Defence (
defense in the USA) in
ice hockey is a player position whose primary responsibility is to prevent the opposing team from
scoring. They are often referred to as
defencemen,
D,
D-men or
blueliners (the latter a reference to the blue line in ice hockey which represents the boundary of the offensive zone; defencemen generally position themselves along the line to keep the puck in the zone). They were once called cover-point. A good defenceman is both strong in defensive and offensive play and for defenceman paring also need to be good at defending and attacking
