Hockey Weekend Across America

I've been picking this up around all my various web feeds and just wanted to post it here as well.

Fourth Annual Hockey Weekend Across America One Month Away

The fourth annual Hockey Weekend Across America, presented by Reebok, is just one month away. The three-day celebration of the sport of hockey will take place Feb. 18-20 nationwide.

Friday, Feb. 18 “Wear Your Favorite Hockey Jersey” presented by ShopUSAHockey.com

Saturday, Feb. 19 “Bring a Friend to the Rink” presented by the NHL

Sunday, Feb. 20 “Celebrate Local Hockey Heroes” presented by Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports

For more details, go here.

So is anyone doing anything within their organization for this special weekend??

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2 on 1 - Defensive Gap Control

Drill:

1. Offense 1 skates around a cone at center rink and picks up a puck
2. Offense 2 will skate across and into the zone
3. Defense 1 also leaves at same time and skates around cone and gets into backward skating position
4. The 2 Offensive players work together on a 2 on 1.

Focus:
1. Working together to get into the zone and get a shot on net
2. Defense should work on controlling the play and getting good position to block the shot/pass
3. Offense should also work on good positioning for getting a pass or looking for a rebound

Notes:
As with any drill remind the players how this applies in a game situation

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3 Pass 1 on 1

Drill:

1. D passes to O and starts to skate backwards
2. O starts skating forward and passes back to D
3. D passes back to O and it starts a 1 on 1 drill

Focus:
1. Passing back and forth as players are moving forward/backward
2. Good passes
3. Good skating
4. Defensive position
5. Offensive puck movement

Notes:
This is a good drill for 1 on 1 work.

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2-0 Give and Go

Drill:

1. Player 1 starts at the boards
2. Player 2 starts with a puck at center ice and passes to Player 1
3. Player 1 skates into the zone and drops a pass along the boards
4. Player 2 skates to the space Player 1 just left and picks up the puck
5. Player 1 crashes net looking for a pass, Player 2 carries the puck and makes a pass to the middle

Focus:
1. Good pass to start the play
2. Good drop pass to the player following up
3. Good pass to the middle

Notes:
Place a stick or some other obstacle for the player to have to pass over.

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4 on 2 – Puck Movement

Drill:

1. Run this drill as a 4 on 2
2. Puck carrier should look to get the puck into the zone and find an open man
3. Off wing should get good position in front of the net
4. Defense should fall into their position
5. All 4 players should move to correct positions as the puck moves around

Focus:
1. Let your defense focus on good positioning and staying low in the zone
2. Offense should focus on puck movement and finding the open player
3. Both should focus on holding their position and moving to the correct one as the puck move

Notes:
As a variation, require XX number of passes before a shot can be taken or make sure every player touches the puck before they can shoot.

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What's a Drill vs. a Skill

I've decided to re-Tag some of the posts here to make it easier to understand what they are for.  Several of my posts are now Tagged as a "Skill" and no longer a "Drill".  So what's the difference you ask?

Skills - These are items to use to build up your proficiency in a particular area, such as Skating, Passing, etc.  They are repetitive motions that are designed to help you become better at something.

Drills - In my mind, these are workouts that focus more on game type scenarios and help you think through the playing of the game.  While it may be a small part of what actually happens during a particular play, the "Drills" should be easily translated into a game situation.  Drills will still reinforce the 'Skills' but they don't seem so repetitive and boring to the player.

I'm hoping this separation makes it easier for coaches to build up skills for a particular player or teach game type situations.

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Entering the zone - Crossing the Middle

Drill:

1. Player 1 carries the puck through the neutral zone
2. Player 2 enters the zone and crosses the middle looking for a pass
3. After making the pass, Player 1 drives the middle looking for a return pass or a rebound
4. Player 2 carries the puck to the net and shoots or passes back to the middle

Focus:
1. Finding open space as you enter the zone
2. Being aware of your place on the rink
3. Looking up as you are carrying the puck

Notes:
Work from both sides of rink as well as the middle.

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Test a jump break

I wanted to see what this would do...

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Pass to Defense 1 on 1 Play

Drill:

1. Start an Offense at the Goal line and a Defense at the Blue line
2. Forward makes a hard pass to the Defense and then goes to the front of the net and gets in position for a deflection/rebound
3. Defense accepts the pass and slides to open space and then takes a shot
4. After the shot/deflection/rebound, the Offense skates to the opposite corner and picks up a puck and skates up the boards
5. The Defense should slide to the fall wall and then transition into backward skating and get into position
6. Players play out the drill as a 1 on 1

Focus:
1. Players need to focus on a good pass to start the play
2. Offense should work on good positioning in front of the net
3. Defense should work on getting off a good solid shot
4. In the second part of the drill, Offense focuses on puck movement, beating the Defense and getting a good scoring chance
5. Defense should focus on good positioning as well as forcing the player outside
6. Defense should also focus on getting a stick on stick or body on body to take away the play

Notes:
If you only have half a rink, send the Defense closer to the corner and work the 1 on 1 out of the zone.

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