Hockey, as you know, is a team game. Even the most outstanding forward is doomed to defeat in it, if he counts only on his own strength. This in no way detracts from the importance of the individual mastery of each athlete. But overcoming the enemy’s defense is possible only through an accurate pass. This is an instant and error-free transmission of the puck to a partner who managed to reach a position where you can hit the opponent’s goal. Let's say without exaggeration that the ability to give an accurate pass to the club of the partner is the basis of hockey skill.
Soviet hockey school
It is widely believed that the game through the pass is the basis of the domestic hockey school. Allegedly, in the homeland of hockey, in Canada, strategic formations are based on individual high-speed passages to the opponent’s goal. Despite the fact that this statement is highly controversial, it nevertheless contains an element of accurate observation of national hockey traditions. The truth is that it was the Soviet hockey strategy that perfected the principle of playing through a pass. This is a recognized fact. The coach explains the general plan of action in a given situation to future hockey players back in the children's sports school. The whole point is the ability to "see the field", in focusing attention not so much on the puck, but on the movement of the players of their own and alien teams across the field; in the ability to correctly calculate and intuitively predict the subsequent development of events and emerge victorious from each game episode.
Solo on ice
There are such outstanding masters, each of whom, on a figurative expression, is worth half the team on ice. They are able to crack and go through any enemy defenses. And it would be a strategic mistake on the part of the coach to force them to play according to a common pattern. But an ingenious striker at the right time needs an accurate pass on the club. This will allow him to do the rest of the goal-taking work on an individual basis. Therefore, the key to success is often hidden in the correct selection of players in the top three attacks. The main striker and assistants must be played and understand each other well in the attack. The secret to success on ice lies in the rational combination of the advantages of individual and collective playing styles.
What is an assist
In hockey, quite often there are situations when, after a dizzying combination, the attacker completes his solo pass by taking the opponent's goal. Only the final contact with the puck produces the club of his teammate. Is it fair to consider in this case as the goal creator solely the one who actually sent this shell into the goal net? Of course not. Therefore, the player’s performance in the team (and in accordance with it the overall rating and the prospects for a future sports career) are evaluated according to the so-called “goal plus pass” system. This means that not only abandoned goals, but also assists go into the overall standings. And such an approach is certainly correct. It stimulates the collective action of the team. Often, even the defenders, in whose duties this is not included, are connected to the attack and provide the partners with an accurate goal pass.
Outside hockey
The meaning of the word “pass” has long gone beyond the scope of hockey and sports in general. It is often used in many areas of human activity, where collective action and relationships with partners are implied. Often this popular sports term can be heard both in political discussions and in discussions of the problems of public life.
I especially liked this sporting image in business, where success often depends on the ability to build interaction with partners.