Skate 8 and Deflect

Drill:

1. Line 3 Defenseman up at the points (D location is based on skill level of players and how far they can shoot.
2. Forward passes puck to point man and skates around first circle and then stops in front of net looking for a deflection from the D shooting from the top of the circle he just skated around.
3. Forward now skates toward the corner, picks up a puck and passes it to the point man. He continues around the circle to the front of the net again looking for a deflection
4. Last he moves toward the middle of the net looking for a deflection from the last Defenseman.

Focus:
1. Puck movement to the Point man.
2. Getting to the front of the net and looking for deflections/rebounds.

Notes:
I found a variation of this drill on another site and will give credit if I can locate it again.

Related Drills:
Drop and go
Skate and tip

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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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Wing Pass 2-0

Drill:

1. Player 1 starts skating and breaks up rink
2. Player 2 skates and then makes the long across rink pass to open things up
3. Player 1 carries the puck in toward the net while Player 2 goes for the net looking for pass/rebound

Focus:
1. Passing is key here to open up the rink
2. Player 1 should focus on the shot or looking to get the pass back to Player 2

Notes:
Add a coach or Defensive player in here after a few rounds to make them work against a player.

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Pointman Movement

Drill:

1. Have Defensemen line up at the Blueline. Offensemen line up in corner with Pucks
2. OFF passes to DEF
3. DEF passes back to OFF
4. OFF carries puck behind the net. DEF shifts to the high middle slot
5. OFF passes to DEF and gets in front of net
6. DEF takes shot from high slot
7. OFF looks for tip-in/rebound

Focus:
1. Active passing with DEF in the high zone
2. Puck movement
3. Hard, outside shots
4. Presence in front of the net
5. Tip-ins/rebound reaction

Notes:
Drill should be run quickly - Game Speed
Shots should be SlapShots and kept low for tips.

As a variation, add a second line in the corner to play a Defensive role. This role should focus on watching the player in front of the net.

Special thanks to Ducky Restauri for submitting this drill.

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Breakaway to 2-1 Drill

Drill:

1. Start off as a simple breakaway drill with one Offensive player
2. Next, add a Defensive player about 4-5 steps behind the shooter
3. Last, add in a trailing Offensive player crashing the net looking for rebounds
4. If no goal scored or save made, play 2-1 until a goal, puck is frozen or cleared by D

Focus:
1. Player with the puck should focus on good stick work to beat the goalie and protect the puck from the D
2. Adding the D will focus on their backchecking skills
3. The D will also force the O to skate faster
4. Adding the trailing O player will force the D to clear the puck if there is a rebound. Trailing O should look for rebounds

Notes:
Good for focusing on Fast play on breakaways and good backchecking

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Pass it low and go

Drill:

1. Player 1 starts backward skating to blue line with puck
2. Stops at cone and passes to Player 2 in line
3. Player 1 crashes the net looking for a return pass from Player 2
4. Player 2 starts their backward skating after they make 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:
Run from each side to keep the drill going quicker

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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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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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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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