Hockey

Deke

When facing a defender, a common tool of the puck-handler is the deke—a feigned motion of the body and arms intended to trick the defender into believing the puck-handler will move in a specific direction. If the defender is successfully tricked by the deke, he will commit his own momentum in the direction of the deke, away from the actual intended direction of the skater.

For example, a puck-handler who dekes left (that is, to the defender's right) performs the deke with a combination of body gestures, including turning his legs and skates, dropping one shoulder, and moving the stick and puck leftward. Should the defender believe the deke, he will move toward the puck-carrier's left, opening up space for the puck-carrier to proceed forward on the right.

The puck-handler may also be said to deke a goaltender by feigning a particular type of shot but moving to a different stroke before actually releasing the puck. For example, the puck-carrier may do a forehand-to-backhand deke—act as if he is about to shoot forehand, with his shooting hand (lower on the stick shaft) out to his side and the puck resting on the forward (concave) face of the stick blade. The goaltender may see this and commit himself to position against a forehand shot. The puck-handler can then deke by pulling the puck with his stick across the ice in front of himself to the opposite side of his body. He is now set for a backhand shot, with his shooting hand ahead of his body and the puck resting against the back (convex) face of the stick blade.

There is no analogous term for a feint made by the goaltender, but the goaltender may fake a shooter out in a similar fashion—by exposing one part of the goal, tempting the shooter to aim for that target, and quickly closing off the exposed area as the attacker handler shoots the puck.

The word deke is of Canadian-English origin, used as a noun or a verb, and is short for “decoy.” It is also used in other nations in the context of ice hockey. Its association with a specialized lexical item indicates the extent to which this deceptive move is intrinsic to the skill set of the hockey player. Canadians use the term for similar acts in other sports, such as American or association football; elsewhere, the concept in other sports is expressed in different terms, such as “juke” in basketball or “fake” in American football.

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