{"id":130200,"date":"2021-11-10T06:00:26","date_gmt":"2021-11-10T12:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=130200"},"modified":"2021-11-09T15:05:49","modified_gmt":"2021-11-09T21:05:49","slug":"this-week-in-big-ten-hockey-notre-dame-finding-success-with-increased-emphasis-on-puck-possession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2021\/11\/10\/this-week-in-big-ten-hockey-notre-dame-finding-success-with-increased-emphasis-on-puck-possession\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in Big Ten Hockey: Notre Dame finding success with increased emphasis on puck possession"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Notre Dame gathers for the pregame hype before playing Minnesota on October 29 in Minneapolis (photo: Jim Rosvold).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are numerous ways one can describe a hockey team.<\/p>\n

Jeff Jackson, though, would appreciate it if people stopped using one term to describe Notre Dame.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really hate when people say we\u2019re a defensive team,\u201d Jackson said Monday night. \u201cWe\u2019re a puck-possession team, in my opinion. We really focus on our ability to possess the puck in the offensive zone and possess the puck coming out of our own end. Possession is the most important part of the game, because if we possess the puck 60 percent of the time and the opponent possesses it 40 percent of the time, our chances of winning are much better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sure, they\u2019ve only played one conference series, a sweep at the hands of Minnesota in Minneapolis, but the narrative of the Fighting Irish being defensive has kind of been put to bed during the first month of the season. Notre Dame does feature the 10th-ranked offense in the nation, averaging 3.56 goals per contest, as it hosts Wisconsin this weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have a lot of first rounders, we don\u2019t have any on our team, so scoring has got to be done a little bit by committee and, so far, that\u2019s been a positive for us,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had some guys that have stepped up as juniors and have moved up from an offensive perspective. That\u2019s certainly a bonus for us, and getting scoring from all four lines.\u201d<\/p>\n

All that said, Jackson has noticed a defensive trait from this year\u2019s squad that he does like.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis group is a little different in that I think we do a really good job of pressuring the puck when we don\u2019t have it,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is defensive, but I think it comes more from the offensive zone when we\u2019re pressuring the puck, and not just the forecheck but on puck recoveries and just trying to make sure that we sustain possession.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the team\u2019s offensive has been clicking, the special teams have been hot and cold. More specifically, the penalty kill that has only allowed one goal has been great but the power play has only converted on three of 33 opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to start getting into games now against some really high-end opponents that you\u2019re probably going to need to score a power play goal to win a game,\u201d Jackson said.<\/p>\n

So, from a veteran head coach, what\u2019s the secret sauce for a struggling power play?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have players that can be productive on a power play situation,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cFrom my personal experience, it\u2019s always been about the chemistry of the unit. Tinkering with it is probably more a matter of just trying to find the right personnel that works together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jackson doesn\u2019t think that has been achieved yet. He added that he hates to over tinker with the units, but that it was important for the players to realize that a successful power play is about more than simply scoring a goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo score goals you have to win faceoffs, you have to have good entries, you have to have good offensive-zone possession and then you have to recover pucks,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are different components to having a good power play and you need different guys contributing in different ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019ve done that yet. I hate changing it all the time, I hate moving guys in and out of the power play or from what unit to the other, but until we find that chemistry and that ability to work together to score a goal \u2014 to me that\u2019s the culmination of a great power play, it\u2019s not just about scoring goals.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are numerous ways one can describe a hockey team. Jeff Jackson, though, would appreciate it if people stopped using one term to describe Notre Dame. \u201cI really hate when people say we\u2019re a defensive team,\u201d Jackson said Monday night. \u201cWe\u2019re a puck-possession team, in my opinion. We really focus on our ability to possess […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":129968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5,4,1],"tags":[812],"coauthors":[855],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThis Week in Big Ten Hockey: Notre Dame finding success with increased emphasis on puck possession - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There are numerous ways one can describe a hockey team. 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