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Skating Drills

Young Snake Skating Drill
Half Ice Drills, Ice Hockey Drills, Overspeed, Skating Drills

Here is a good hockey skating drill to do in warm up or at the end of practice.  Set up two lines at each blue line along the boards.  Players will go in groups of two for the sake of competing.  The first player tries to not let the second player catch them.  Have the players focus on moving their feet the entire time at an uncomfortable pace.  Once the players get to the end of the other line the next two players from that line can go.

Control Turn Races
Ice Hockey Drills, Skating Drills, Stations

This is a skating hockey drill that is geared for the young kids.  The focus is on control turns and inside edges int he context of a race to add some urgency.  It only uses the neutral zone so if can be useful when designing a practice that uses stations.  The players line up along the boards in two teams.  The first player in each team is just outside the blue line (as shown in the diagram). Four cones are used, each cone is placed in line with the dots half way between the red line and blue line.

Criss Cross Overspeed
Half Ice Drills, Ice Hockey Drills, Overspeed, Skating Drills, Warm Up Drills

This a good hockey drill for warm up or near the end of practice.  Split the players into two lines in each corner.  Place two piles of pucks out near the blue line just inside the dots.  The emphasis of this drill is to have players move their feet as fast as possible for the entire drill. The players will start in the corner and sprint up the boards and around the top of the face off circle, around the bottom of the other face off circle, up the boards and around the neutral zone face off dot, then pick up a puck near the blue line, then skate in for a shot on net.

Turns and Stops Station
Half Ice Drills, Ice Hockey Drills, Skating Drills, Stations

This hockey drill is meant as a station in a shared ice situation.  It offers two similar drills on each side of the ice, one that works on power turns, the other works on stops and starts.  Set up the coach in the high slot in the middle of the ice with the pucks.  Four cones, tires, or discs need to be set up as shown.  On one side the players make turns around the cones and on the other side the players stop at each cone.  After the player navigates the fourth cone they skate into the center of the ice and receive a pass from the coach for a shot on net.

Red River Skating and Passing Drill
Half Ice Drills, Ice Hockey Drills, Passing Drills, Skating Drills

This is a half ice hockey drill that incorporates a lot of footwork while constantly moving the puck.  To set up the drill place one line of players in the corner with the pucks and designate 3 passers.  The first player in line skates up the boards with a puck to the top of the circles,  curls back towards the net and gives a pass to P1.  After the pass F1 transitions back towards the boards so they are always facing P1 and calls to the pass.  When they receive the pass back from P1 they skate up the boards and give a pass to P2.

Golden Cross
Conditioning Drills, Half Ice Drills, Ice Hockey Drills, Skating Drills

This is a half ice hockey drill that works the players hard, involves lots of footwork, incorporates puck touches, and finishes with a give & go for a shot.  Have the players line up starting at the bottom of one of the face off circles.  Make sure the line curls away from the net so no one is hit with a shot.   One player needs to stand near the top of the circle as shown in the diagram.  The first player starts by doing an Iron Cross.  They finish the Iron Cross by stopping at the hash marks along the boards.

Sweet Heart Relay Scoring Race
Games, Ice Hockey Drills, Shooting Drills, Skating Drills

Here is a hockey drill the young ones will LOVE!  It works for half ice as long as you have two nets.  Split the players into two teamsand hav them line up along the blue line so the first player is even with the face off dots.  The objective is to be the first team stopped along the blue line and in good hockey position. On the whistle the first player from each line takes a puck and crosses over behind their own net and then goes down on the other goalie in a 1 on 0.  Players need to keep thier head up because their is another player coming the other way.

Finland Skating Competition
Conditioning Drills, Ice Hockey Drills, Overspeed, Skating Drills

This hockey drill incorporates the same footwork as the previous two Finland Skating drills but now the focus is on foot speed.  I think this is a good drill near the end of practice because it is tiring and the moment you introduce a little competition the intensity seems to increase.  It may be a good idea to place some cones or tires on the top and bottom of the circle because players will tend to cheat otherwise. On the whistle the players side step from the gola post to the boards (they have to hit their stick on the boards).

Finland Warm Up Skate 2 on 0
2 on 0, Ice Hockey Drills, Passing Drills, Skating Drills, Warm Up Drills

This hockey drill  is a variation to the previous drill, Findland Warm Up 1 on 0.  This time both players start at the same time side stepping along the goal line until they get to the boards.  At the boards the players skate forwards out to the top of the circles and transition backwards around the bottom of the circle.  One of the players will receive a pass from the coach and then both players continue down the ice 2 on 0.

Finland Warm Up Skate 1 on 1
Ice Hockey Drills, Passing Drills, Skating Drills, Warm Up Drills

This is a great warm up that incorporates lots of footwork and puck touches. Line up all the players in two lines at one end, each line lines up at the goal post as shown in the diagram. In this drill the players are facing up ice for the whole drill. To start, players side-step along the goal line to the boards. When they reach the boards they skate forwards up around the top of the cirlce and transition to backwards as they go around the circle.

Panther Warm Up Skate
Ice Hockey Drills, Skating Drills, Warm Up Drills

This skating drill is a good way to start of practice with some skating fundamentals specific to forwards and defense.  Two coaches or extra players are required for passers.  Set up the forwards and defense on one end of the ice, each forming a line on their own side of the ice as shown in the diagram. The forwards will start with a pass to the first passer and skate forwards out around the top of the circle.  As they circle the bottom of the circle they transition backwards so they are always facing the puck.

Russian Circles
Conditioning Drills, Ice Hockey Drills, Overspeed, Skating Drills

The focus of this drill is SPEED! This drill allows players to move their feet much faster than going all the way around the circle. It is a good drill for Warm-Ups, Skating Drills, or Conditioning Drills. If players are advanced enough, you can try incorporating pucks and going backwards.

Up-Back Give & Gos
Defense Drills, Ice Hockey Drills, Passing Drills, Skating Drills

This drill focuses on footwork, puck control, and passing.  D1 starts the drill by passing to D2 and skating through the cones.  As D1 skates through the cones they have to always face D2.  D2 side steps their way down the blue line and performs as many give and go passes with D1 as possible.  After the last cone, D1 passes to D2, gets the puck back and goes in for a shot on net.  the two players then go to the opposite lines.

Transition Pivot Races
Defense Drills, Ice Hockey Drills, Skating Drills

This drill focuses on footwork for defense.  By incorporating a "race" into the drill it forces players to move their feet faster than they would normally.  It is just something about a little competition that increases the urgency.  To set up the drill place a couple of cones as shown in the diagram and have the coach at center ice with all the pucks.  Split the players into two teams and have each team form a line on each side of the center ice circle.

Yo Yo Transition Skating
Conditioning Drills, Defense Drills, Ice Hockey Drills, Skating Drills

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