Ice Hockey Drills Animations, Diagrams, Downloads, and Community

This drill requires defense to focus on fundamentals of skating, passing, and timing.  It is a drill that simulates a couple of situations that happen numerous times throughout a game and it is designed for more advnaced players..  The first situation is the turnover and counter attack at the blue line, the second is a turnover in the neutral zone followed by a dump in and then a breakout.

This is an ice hockey drill intended to help defense work on their gap control.  The defensive player starts without the puck skating backwards.  They receive a pass from the next defensive player in line and pivot forwards as they go around the cone.  They give the puck back to the player they received the pass from and then get it back one more time before going around the cones again.  This time they skate with the puck towards center ice and give a pass to the forward who is j

This drill is animated and diagramed showing it run from one side, however, to keep the animation and diagram legible it has been shown from just one side.  D1 starts the drill by skating backwards and receiving a pass from F1.  F1 then swings across the ice as though they were filling in the far lane.  D1 practices an escape move, and once they are moving forward with their head up, they make  a pass cross ice to F1.  F1 carries the puck into the zone and takes a long shot.&

This is a warm up drill that helps defense receive and make passes in transition.  Forwards work on opening up and receiving passes from the defense in the neutral zone.  The drill starts when D1 skates up to the red line and transition backwards to receive a pass from D2.  D1 then transitions forward and makes a give and go with F1.  After F1 makes the return pass to D1, F1 swings through the middle and receives a pass from F2.  The same process then repeats from the other s

This is a good 2 on 1 drill for defense.  To set up, place all pucks in the corner with the forwards and get all defense at center ice.  On the whistle, D1 skates hard to the blue line and receives a pass from F1.  D1 walks the puck to the middle and shoots on net.  F1 and F2 then skate around the net and receive a pass form the next forward in line.  F1 and F2 then take on D1 in a 2 on 1 situation.

This drill is actually fairly simple even though the diagram appears quite messy.  All players should be on the bench except for the 4 players involved.  The drill starts with all four players at the red line.  The coach dumps a puck into the zone and the players perform a simple breakout with 1 defensemen.  As they come up  the ice, the coach will blow the whistle shortly after they cross the red line.  When the whistle blows, the player with the puck dumps the puck int

This is the first drill in a series of drills designed to work on creating some offense out of a neutral zone transition. The drill starts with the coach at center ice and two defense several feet off the red line.  On the whistle, the coach plays a puck softly to the blue line along the boards. The defense come up to the red line and pivot backwards.

One of the hard things to explain to youth hockey players is the importance of timing.  In the neutral zone timing is everything but most forwards are in such a rush,they don't give themselves the best opportunity to receive a pass from their own defense.  In this drill, the focus of F1 is to time their break across center ice so that they are in a good position to receive a pass from D1 at full speed.  The drill starts by D1 skating forwards to about 10 feet of the boards and then tur

This is a 2 on 0 drill that focuses on passing,catching the pass in stride, moving your feet, and driving to the net.  In this diagram the Blue players start by making a pass to the Green player directly in front of them.  Both Blue players then swing through the neutral zone just in front of the Green players (moving their feet the whole time).  The Green player who receives the first pass, makes a pass to the other Green player, who then makes a cross ice pass to the Blue player at a

This is a good flow drill that gets players involved with a lot of skating and passing, ending in a 2 on 1 or a 2 on 2 situation.  To set up the drill place all the puck at the blue line as shown.  The drill starts by F1 passing to F2.  F2 makes a pass right back to F1.  F1 and F2 criss-cross as they make these first two passes.  D1 starts the drill at the blue line and skates to center ice on the whistle.  F1 and F2 regroup with D1 and then regroup with each other.&nbsp

Here is another warm up passing drill to add to your drill bank. Set up one line of players on the neutral zone faceoff dot and the other line on the face off dot diagonal from the first line (shown in the diagram). P1 starts by making a pass to P2 and skates around the opposite neutral zone face off dot. Players should pivot around the cone so they are always facing the puck. P1 receives a return pass from P2 around the red line and skates in for a shot on net. After P2 makes the pass to P1, they make a pass to P3 and do the sam thing on the other side. This can also become a 2 on 0.