Deke (ice hockey)
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A deke, sometimes known as a dangle, is an ice hockey technique which a player uses to get past an opponent or "fake out" a goalie. The term is a Canadianism formed by abbreviating decoy.
The basic deke is performed by pushing the puck forward or laterally with the forehand and catching it on the backhand. The position of the player performing the deke and the opponent determines where the puck will be moved and the speed. This basic deke can be used to move the puck out of reach of an opposing player, move the puck past the opposing player, or quickly change direction of the puck so the opposing player is caught out of position. Dekes are always used in combination with either a change of direction or speed, or both. Often a change in direction or a change in speed is enough to get past an opposing player, but dekes are in combination with these to better protect the puck and get by a defender.
There are many advanced dekes that players use, and all are customized by the player to suit the situation and his playing style. One such deke is the toe drag, performed by pushing the puck forward with the forehand before quickly pulling it back with the toe of the blade. Dany Heatley toe-dragged past Rob Blake in the first period of the 2003 NHL All-Star Game and once the puck was back on his blade he quickly shot, putting the puck past Patrick Roy. Heatley played for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where the triple deke is practiced often.
In Disney's Mighty Ducks movies, the triple deke was often used as a last resort to score the winning goal. The triple deke has been used in all three movies as the winning shot except for D3: The Mighty Ducks, where the Ducks' former goalie Goldberg scored the winning shot when the puck was passed to him.
In Canada, the term deke has come to broadly mean deceiving someone.
Russian Pavel Bure may be considered one of the premiere dekers in the history of hockey, sometimes moving the puck between his skates and stick to confuse hapless goalies.
