Behind the Net Breakout

Drill:

1. Players work together as a team to bring the puck out of the zone
2. 1 Defensemen gets the puck behind the net to start the play
3. The other Defenseman has to hold his ground in front of the net
4. The 2 Forward will come down along the boards to the tops of the circles and cut back up.
5. Forward takes pass and they move it out
6. D in front of net joins the rush and the other is the last guy in the zone

Focus:
1. If they have time, the D can stop and set up the play
2. If they don’t they have to skate with the puck and make a good outlet pass
3. Forwards have to focus on where they need to be. If they do not get the pass, they should move toward the middle of the rink to cut the next pass length down

Notes:
This drill really focuses on getting the puck out of their own end. Players learn to make decisions on whether to carry the puck or pass.
Add a coach in as a fore-checker after they get used to it.
You could also start to add your own forwards into the play as well to work on their fore-checking skills.

Related Drills:
3 on 2 breakout
2 on 0 breakout

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2 Man Long Outlet Pass

Drill:

1. On whistle Forward closest to the wall skate out toward the blue line and then across the rink
2. Player with the puck starts skating toward the blue line and looks for the Forward skating along the far blue line and makes pass
3. Player then follows the pass and drives toward the net

Focus:
1. Long outlet passes to the far blue line
2. Lateral movement along the blue line looking for pass
3. Entrance into the zone

Notes:
You can mix this up and add a Defenseman to defend against the long pass

Related Drills:
2 on 1 pass and go 
Shoot and break 

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3-0 Drop and Crash

Drill:

1. Forward 1 carries puck into the zone, Forward 2 drives the net, Defenseman 1 is trailing the play
2. Forward 1 drops the puck to D1 and Forward 1 continues toward the net
3. D1 has 2 options:
    - Shoot on net with a low shot looking for a deflection from Forward 1 or 2
    - Pass to Forward 2 who should be coming in the back side of the goalie
4. Forwards look for rebound or chase loose pucks to the corner

Focus:
1. Get Defense involved
2. Drive the net and look for rebounds/deflections

Notes:
After you have run this several times, introduce 1 or 2 Defense to play against the 3 man team. You can also add a 4th player to the Offensive team.

Related Drills:
2 on 0 give and go
Cross overs enter zone

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2 on 1 Breakout

Drill:

1. On whistle, the Forwards in the each corner skate for the opposite dot, turn and cut back in the middle. Defense starts to skate backward out of the zone.
2. Goalie (or a Coach) looks to make an outlet pass to one of the players after they turn the dot
3. 2 Forwards now work out of the zone and Defense works to control their movement

Focus:
1. Lateral movement by the Forwards to get open
2. Puck movement by the Goalie. Goalie should focus on passes out toward the circles and not in the middle

Notes:
This drill is move for skating and lateral movement and is not recommended as a breakout option. Skating back and forth is wasted movement and moving the puck in front of the net is never a good thing.  What I'm trying to teach them is the side to side movement to get open.  Most young players want to head straight up the rink.

Related Drills:
3 on 2 breakout
Behind net breakout

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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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Skate, Stop and Pass

Drill:

1. Put players in groups of 2 starting at the goal line
2. Player 1 skates 4 strides, stops and looks for a pass from Player 2
3. Player 2 passes back to Player 2, then skates stops and looks for a pass
4. Continue this to the Blue line
5. Repeat all the way back to the goal line
6. Player 1 & 2 Switch positions and repeat drill

Focus:
1. Good quick starts
2. Good Stops and head up looking for a pass
3. Good passes back to their teammate

Notes:
A lot of variations on this drill by changing up the number of strides or placing markers where they need to stop.

Related Drills:
Passing Forward/backward Tandems
Give and Go

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Iron Cross

Drill:

1. Players start at the bottom of the circle and skate to the top
2. Then they skate backward to the side of the circle
3. Next they do side-steps to the other side of the circle
4. Then backwards to the bottom of the other circle
5. Skate to other circle and repeat

Focus:

1. Skating footwork and speed
2. Focuses on movement in all directions which will only help them in their game
   
   

Notes:

This will improve their footwork and speed over time.

If you have the full rink, use all 5 circles.

Related Drills:
Backward to Forward Transitions 
Footwork - Directional skating 

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How to Make a Hockey Equipment Tree

Are you looking for a great way to store your Hockey Gear? Getting it out of the bag alone will help with the smell that we've all come to love/hate, but hanging it up and letting it air out, will really help control the odor and growth of bacteria.

Thanks to Mike over at Hockey University for letting me share this. He has a great article on how to build a Hockey equipment tree. If you are interested in making what you see in the pictures below, read the instructions here.

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