A Guide to Hockey for The Hockey Illiterate (Part Two)

Hockey, unlike baseball, football or basketball, is a very fluid game by comparison. Stoppages are not planned, nor are they nearly as frequent. In some cases, a game can go on for a good ten minutes without any pauses. Also, possession changes hands quicker and a lot more often than those sports. What this means, in terms of strategizing, is that there are less varieties of “set plays” than other sports. Instead, and especially in the NHL video games, strategies are usually more of a set formation, and most of the time it’s up to you to read and react to the situation. Basically, less set pieces, and more general principles.

In terms of actual strategy, this is one area where the NHL series sorely lacks depth. Basically, all you need to know is to watch the diagram on the strategy screen, the more players you commit to the offensive zone, the more offensive it is, and you are much more liable to give up odd man rushes (counterattacks) if you turn the puck over.

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