backcheck

back +‎ check

backcheck (third-person singular simple present backchecks, present participle backchecking, simple past and past participle backchecked)

1. (transitive, ice hockey) To check (an opposing player) while skating toward or near one's own goal.
   • 1984, Walter Gretzky, Charles Taylor, Jim Taylor, Gretzky : from the Back Yard Rink to the Stanley Cup, page 128:

     Any time you've got a guy who can score 63 goals, let him, and find someone else to backcheck.

2. (intransitive, ice hockey) To engage in checking while skating toward or near one's own goal.
   • 1994, Jack Falla, Hockey: Learn to Play the Modern Way, page 134:

     2004, Bruce Driver, Clare Wharton, The Baffled Parent's Guide to Coaching Youth Hockey, page 81:

     A smart defensive player knows when to backcheck the puck carrier and when to backcheck to cover an open player.

     Hockey has no greater test of your heart and intensity than your willingness to backcheck, particularly at the end of a sustained attack when the other team has suddenly come up with the puck and you are feeling exhausted.

   • 2007 March 26, Lynn Zinser, “Rangers Stay Cool in Another Pressure-Filled Win”, in New York Times‎:

     It’s been a real team effort, a commitment to defense and backchecking by everybody.

backcheck (plural backchecks)

1. the act of backchecking

1. That was a great backcheck, Gordie.

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