Ice Hockey Drills Now over 280 animated hockey drills!

This ice hockey drill focuses on angling and checking.  It is a good drill for both forwards and defense and players should take turns on offense and defense.  One line of players lines up against the boards without pucks near center ice (as shown).  The defensive players line up just below the hash marks with pucks (as shown).  Place either a net or a set of cones near center ice for the offensive players to go around.  The objective is for the offensive player to carry the puck around the net and get a scoring chance on the other net.

Defending from an attack behind the net can be a tough play for defensive players.  This hockey drill is set up for defense to work on these situations.  Forwards form a line below the goal line about even with the dots and facing the net.  The defense should line up in front of the net a couple of feet in front of the crease with their heels pointed to the net.  The forwards start the drill by carrying the puck behind the net.  Once they reach the far post their goal is to try and get to the front of the net for a scoring chance.

This hockey drill is for working on the reverse.  It is a continuous so the players get lots of reps and touches and helps the players become more comfortable with this type of play.  The drill needs a minimum of three players, one coach or passer, and one puck.  To start the drill the first defense starts behind the goal line and makes a pass to the coach along the boards.  The defense should try to stay in line with the dots as they transition back towards the goal line and receive the puck back from the passer.

This is a tough hockey drill for defense and more often than not they will get beat. The emphasis of this drill is to work on recovering and still being able to fend off the forward by pivoting and sprinting to the near post.  A lot of young players, when they get beat to the outside,  will try and pressure the forward on the outside rather than try and regain position by pivoting and skating towards the post.  The forwards will start with the puck at, or just inside the red line.

This is a hockey drill that can be classified as conditioning drill but also works on some habits useful for the defensive zone.  Players need to pair up, idealy with their defensive partner.  Place three pucks around the perimeter deep the zone as shown in the diagram.  Both players need to start facing away from their own net.

 This ice hockey drill is challenging especially for defense, but it allows players to work on a couple of important skills.  It is important to view the animation to understand the entire flow of the drill.  One skill is the ability for the wingers to get the puck to the center as it is rung around the boards in the defensive zone.  Defense will be challenged as they will skating fowards towards the center and then transitioning backwards in order to play a 1 on 1.  The goal for the defense is to hold the blue line.

This drill replicates a situtation in the neutral zone where the defense goes back to retrieve a loose puck.  The forwards come back to provide support by moving inside out while facing the puck.  F2 times their break to provide support to F1 through the neutral zone. F1 makes a pass to F2 and then F2 goes in for a shot. F1, after making the pass skates along the blue line to receive a pass from F2's line. F1 then attacks D1 back towards the other net.

We have numerous overpeed races geared towards forwards so here is one that focuses on footwork for defense.  Similar to the previous drill, the coach will have the pucks at center ice just outside the blue line.  Set up cones or discs as shown in the diagram.  Two lines of players are required, each along the boards at the bliue lines.  On the whistle the players skate forward and transition towards the middle of the ice around the cone on the goal line. They skate backwards as fast as they can to the cone at the top of the circle.

Here is a hockey drill that focuses on defensive coverage.  It is geared towards defensive players but you could also use any player that is supposed to be down low in your own zone.  The offensive players will also have fun with this drill.  Three offensive players, two defensive players, one goalie, and one puck are required.  Set up the players as shown in the diagram, two offensive players below the goal line just inside or lined up with the face off dots.

This drill is specifically for defense. The focus is on footwork and quick puck movement.  Have the defense split up into pairs. Set up as shown in the diagram.  On the whistle, D2 takes 1 or 2 strides towards D1 and then transitions backwards.  D1 dumps a puck lightly off to one side of D2.  D2 needs to open up and transition forwards to go receive the puck.  They should recieve the puck and turn up ice as quick as possible to  give a pass back to D. D2 then skates up to D1 and transitions backwards to repeat the same thing.

This drill is very similar to the 2 on 1 Backchecker Drill. The difference is that the defense start about 5 feet inside the blue line going backwards.  For the defense it simulates a situation where they get beat in the neutral zone and they have to transition forwards and sprint to the near post to break up the play. Try to get them to tranistion by opening up their hips right into a forward stride instead of crossing over.

This drill is just like the Forwards overspeed drill but geared towards the footwork of the defense.  The players are split into two teams and the start of each line is placed on the off sides face off dots.  The coach has the pucks in the middle of the ice just outside the blue line.  Players have to start facing the coach.  On the whistle the players go into the their backwards crossovers to get speed offf the line.  They continue backwards around the circle.