Editing Defenceman (section)

===Offensive zone play===
In the [[Hockey rink#Zones|offensive zone]], the defence skaters usually "play the blue line". It is their duty to keep the puck in the offensive zone by stopping it from crossing the blue line that demarcates where the offensive zone begins. Should the puck cross this line, the offence cannot touch the puck in their opponent's zone without stopping play (see [[offside (hockey)|offside]]). Defencemen must be quick to pass the puck around, helping their forwards to open up shooting lanes, or taking open shots themselves when they become available. The defence must also be able to skate quickly to cut off any breakaways, moving themselves back into the defensive zone ahead of the onrushing opponent.

Essentially in all three zones of the rink, the defence is the backstop for the puck. It should never go behind the defence, unless the player intentionally lets it for strategic reasons. The defence keeps the momentum of play squarely directed towards the opposing goal, or at least away from his own.

Because defencemen are often expected to shoot on the opposing net from long range, these players often develop the hardest and most accurate [[slapshot]]s. This is because taking a more stationary position on the blue line rewards pure accuracy and patience, rather than the adept hand–eye coordination attributed to forwards. [[Al MacInnis]], who was seven times decorated with "Hardest Shot" in NHL skills competitions, was able to score frequently from the blue line because his slapshot was simply too fast to block effectively.

When a team is on a [[power play (sport)|power play]], a defence player can set up plays in the offensive zone, and distribute the puck to the teammate that he or she feels is in the best position to score, similar to a [[point guard]] in [[basketball]], a [[playmaker]] in [[association football|soccer]], and a [[quarterback]] in [[American football]] and [[Canadian football]]. For this reason, a defenceman will often be described as the power play "quarterback", in particular if an umbrella power play formation is used (where a single defenceman is occupying the point, in the middle of the ice). This is also referred to as "playing [[The point (ice hockey)|the point]]" (this term derives not from the basketball position, but from an older name for the defence position in hockey itself).