Cycling the puck: When did that start?

[Hockeynomad]

Cycling the puck; an effective way to maintain puck possession by circulating it along the end boards although not so esthetically pleasing.

Looking back at old videos, that element of the game was almost non-existant.

When did it become dominant and who was the major force behind it?

 

[nik jr]

i've heard it as invented by the soviets, but i'm not sure.

 

[vivianmb]

in north america it was started by the WHA winnipeg jets.
herb brooks' 1980 team usa also used it against cccp in the olympics.

 

[the_speedster]

earliest example I can think of was the 60's/70's montreal canadiens. Their game was more about puck control..

 

[Hockeynomad]

Bump*. I thought I'd get a lot more insight. Seems no one really knows.

 

[Dima87*]

The foundation of Russia/Soviet hockey is puck possession. What made the USSR so fun to watch is that they combined passing with great speed.

 

[greatgazoo]

"Cycling" is a term that I didn't hear until the late 1990's.

I think it was just a term that a particular broadcaster used once or twice in a game and then it was adpoted by others.

"it's like they're cycling the puck down low"

 

[dcinroc]

"cycling" has been part of the game as long as I can remember (started watching in the 70s). It is just a bigger part of the game now because of changes in goaltending (outside shots are less effective now, lateral puck movement more important, giant marshmallows in goal, etc...).

As mentioned before, "cycling" as a term is new. In the past, announcers would say things like "working the puck down low" and such.

 

[Zepphead93]

I did a lot of research one this one. Eric Daze of the Hawks is the "Granddaddy" of cycling down low. Everyone looked to him for advice, including. Yup u guessed it: Mikael Renberg

 

[panorama01*]

I can't help but think that the invention of the expression as well as its being used more widely was not caused by the decision in the mid to late 1990s to move the goal lines closer to centre ice and make larger the space between the goal and the end boards. Thus, much of the game ended up being played behind the goal line.

 

[Riffo*]

I did a lot of research one this one. Eric Daze of the Hawks is the "Granddaddy" of cycling down low. Everyone looked to him for advice, including. Yup u guessed it: Mikael Renberg

I must say I never expected to see these names on a History of Hockey board

 

[triplcrown]

It's over six years since the last post, but I'd like to add, that I also heard the Soviets were the earliest practitioners, if not creators(?) of cycling the puck.

 

[DJ Man]

Seems to me that the defending players used to skate behind the net and move up the opposite wing a lot more than they do now when beginning a charge up the ice. I'm assuming that better counter moves have been developed.

 

[Hippasus]

I would think that the term would come into greater use as it is more reflective of the state of affairs. When cycling as a term emerged was more in the early to mid-90s, and I think it is possible that that is when it started to become a more recognizable thing in the game at the NHL level. I recall some of the rougher teams were good at it. It's a little tougher for me to say one way or the other since I became a fan in the early 90s. Towards the beginning to the decade and around the time of the southern expansion, the explosion of offense had to be counteracted by greater emphasis on defensive systems. Along with this comes a more disciplined, systematic style of play in the offensive zone, and that is where cycling comes in. Of course the activity of cycling goes way back, but perhaps it wasn't as much of a thing in the past.

 

[sr edler]

I did a lot of research one this one. Eric Daze of the Hawks is the "Granddaddy" of cycling down low. Everyone looked to him for advice, including. Yup u guessed it: Mikael Renberg

This post is brilliant in so many different aspects.

 

[HF007]

It's over six years since the last post, but I'd like to add, that I also heard the Soviets were the earliest practitioners, if not creators(?) of cycling the puck.

2009 was 6 years ago

 

[Jumptheshark]

in north america it was started by the WHA winnipeg jets.
herb brooks' 1980 team usa also used it against cccp in the olympics.

Swedes first started using it in the mid 70's after they played the Russians

 

[Rhiessan71]

There has always been cycling in one form or another.

The biggest contribution in the NHL however didn't come from any one person or Nationality.

It came from a change in the rules in the early 90's when the Refs were told to put their whistles away on scrums along the boards and in the corners in an attempt to speed up the game.

All defenders had to do prior was tie the puck up in a scrum along the boards to get a whistle and a faceoff.
As an attacking player you wanted to avoid this so the tendency was to keep the puck more in the middle of the ice and off the boards.
There was still some cycling but not nearly as much as you see today as players tended to move the puck on much quicker along the boards avoiding the chance of being pinned there.

 

[Hippasus]

There has always been cycling in one form or another.

The biggest contribution in the NHL however didn't come from any one person or Nationality.

It came from a change in the rules in the early 90's when the Refs were told to put their whistles away on scrums along the boards and in the corners in an attempt to speed up the game.

All defenders had to do prior was tie the puck up in a scrum along the boards to get a whistle and a faceoff.
As an attacking player you wanted to avoid this so the tendency was to keep the puck more in the middle of the ice and off the boards.
There was still some cycling but not nearly as much as you see today as players tended to move the puck on much quicker along the boards avoiding the chance of being pinned there.

That is a great point.

 

[FerrisRox]

The foundation of Russia/Soviet hockey is puck possession. What made the USSR so fun to watch is that they combined passing with great speed.

The first thing I remember noticing when I first started watching them play (circa the 1984 Canada Cup, Rendevous 87, 1987 Canada Cup) was seeing them actually retreat with the puck.

I had never really seen, short of someone ragging the puck on a penalty kill, a team skate back into their own zone with possession. If they didn't like the looks of a break out, they wouldn't dump the puck in, or try to force it, they would often pass the puck back or physically skate the puck into their own zone, regroup and try the zone entry again, often using a totally different tactic.

Those teams, in my memory, were the first where I really began to understand systems. They "looked" so coached. There was clearly choices being made and tactics being executed. They looked less individual despite having players with jaw-dropping individual talent.

 

[Jumptheshark]

I did a lot of research one this one. Eric Daze of the Hawks is the "Granddaddy" of cycling down low. Everyone looked to him for advice, including. Yup u guessed it: Mikael Renberg

Um no

Take a look at Swedish and Russian hockey in the 70's. It wasn't till the NHL saw what they were doing that they went "That is a good idea" Jets in the 70's got a hold of it--but the Oilers used it in the 80--but Sedin are the masters at it

 

[Killion]

Um no

Take a look at Swedish and Russian hockey in the 70's. It wasn't till the NHL saw what they were doing that they went "That is a good idea" Jets in the 70's got a hold of it--but the Oilers used it in the 80--but Sedin are the masters at it

Correct. If one considers top tier NHL'r's vs Russians & Europeans starting in 72 with the Summit Series as an "Exchange Program"; whereby elements of the North American Game were borrowed by them and elements of the Russian & European game by us (cycling, training & conditioning techniques etc) then you'll be hitting the nail on the head. It was a slow & gradual process but after that "close call" in 72 & all that followed, much hand wringing & teeth gnashing in Canadian hockey circles that reached right on down to the very foundations of the amateur system. How the game is taught, Coached & played. The beauty & grace of the Russian & European game, influx of imports that followed, the exciting & highly influential Hedberg, Hull & Nilsson line of the WHA Jets... by the early 80's, most notably with the spectacular Oilers... forever changed.