How to Play Your Position in Ice Hockey

Knowing how to play your position in ice hockey is essential when you go out onto the ice. Knowing your roles and responsibilities on the ice is important if you want to be able to play your position well. Take the following considerations into account to learn how to play your position in ice hockey.

1. What position do you play?  This may be obvious, but it is the first step to becoming aware of your position on the ice. Your coach will inform you of your position, which is important to be able to follow along where he wants you to play in certain situations. For goalies, of course, it's pretty clear cut.
2. Understand your role on offensive and defensive schemes. Whether your team has the puck or not, you need to be aware of your team's strategy on both sides of the ice. Offensive execution rests on the positioning and chemistry of players with and without the puck. Defensive execution rests on the team working together to put pressure and disrupt passes.
3. Understand your team's forecheck. The forecheck is something that you need to pay attention to. You should know to what level you should place pressure on the offensive team. 
4. Know your teammates. When you play a certain position in hockey, you should also be aware of the strengths of your teammates.  It will help you make better decisions throughout the game. For instance, if you are a play-making center on a breakaway, you should know if the man on your left or right is better at one timers. These decisions can be critical to your position.
5. Follow the instructions of your coaches. Chances are they have played the game a lot longer than you.