How about a tips/teaching thread for people like me?

[Orange]

I am a noob hockey fan, I have always dabbled in hockey video games since way back with Blades of Steel. But I have only recently really tried to learn about the sport and become a fan siince I have a home team, the Nashville Predators. But I don't have actual expericance to draw from, I have never played hockey. Many of us here have played some form of baseball, football, or basketball. And if we haven't, we have at least the knowledge that comes from following it all our lives.

But for me hockey is the new sport that I only began to care because my city has a team. And I do like it. But I don;t know the root of some things that might help me be a better gamer. I realize on D I am supposed to keep the opponent out of the slot, and try to cut off passing lanes. I am also not supposed to chase the puck into the corners. Now I do intercept a pass from time to time but I really think I should get more. So even though I am going to sound like a real idiot, where are the pass lanes exactly? Around the slot obviously, but is there some specifics I should look for, during specific offences?

And On offence, my skills are limited to bring the puck down, try to deke into the slot or pass around for a chance to shoot on goal. I would like to learn what is going on on specific plays like overlord, behind the net, and overlord, or is it overload.

I would eventually like to play online vs games, but I struggle so much against the AI I would really get killed online. I would love to take the Predators online though.

If there is another thread like this I am sorry I missed it and feel free to move it there. But if not, Please give us new guys some insight.

[Antkowiak]

Hopefully I can help with some basics for you, but others here will be more than willing to lend a hand as well.

Forechecking: This is the act of trying to pressure the opponent into turning the puck over, either via a form of check, or a pass interception. There are three styles in NHL11, and two types:

1-2-2: This style emphasizes defensive positioning over the need to create offensive pressure.

On "Low", your wingers will stand atop or just inside the blue line of the opposing zone as your center chases the defenseman with the puck. If successful, the defender will make a poor pass attempt that will be gobbled by the winger and keep you on the attack. otherwise, you have two wingers ready to check the opponent's wingers or at the least, keep them from recieving passes from their center who may have caught the outlet pass from the defenceman you were trying to forecheck.

On "High", your wingers will stand at the red line, and you will begin to play what many NHL fans deride as the "neutral zone trap". Basically, your center still pressures the defenseman into making bad passes or taking a check, but most likely, he'll get the pass to his wingers or center. Too bad for him, because you have four bodies clogging the neutral zone (space between the blue lines of each respective team) and the opponent will likely be body checked, poke checked, or have a pass intercepted by your defenders so you may start the attack. This is the best strategy to use if you have a lead late in the game, when the CPU will be going all out and trying to throw long passes to their offensive players hoping to catch you off guard. Also used very well for years by the NJ Devils and Minnesota Wild to make up for offensive shortcomings, or to play to their inherent defensive strengths.

2-1-2: This is a forecheck where your wingers will pursue the defensemen in their zone, while your center stays at the blue line (Low) or at the red line (high) trying to catch any passes that the defensemen make to their forwards. Used best when you need to keep pressure on the opponent, because you have each defender covered by a winger, so they must try to pass out of their zone instead of to one another looking for a good outlet. Dangerous because if they make the pass, you only have your center and two defensemen to stop the oncoming rush, where you would normally prefer to have stronger numbers to clog up the passing lanes.

3-2: An all out attack forecheck. Use only when you are either pummeling the opponent, or when you are trailing and in desperate need of a goal. All your forwards will be attacking and pressuring in the offensive zone. If the opponent manages to get out of their zone, you will be subjected to many odd man rushes, and may likely give up some goals as a result.

Offensive Styles: These are the preset ways in which each offensive line will attack. You can easily change them in game by pressing the triangle/Y button.

Overload: as the game says, it's best suited to your most skilled line. Here, your forwards tend to gravitate to the area in the lower corner of the offensive zone, hugging the bend in the wall and the area around the bottom of the faceoff circle. you should attempt to "cycle" where your forwards pass to eachother while rotating in this area until a defender attempts to pressure you, allowing one of the cycling forwards to release to the "slot", the area between the circles directly in front of the net. If you can get a pass to this area, you will likely score. You can also use the defenders to draw opponent pressure and open up areas close to the slot for a well timed pass, or put a shot on net and hope your forwards find a rebound or deflect the shot in.

Behind the Net: self explanatory, and best used by two way forwards and grinders. Basically, a forward stations behind the opponent's net, where he can either receive passes and then hope to score on the wraparound, or look to pass to a forward who will charge towards the net for a point blank shot while your man behind the net gets pressured, hopefully drawing multiple defenders and opening up good scoring areas. Relatively simplistic, but dangerous because your center is typically behind the net, and may take a while to get back defensively if things go wrong.

Crash the Net: The most simplistic attack, best suited to your fourth line. Basically, the forwards all collapse on the slot and area around the net looking for rebounds and point blank shot opportunities. The best way to score in this style is to put shots on net and look for rebounds, or to pass to your defenders and take shots from the "point", the area right at the blue line in the attacking zone, and look for deflections from your swarming forwards. Though the forwards will be low in the zone, if things go wrong, they shouldn't have trouble getting back to defend since they won't likely be behind the net or behind any defenders

Powerplay types

Overload: same as above, but you should have more room to move since you have a man advantage

Umbrella: This type is best used if you have some skilled defensemen who have a hard and accurate shot, or two strong forwards who can battle for the puck down low. Basically, a defensemen stands at the top of the point, right in line with the slot and the net. another defensemen stands atop a faceoff circle, and either a winger or the center stands at the other circle. Your two lower forwards look for passes, rebounds, or clog the slot, trying to screen the goalie and deflect shots from your three pointmen at the top of the offensive zone.

Shooting: Best for teams with great offensive defensemen. You keep your defenders high at the point, and two forwards stay along the "halfwall" the area of the wall that is straight just before the bend that leads behind the net. One forward stands directly in front of the goalie and fights for positioning with the two defenders to stay there so he can screen the goalie, deflect, or get rebounds for easy goals. Basically, what you want to do is pass between the pointmen and your forwards along the wall so that you either open up the slot so a defenseman can put a shot on that either scores because of a screen, is deflected, or leads to a rebound that the goalie or his defenders cannot get to before your powerplay can score.

hopefully that helps some!

[Orange]

Awesome post man. It helps me!

[BleacherCreature]

Wow. I thought I knew a lot about hockey already and that post even helped me!!

[darlon]

Wow that post is a huge help.

[SharkAtk12]

Awesome write up. That was the best explanation I have read and now I fully understand them.

[shadox]

Awesome read! Thx man, I am sure this will help me a lot when the game finally comes out here

[muzion]

This post should be in the manual!!!

It's crazy the amount of people who play this game, yet have no clue as to how to use the overload strategy to their advantage. I've hardly ever seen somebody working the cycle, seems like I'm one of the few doing it.

On HUT I've been using the trap in pretty much every mathcup recently, and it's been very beneficial. It should be everybody's strategy against stronger teams. With a fast team you create get to create a lot of turnovers and then it's on to the counter-attack.
And if you don't get the takeaway then at least you get to slow down thier speed through the neutral zone, making them much less effective on offense.