In the modern game, forwards are being asked to know how to play every position. We are moving further away from corridor hockey, where the centre stays in the middle of the ice and the wingers on the boards, which is something that was taught to very young hockey players.
While we are still far from the five completely interchangeable players that make for the Total Hockey style, now teams tend to use “F1,” “F2,” and “F3” to designate defensive duties, rather than assigning players tasks by their more familiar positions.
F1, F2, and F3 do not designate specific players.