Breaking Down the Caps Overload Breakout
Photo by Amanda Bowen
Last season, I took a look at the Caps’ breakout under Barry Trotz. In that post, I looked at how the Caps generally breakout of their defensive zone, both when the breakout is contested by their opponent and uncontested.
In that article, I briefly touched upon the variations to a team’s breakout.
Teams generally have multiple approaches to their breakout. Hockey is a fluid game; there are variations and contingencies in every game. Those variations depend on how the opponent might disrupt the breakout or where teammates are positioned when their team gets possession.
This season, the Caps first line has debuted a variation to the breakout that I don’t recall seeing last season. The new twist is the Caps overloading the left side of the ice when breaking out of their zone.
While the variations may have been unintentional, more a split second reaction than a pre-planned set play, the Caps have created dangerous chances when they’ve used this variation of their breakout this season.
By Patrick Holden 7 years ago
