LetsGoDU

Blocking Shots: College Hockey Style
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From: Denver Post
by Mike Chambers

(left) Kyle Okposo (Minnesota) gets ready to drop to one knee and block a shot

When an NCAA hockey player takes a knee in front of a puck-handler preparing to take a slap shot, the defender isn't praying. He's hoping.

Hoping the puck hits him solid.

Hoping the pain goes away and injury doesn't send him out of the game.

Talent usually gets teams to the NCAA Tournament, but the combination of skill and sacrifice is typically what gets teams to the Frozen Four.

"For us it's simple," Air Force coach Frank Serratore said of his team's shot-blocking philosophy. "If you refuse to do it, you won't play."

The college form of blocking differs from the professionals and could be paramount in giving Air Force a chance to beat perennial power Minnesota in Saturday's West Regional opener at the Pepsi Center.

The face mask that protects college players makes them feel less vulnerable to injury and more willing to block shots. They can go face-to-face with shooters, often on one knee to build a maximum wall.

NHL players typically block shots by what Serratore dubs "selling out" - laying sideways on the ice and looking away to protect their face. For most pro teams, the stars don't sell out.

For most college teams, everybody must get on one knee and pray.

Taking a 5.5-ounce, hard- edged puck to an unprotected area can break bones and cause severe pain. The most delicate areas include the inside of the wrist, forearm and elbow, above the knee and the groin.

Each of those areas are exposed by taking a knee, which keeps the defender in position to react and adjust if the shooter fakes a shot and skates laterally to find another hole to the net.

One-knee blockers also give themselves a chance to take one for the team and take the puck the other way.

"You don't even realize how big of a play it is to block a shot at the point," Air Force's Josh Print said. "One puck that goes by you can find its way in the net and cost you the game.

"The ultimate goal is to block the shot, but you have to stay in position to adjust with him, rather than selling out and seeing the guy walk around you for a clean shot."

During the 2004 NCAA championship game, many considered Maine the better team, but Denver won 1-0.

The difference was DU had 27 of the game's 32 blocked shots by building an unselfish wall between the shooters and goalie Adam Berkhoel.

DU assistant coach Matt Laatsch was a defenseman on that Pioneers team and senior captain the next season, when the program captured back-to- back titles.

Under Laatsch's guidance, one of DU's strengths this season was unselfish shot-blocking.

"We teach our guys that a blocked shot is as good as a turnover," Laatsch said. "You have to do it. It's part of the game."

Minnesota has 14 NHL draft picks on its team and is the most talented team Air Force has faced this season. The Gophers' European offensive style features a lot of puck movement, with circling dropoffs and cycling against the boards. That forces defenders wide and lessens traffic in front of the net.

If the Falcons have a chance to keep it close, they must stop the big shots from the point and control the forwards from cashing in on rebounds.

"We don't have anybody that won't block a shot," Air Force's Theo Zacour said. "In college hockey these days, it's imperative, and the one thing that you're always going to get from us is hard work. And that includes blocking shots from all of us."