Drop and Go

Drill:

1. Players work in groups of 2
2. Player 1 skates down the wall to the goal line and drops the puck to player 2 who is trailing him
3. Player 1 goes to the Net and looks for a pass, deflection or rebound
4. Player 1 then skates up around the opposite circle to the pucks
5. Player 2 now gets to the front of the net looking for a pass, deflection or rebound from Player 1

Focus:
1. Working together as line mates
2. Good passing/shooting
3. Deflections or rebounds in front of the net
4. Getting good position in front of the goalie

Notes:
This helps the players understand positions and working together with their linemates

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Dump and Chase

Drill:
1. Coach stands in front of player with the puck
2. Have 3 lines of Players. 2 O and 1 D
3. Player with puck needs to decide what corner to get the puck to based on where the coach is standing
4. All players must then chase the puck and get into position

Focus:
1. Player with the puck needs to skate with head up and make good decisions as to where to go with the puck
2. Other players must decide to either chase the puck or get into correct position
3. Once the puck is secured, work the puck around into position and take a shot, with guy in front of the net looking for a deflection or rebound

Notes:
Use an additional coach in the D zone so they have to make good decisions where to dump
You can add players in to play defense, but I see the problem with them is they chase the puck and get it out and don’t allow the O to set up the play

Related Drills:
4 on 2 Forecheck
1 on 1 Corner Dump

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Defensive Help

Drill

1. Forward starts at blue line, builds speed, picks up puck at far blue line and carries it into the zone with speed. Can also start at far end if using the whole deck.
2. Defense converge to stop the puck carrier.
3. 1st defender (player closet to puckcarrier) stops the forward (plays the man) and tries to force him into the HELP D while tying him up.
4. 2nd defender (HELP D) prevents F escape and steals the puck.

Keys:
-Forward must enter the Zone with speed.
-D need to focus on slowing down the F.
-D should focus on the F logo, not the stick/puck.
-1st defender job is to slow the man down and force him into HELP D.
-2nd defender cannot let the F escape w/the puck.

Thanks to Nino Febbraro for submitting this drill.

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Defense Reaction

Drill
1. Forward starts at blue line, builds speed, picks up puck at far blue line and carries it into the zone with speed along the wing. Can also start at far end if using the whole deck.
2. Defense read the play to stop the puck carrier.
3. 1st defender (player closest to F) moves out to take on the forward.
4. 2nd defender (Read D) reads the play and reacts to F’s move. If inside, challenge and steal, if outside, move to front of net to support.

Keys:
-Forward must enter the Zone with speed.
-1st defender job is to force F right or left.
-2nd defender needs to read play, if left, challenge to stop, if right, provide support and not allow shot.

Thanks to Nino Febbraro for submitting this drill.

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Pass, Sk8 and Go

Drill:

1. Line 2 players up at the blue line on each dot
2. Player 1 makes a long pass out to the blue line and skates an 8 around the 2 players
3. The 2 players at the blue line each pass back and forth
4. Pass is then made into player 1 breaking down the middle

Focus:
1. Hard Pass out to the point
2. Point players work on moving the puck laterally across the ice (as Defenseman should be able to do)
3. Player 1 then looks for a return pass as they are streaking down the middle

Notes:
The sk8 play on words is because player 1 is essentially skating an 8 around the Point men and I couldn’t come up with a better name.

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Start Stop Races

Drill:

1. Split players into 2 even teams
2. On whistle, first player picks up a puck and skates to first cone.
3. Picks up the puck on the cone and sets the puck they were carrying on the cone
4. This continues thru each cone
5. Next player starts when first player stops at last cone and sets the puck down

Focus:
1. Hard stops
2. Direction change
3. Quick starts

Notes:
My players are over skating plays and I need to teach them to stop quickly and change directions. Because they have to pick up a puck and place the puck on the cone, they can’t loop around . The race will make them go faster.

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Pass and Crash

Drill:
1. Player 1 starts backward skating to blue line with puck
2. Stops at cone and passes to next player in line
3. Player 1 crashes the net looking for a pass from behind the net
4. Player 2 starts their backward skating once they receive the pass

Focus:
1. Skating backward while carrying the puck
2. Good hard passes to the corner
3. Crashing the net looking for a pass, deflection or tip

Notes:
Replace the coach with a player to make the passes from behind the net
Switch to other side to get used to working this from both sides

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Backward to Forward Transitions

Drill:

1. Players start facing the wall and backward skate to the top of circle
2. Transition to forward to the bottom of the circle
3. Repeat at each circle, always facing the same wall
4. Mid circle face other direction and complete circles facing other wall

Focus:
1. Transitioning between forward and backward going both direction
2. Focusing on one wall will make them be able to transition both ways.

Notes:
This can be done half rink with full skating circles

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Skate and Tip

Drill:
1. Players start at blue line and skate toward puck
2. Once they get to the puck and the take a slap slot (SS)
3. Next they skate to the front of the net looking and get position
4. Look for a deflection or rebound of shot from the Coach (C)

Focus:
1. Taking a slap shot while skating up to a puck
2. Getting position and working on deflection and rebounds
3. Goalie works on lateral movement
4. Goalie works on getting clear view of puck from player standing in front

Notes:
Run the drill from one side and then the other so they get used to shooting and moving from both sides.
Also, you have player move out to point and take shot on goal (after they have tried deflection/rebound.)

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Using the Wall

Drill:
1. Player 1 skates toward Defender (Coach (C)) on the blue line
2. Player 2 in the middle skates toward the middle
3. Player 1 passes the puck off the wall and steps around the coach
4. After getting control of the puck, Player 1 looks for Player 2 heading down the middle

Focus:
1. Getting around defenders
2. Using the boards/glass to make a play
3. Getting control of the puck and looking for the player breaking down the middle

Notes:
You could add 2 trailing players. 1st would establish position in front of the net while 2nd would float top of the circles. This would give Player with the puck another option.

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Skate, Pass, Shoot

Drill:
1. Players start at blue line and skate laterally toward the wall
2. Next, they skate down the wall and pick up a puck and skate around the cone
3. Once around the cone, make a pass to the blue line to the Coach (C)

Next variation:
1. After #3, skate around the cone and look for a return pass
2. Shoot on net
3. Replace coach as the passer

Focus:
1. Lateral skating
2. Picking up a loose puck and skating/moving it along
3. Making good clearing passes
4. Shooting on net

Notes:
You can have them carry pucks behind the net and then make passes to the opposite wall. This will make them focus on having their head up as the cross behind the net.

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Slap and Go

Drill:
1. Players start at goal line and skate backward with a puck
2. Once they get to the cone, they make a hard pass to the next player in line
3. Next they skate to the double cones where a puck is waiting for them.
The Coach (C) will place a puck between the cones
4. Players skates up and takes a slap slot (SS)
5. Next they skate to the opposite cone, around and toward the net looking for a pass from the other Coach (C)
6. Player shoots and goes back in line.

Focus:
1. Backward skating while stick handling
2. Making a hard pass
3. Taking a slap shot while skating up to a puck
4. Accepting a pass from another player
5. Goalie works on sliding from side to side and they are taking rapid shots from both sides and multiple players

Notes:
Run the drill from one side and then the other so they get used to shooting and moving from both sides.

Thanks to Jake Bartos for drawing this one up.

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4 on 2 Drill

Drill:
1. X’s are Defense
2. O’s are Offense

Focus:
1. Defense should work on being in position and moving with the puck. 1 player should always be covering the front of the net
2. Offense should work on puck movement and players getting into open space

Notes:
This is a nice drill to focus on player positioning, team work and basic skills (skating, passing and shooting)

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