1-1 Sprints (Half Rink)

Drill:
1. On whistle, Defense starts skating backward and Offense carries the puck in the zone
2. Offense tries to beat the D down the wall
3. Defense tries to cut off O and steal the puck

Focus:
1. Defense needs to realize when to make move and push player outside
2. Offense needs to read defense and make play accordingly.
- If D goes toward the wall, cut it inside.
- If D leaves outside open, use speed to get around.

Notes:
This is a good drill to help the Defense better understand when they are going to get beat and transition from backward to forward quickly enough to not allow the player to go around them.

Related Drills:
1 on1 Sprints (Half Rink) 
1 on 1 Half Rink 

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1 on 1 Sprints

Drill:

1. Line up 1 D at the blue line
2. Line up 1 F at the top of the circle
3. On the whistle, D breaks backwards, F skates forward with the puck trying to beat the D

Focus:
1. Forwards concentrate on beating the D
2. Defense works on quick backward starts and then transitioning when the time is right so they don’t get beat

Notes:
Good full length drill to get the kids skating.

Related Drills:
Windmills
Russian Suicides II (The Admiral II)

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2 on 1 - Pass to D (Half rink)

Drill:

1. On the whistle D1 at the Blue line skates backward toward mid rink and looks for a pass from Forward 1
2. Forward 1 skates with a puck above the circle and passes out to D1 and then continues outside the blue line looking for a return pass
3. D2 skates toward the blue line and will transition and play D when F1 gets the return pass
4. F1 gets the puck and tries to beat D2 one on one
5. F1 has the option to drop the pass to D1 (who should be trailing the play)

Focus:
1. Forward should make a good pass to the Defense
2. Defense works to make a good pass to the Forward entering the zone
3. Defense 2 should work on good positioning and pushing the Forward outside and away from the net

Notes:
You could also run this drill from Center but I like the skating and movement of the drill. There will be times when the only option is to move the puck to a D and then re-enter the zone. This will teach them to keep moving and get open for the return pass.

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Pass and Go – 1 on 1 Defense

Drill:

1. Line up 2 players at opposite sides of the blue lines.
2. Player 1 starts skating with a puck and hits Player 2 with a pass who returns it to Player 1
3. Defensive player starts skating up toward middle of rink
4. Player 1 then skates across blue line passing to Player 3 who returns the pass
5. Defense player transitions into backward skating
6. Player 1 and Defense are now in a 1 on 1

Focus:
1. Give and Go passes
2. Defense works on skating and positioning

Drill:
You can adjust to full rink if you have it and run the drill down the wall starting the D at the opposite ends.

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2 on 1 Passing Attack

Drill:

1. Offense 1 and 2 start at mid rink and work on passing the puck back and forth
2. Defense 1 skates up and transitions to backward skating and good positioning
3. Offense works to score
4. Defense works to get puck out of zone

Focus:
1. Solid passing to create space
2. Good positioning to get open once in the Offensive Zone
3. Defense must choose one player to Defend once in the zone

Notes:
Stress how this can/should be used in a game for quick passes to create space and scoring opportunities.

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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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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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Half-rink Back-checking

Drill:

1. Player 1 starts with the puck and skates up around the closest cone
2. Player 2 has to skate around the top cone and chase down the player with the puck

Focus:
1. Player with the puck should focus on speed, stickhandling and protecting the puck
2. Backchecking player should focus on getting their stick under the other players stick or creating a disruption

Notes:
This is a great drill for a competition during practice. Gives the kids something to play for as they don’t want to get chased down.

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3 on 2 Breakout

Drill:

1. Player 1 skates behind the net and picks up a puck
2. Once Player 1 makes a decision of which way to go, player 2 and 3 move into position
3. D1 and 2 will start skating backward once Player 1 picks up the puck
4. O players focus on moving the puck down the rink
5. Play until goal, puck frozen or D clears the puck

Focus:
1. Setting up a play out of their own end
2. Player position – If Player 1 goes to the right, then Player on far boards moves to the middle
3. D should focus on filling their gaps and moving into good D position once puck is moved into zone

Notes:
Whistle play dead at any point you need to make corrections of show correct positions. Tell players to freeze on whistle.

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4 Corners – D vs. O

Drill:

1. Place O in each corner with a puck
2. D starts in front of net and skates toward one of the O
3. When he stops and transitions, the O drives the net and they play 1 on 1 until a score, puck freeze or D clears the puck
4. D then picks another O and repeats until all 4 O have played

Focus:
1. 1 on 1 work both for O and D
2. Backward skating and Defensive play
3. Stickwork and beating D

Notes:
This drill is good Defensive work and will help them develop their backward skating and 1 on 1 play.

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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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1 Timer-Slapshot drill

Drill:

1. Position 2 players at a comfortable distance, each with a pile of pucks
2. Player 1 passes to Player 2 who takes a 1 timer
3. Player 2 now passes to Player 1 who takes a 1 timer
4. This is a fast paced drill. Pass-shoot, pass-shoot, etc.

Focus:
1. Good solid passes to the players shot area
2. Focus by the shooter to take the 1 timer
3. Quick puck movement
4. Goalie movement side to side as this should be a fast paced drill.

Notes:
This drill is great for Defensive players as you are working on another area of the rink with the Offense.
Variation 1: Add in a forward in front of the net for deflections and rebounds.
Variation 2: Make the players  make 3 passes before shooting to encourage puck movement.

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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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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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1 on 1 Offense vs Defense (Half Rink)

Drill:

1. The forwards line up in a corner with the pucks (circles)
2. The Defense line up near the goal (triangles).
3. On the whistle forward #1 skates with the puck to the farthest cone.
4. Defense #1 skates forward to the closest cone, transitions and skates backwards
5. Offense tries to get to the net, Defense tries to stop him
6. Goalies should be moving with the play

Focus:
1. Offense focus on Stickhandling, speed skating and shooting
2. Defense focus on transition to backward skating, speed and pushing player away from net. They should not allow the O to get to the net.
3. Goalie should be working on being in position and moving with the play.

Notes:
This drill can be changed up to be a 2 on 1 or 2 on 2. A lot of variations and the kids love competitive drills like this.
You could also just have the Offense skate up around and work on carrying the puck and making the turn.

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