Playing Multiple Positions

[hockeydad321]

Had a situation with forward refusing to play defense when we needed him. Were down to 2 d because of sickness, injury to goalie (back-up goalie is emergency d) and 8 minute misconduct to another d in a 4-3 game with 9 minutes left. Kid flat out said no! Only had 8 players left on bench. 2 other forwards volunteered. Player that refused is not in my top 6 and we needed to score down 4-3. He committed 3 costly turnovers that led to 3 goals, then scored a cheap cherry picking goal with 28 seconds left and acted like he just won the Stanley Cup. Dad went crazy congratulating after the game. What should I do with this player rest of season? I am wrong to shorten his ice time? He was not there for team when needed.

[Guest]

What level and age of play is this? 

[Guest]

Benched for at least 1 full period. Hockey is a team sport and selfish play and players need to learn it's not about them. It's your team, run like it is or the players and parents will own you.

[Guest]

I think you have an off ice sit down with the player to go over why it's important to play for the team first. Emphasize how he was asked to contribute and decided not to be a team player.

[Guest]

What level and age of play is this? 

Curious about this as well. Had the kid ever played D before? I know my son hated getting put into this situation. He was always a top 6 forward on his teams, but never played D outside of a handful times at squirts. I think this  was either Bantam AA or 16AA, but they ran into a similar scenario with needing someone to move back.  I was running the clock so I saw it happen. Coach ask him, he said he really didn't really feel comfortable, but eventually said yes. I think it was either tied or they were up 1. Either way, the other team scored twice and they lost and both were because of mistakes he made. I think one was in their offensive zone where he didn't anticipate the change of possession quick enough and the other team got a breakaway and scored. The other was just being out of position in the defensive zone. I guess some might say he isn't a smart player(which he's not), but when you have only ever played wing for like 6-7 years at that point, its an adjustment.
I only remember this because he was really upset by it for a few weeks. He felt like he let the team down, but he was also upset with the coach because there were probably 2 other players who would have done a better job. And granted there was still like a month left in the season, but it was a game they should have won and they ended up missing 1st place by 1 point.
 

[Guest]

at AA a good player should be a 2 way player or not in AA. Heck we have had players playing in all different spots due to injury or suspension at A level and they filled in fine, no attitude just did what the coach asked. All our players practice at forward and defense in case the need occurs.

[Guest]

There is a difference between playing multiple positions and playing them correctly. I could argue that it makes less of a difference at lower levels due to generally slower speed and skill level. While I think the kid should have played, the coach should have been able to identify the potential situation in order to manage the kid's expectations. The coach would have then had a contingency plan in place instead of asking for volunteers in the middle of a game.