Controlled and Aggressive Forechecking Systems

with Blaise MacDonald,
Colby College Head Coach;
2018 American Hockey Coaches Association Division III National Coach of the Year;
2018 NCAA DIII Frozen Four;
2018 New England Small College Athletic Conference champions;
former head coach at Umass-Lowell and Niagara University;
over 300 career wins

Coach MacDonald has over 30 years of coaching experience at the DI and DIII levels. He was the first head coach in program history at Niagara. Within four years of founding the program at Niagara, MacDonald was named ECAC West Co-Coach of the Year and led the Purple Eagles to the NCAA quarterfinal round. He was named College Hockey America's Coach of the Year, and was voted runner-up for the Spencer Penrose Award as National Coach of the Year. He has won National Titles as an assistant coach (Boston University) and a player (twice at Rochester Institute of Technology). An All-American Defenseman at RIT, Coach McDonald has recruited and coached over 30 NHL players.

Coach Blaise MacDonald shares two types of forechecks - a controlled high-pressure forecheck, which is used when the opponent has established control of the puck, and an aggressive forecheck where you hunt down the opponent and try and take away the puck. Starting with the "High" controlled forecheck, MacDonald demonstrates a 1-2-2 system that will give your team a strong defense in the middle of the ice and attacks the pass. The second system is a 5-Man High Pressure. This is based higher up in the neutral zone and tries to keep the puck in the offensive end. The 5-Man is ideal when you are protecting a lead or during a line change. MacDonald's aggressive forecheck systems are the Left Wing Lock and the Aggressive L Forecheck. The Left Wing Lock forces everything up the boards, which takes away the easy pass. The L Forecheck puts a lot of pressure on the defensemen, which forces them to make passes toward center ice allowing you a greater opportunity to steal the passes for easy scores. MacDonald details each system on the whiteboard and then demonstrates it on ice with members of his squad. MacDonald includes four drills that complement each system while working on the skills and tactical strategies needed to execute each system. Turn up the pressure on your opponents this season.

52 minutes. 2009.