Using your Edges in Dekes – NHL Examples

When you you get a chance to go one on one with a goalie you want to make sure you use all the tools in your tool box in order to be more deceptive. It seems many hockey players forget about their skating and edge-work when they try to beat the goalie. Sure it’s important to have good hands when you deke, but if you incorporate some edge-work into your dekes you can be a lot more deceptive and score more goals.

Good Use Of Edges in Dekes

I recently uploaded this video breakdown to the How To Hockey Youtube channel. The actual deke is paused for the first 30 seconds while I set it up.

Wolski Deke Breakdown

Wolski approaches from his shooting side, giving the goalie the constant threat of a shot
He throws out a quick pump fake, keeping the goalie on his toes. If the goalie bites on this pump fake Wolski could easily beat him to the far post, but the goalie stands strong
Next Wolski cuts to the far post, forcing the goalie to slide across
Once the goalie slides across Wolski uses his edges to nearly stop, shift his momentum back to the other side of the net, and easily put the puck into the open side of the net.

NHL Examples

Nick Bonino pulled out this beauty a few nights ago against Mike Smith.

Bonino Deke Breakdown

Bonino approaches almost straight on Mike Smith, just a little to his shooting side. He carries the puck in front of him to start, but then moves it to his shooting side when he gets closer
When he gets close to the crease Bonino fakes a move to the far post, which sends Smith sliding
Almost instantly after the fake to the far post Bonino uses his edge to slow down and cut to the other side of the net, giving him a lot of room on his shooting side to score.

Teemu Selanne – Uses his edges a little differently here, he’s pulled this move a few times in Shootouts

Selanne Deke Breakdown

Selanne approaches the goalie with a lot of speed, this forces Kiprusoff to back up into the net. If the goalie does not back up at a similar speed to the skater than the skater only needs one quick move to get behind the goalie and score. In other examples the goalie gets even further back than Kiprusoff
Selanne reads that Kiprusoff is backing up and then uses his edges to slow right down. This buys him a lot of time to decide where to shoot, and because the goalie has backed up he can see more net to shoot at
Selanne pauses for a second, and then Kiprusoff tries to poke check him, this puts Kiprusoff in a bad position, and Selanne easily shoots the puck over his glove hand.

More moves dekes, and Examples

Another good example of edge-work in a deke is the Datsyukian deke which I explained a few months back. Of course you also need some pretty good hands (and some practice) to pull this one off, but the hardest part of executing the Datsyukian deke is using the edge of the front foot.

If you want to learn the fundamentals of every move you can pull on a goalie, when to use them, and 20+ shootout / breakaway moves you can check out my Goalie Buster training course. I compiled a comprehensive list of pro shootout moves, organized them all into categories, and then shot over 2 hours of on-ice videos explaining each one. I currently still have the summer special price so take advantage of the lower price 🙂 As usual if you don’t learn anything I will give you your money back.