Yahoo Sports How Can the Red Wings Generate More Forechecking Pressure?
In the season's early going, the Red Wings' forecheck resembles a lot of their game through the first dozen games: intermittently effective but lacking in consistency. As Detroit seeks to spend more time in the offensive third of the rink, one key area of its game to achieving that end is the forecheck.
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In a featured released this morning, Red Wings forward Andrew Copp (along with University of Michigan coach Brandon Naurato) highlighted some of the details that inform a successful forecheck—from puck placement to Super Mario Bros. Copp, in particular, highlighted the importance of the connection between the breakout and the forecheck, trust between forecheckers, and the possibility that the Red Wings could become a bit more aggressive.
“I think the trust has been pretty good," Copp told The Hockey News, earlier this week. "We’re tracking pretty hard. I think our forecheck starts with the smoothness of our breakouts and just that anticipation. We’ve been really cognizant of not giving up odd-man rushes, and we’ve done a good job. Maybe with that, we give up a hair of aggressiveness. So maybe that’s the one thing that we could [change] is become a hair more aggressive, get our D up a little more, a hair more pinching, a hair more anticipation. We definitely don’t want to do that at the cost of giving up more odd-man rushes, so it really is a fine line.”
In that sentiment, Copp highlights a key give-and-take of forechecking: It's easy to advocate aggression, but over-aggression is an easy recipe for easy rush offense against. In the featured video above, I discussed the Red Wings' search for the right forechecking balance.
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