets even with you on the outside, open your hips and skate forward with them toward the boards.

If backward skating feels slow, work on it before anything else in this guide. How to skate faster and how to hockey stop cover the edges it's built on.

Defending a 1-on-1

1. Start backward early and match their speed, with a gap of a stick length or two.
2. Stay on the inside. Give them the outside, never the middle.
3. Watch their chest, not the puck. The puck and their head can fake you. Their body can't go where their chest isn't pointing.
4. Keep your stick on the ice in front of you, ready to poke the puck when they push it away from their body.
5. As they get near the faceoff dots, stop backing up. Turn with them, angle them toward the boards and take away the path to the net.
6. If they cut to the middle, stay between them and the net and close the space.

Don't back up too far, and don't lunge. Be patient, keep your feet moving and make them move first.

Defending a 2-on-1

It's two attackers against you and your goalie. Hockey Canada's coaching materials list two ways to play it: take away the pass, or pressure the puck carrier. The classic rule for young players is the first one: you take the pass, and your goalie takes the shooter.

1. Skate backward in the middle, between the two attackers.
2. Keep your stick on the ice in the passing lane.
3. Don't commit to the puck carrier early. If you go to them, they pass across and your goalie has to get across the whole net.
4. Let them shoot from the outside. Your goalie can be set for that shot if they know you have the pass.
5. When the shot comes, take the player without the puck so they can't get the rebound.

Ask your coach which way your team plays it, and tell your goalie.

The net-front

When the puck is in your end, the other team will try to park someone in front of your net to screen your goalie, tip shots and bang in rebounds. Your job is to make that hard.

• Get there first. Holding a spot is much easier than winning it back.
• Body position. Stay between the attacker and the net, low and strong. In USA Hockey, holding your position while you both play the puck is legal competitive contact, even at ages with no checking.
• Tie up the stick when the shot comes. If their stick can't reach the puck, they can't tip it or tap in a rebound.
• Let your goalie see. Don't stand between your goalie and the shooter. Play the attacker from the side so your goalie still has a clear look.
• Clear rebounds wide. Move loose pucks to the corner or the boards, never back through the middle.
• No cross-checks. Shoving with the shaft of your stick is a penalty.

Winning puck battles in the corner

1. Shoulder check before you get there, so you know who's coming and where your help is.
2. Come in on an angle, not straight at the boards, and keep your head up. Never hit or push a player who's facing the boards.
3. Get low and wide. Win body position first: get your body between your opponent and the puck.
4. Lift their stick, then take the puck. If your stick is tied up, kick the puck to your own skates.
5. Move it fast: to your partner, up the boards to a winger, or behind the net.

The first pass on the breakout

Winning the puck only helps if you get it out of your zone. The first pass is usually yours.

1. Shoulder check both ways before you reach the puck. Know where the forecheckers are and where your options are.
2. Get the puck under control, then look up.
3. Take the simple option: your winger on the boards, your center swinging low through the middle, your partner behind the net (a reverse or a D-to-D pass), or skate it out yourself if you have room.
4. Pass hard and flat, right on the tape.
5. Never throw it blindly up the middle in your own zone. If nothing is open, chip it off the boards or the glass and out.

When your back is to the play, your partner and your goalie are your eyes. Listen for their calls.

Talk

Agree on short calls with your partner and your goalie. These are common ones:

Common mistakes young defenders make

• Watching the puck and losing your player.
• Chasing the puck carrier behind the net and leaving the front empty.
• Giving too much gap and backing into your goalie.
• Lunging or diving at the puck.
• Turning to skate forward too early, which opens up the middle.
• Standing flat-footed instead of moving your feet.
• Throwing the puck up the middle under pressure.
• Screening your own goalie.
• Not talking.

Drills for defensemen

1. Backward C-cuts. Goal line to the far blue line, 4 trips. Then backward crossovers around each faceoff circle, 2 laps each way.
2. Pivot ladder. Skate forward to the first blue line, pivot and skate backward to the red line, pivot forward to the far blue line, then pivot backward to the goal line. 4 reps, alternating which way you turn.
3. Mirror drill. Face a partner. They skate forward, stop, go sideways and back up. You skate backward and mirror them, staying within two stick lengths. 40 seconds, rest, then switch. 4 rounds each.
4. 1-on-1 gap drill. A forward starts at the red line with the puck, and you start on your blue line. Hold your gap, steer them outside and finish with stick on puck. 6 reps each.
5. Net-front battles. Two players in front of the net while a coach takes low shots from the point. 20 seconds each, 5 rounds.
6. Breakout passes. A coach rims the puck around the boards. Shoulder check, stop it and pass to a winger on the half wall. 10 reps on each side.

Off the ice, lateral shuffles (30 seconds, 4 rounds), squats and lunges build the legs for backward skating. Keep it bodyweight and form first. Hockey workouts at home has a full plan. And on a rest day, Brudvig Hockey is a free 3-on-3 arcade hockey game you can play in a browser against the computer or a friend.