Category: Coaching Tips

Kendall Coyne Schofield, the captain of the USA Women’s National Team, and a Player Development Coach for the Chicago Blackhawks discusses the benefits of a Battle Practice Day. Kendall explains how her teams at Northeastern College, and the USA Women’s National Team utilize...

Let’s be honest, it is ALWAYS more fun to shoot on a goalie. However, it is not always possible to have 2 goalies available every time you step on the ice.  There is something innate in all humans that brings out the competitive spirit when we have a goal or target to aim at. This is no...

This article was written by TJ Manastersky, Assistant Coach at Union College. The first principle of coaching is to help someone get from where they are, to where they want to go and to arrive safely. The word, “coach” comes from the Hungarian word, “kocsi” Kocs is a small Hungarian village...

In the video above, Coach Alyssa Gagliardi discusses the benefits of getting creative and looking at other sports for inspiration. One activity that is beneficial for hockey players is soccer rondos. What is a rondo? Rondos are essentially a game of keep-away or monkey in the middle and...

In the video below, Topher Scott from The Hockey Think Tank dives deep into 8 Important Hockey Habits That Every Player Should Know. Habits are critical when it comes to individual and team development. Coaches at all levels should familiarize their players with these habits and ...

No Goalies? No Problem! We have all been in that situation before… show up to a rink and you find out some bad news… no goalies were able to make it. Instead of just playing “post” or just going through repetitive, boring drills, the team at IHS assembled a list of 10 games to play without...

Attention IHS Coaches! You can now add drill categories and age levels to the drills that you create. This will allow you to easily reference all of the drills you create so you can add them to practice plans, share them with your team, or edit them. Watch the video above to see the categories in...

IHS is proud to announce our new collaboration with Topher Scott & The Hockey Think Tank! The collaboration starts with 10 Culture Corner videos that provide organizations, coaches and players valuable lessons on how to develop and maintain a successful culture on and off the ice. The...

Looking ahead to the 2020 - 2021 youth hockey season there is a good chance that many youth hockey associations will not be playing league games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Chances are each State and Province will handle it a little differently. Associations within each district may even handle...

The world has A LOT of great hockey content. Dozens of websites, hundreds of books, thousands of images, and a daily flood of new content on YouTube, Instagram and other social media channels. Plus, you have your own ideas, saved drills, PDFs and recommendations from your organization. What do...

POP QUIZ: Think about the current state of your team. If you blew the whistle during any game would your players be able to answer these questions: Where is the puck? Where are your teammates? Where is the other team? Where is there open ice? Chances are, the players have limited...

Watch the full story of Kendall Coyne Schofield, an Olympic gold medalist and a role model for the next generation of hockey players in “As Fast as Her,” a Blackhawks Originals feature. Kendall is the current captain of USA Women’s National Team, and a Player Development Coach for the Chicago...

Happy Holidays from the Team at IceHockeySystems.com! As 2019 comes to a close, we wanted to reflect on our most popular pieces of content based on member interaction. In the article below, we will recap our most popular free drills, members-only drills, blog posts, practice plans and social...

The team at IHS is proud to announce the unveiling of the updated IceHockeySystems.com website! If you have any questions or feedback for us, please contact us directly. The goal of the new site is to make it easier for coaches all over the globe to access, organize, create and share hockey...

Not every practice is going to run smoothly and be perfect. But if you aim to make practice the best part of your players week and the best part of your week, great things will unfold throughout the season. Let’s face it, the cost of ice time is extremely expensive and it's on the rise. As a...

A great coach can positively impact a life, forever.  Being a great coach takes a lot of work, preparation, and patience. The Team at Ice Hockey Systems would like to thank all of the coaches out there who work hard to help their players improve on and off of the ice. Coaching...

Coaches, are you using small area games in your practices?  It is no secret that small area games are massively beneficial and coaches all over the globe are implementing them into their practices for a variety of reasons. They can help U8 players learn the game of hockey and...

What would happen if you were given an extra 1 to 5 seconds to make a play every single time you touched the puck? Your game would INSTANTLY transform. You would be able to create more passing and shooting options while giving your teammates extra time to become outlets. Many younger...

Players are always taught to backcheck hard, in fact, more often then not players that don't backcheck hard are quickly escorted to the end of the bench for a while (depending on the coach). Backchecking hard is only half of the equation.  Teaching players to backcheck effectively is just as...

The 1-3-1 power play formation has become the go to power play system for most high level teams.  Almost every NHL team is using the 1-3-1, so there must be a reason. The reason? The 1-3-1 has the ability to spread players out inside the zone, keep a player in front of the net at all...

The availability of free online resources for hockey coaches has become somewhat overwhelming in the past few years.  The amount of knowledge and effort for which anyone can post drill diagrams or publish videos has become so easy that the internet is flooded with more content than any...

Ice Hockey Systems has put together a list of free and paid resources that will help advance hockey coaches, players and directors for the upcoming season. Leverage these resources to improve your coaching, your players will thank you for it. 1. Free Hockey Resources Page This page is the perfect...

It doesn’t get much better than scoring an overtime winner in the Stanley Cup finals.  That’s exactly what Conor Sheary did last night.  The goal was scored off a set face-off play that was executed perfectly.  There are a lot of moving pieces and timing is critical, but below is a...

We had a great time today sitting down with Hall of Famer Denis Savard. In the webinar Denis not only shows off the latest Stanley Cup ring, he also discusses keys to breakouts and power play breakouts.  In addition to discussing the systems he also offers up some great drills to compliment...

With ten active players on the ice, a regulation ice sheet of 200’ x 85’ and with just four or five shifts per period that last less than a minute, where do players find extra time and space when playing? In this blog I will discuss skills and tactics players use to gain strategic advantage by...

“Yup, he’s lost the room! ...they just aren’t listening to him anymore...”. As students of the game we have all heard these phrases describing a situation where a coach and his struggling team are failing to communicate. Often these coaches, who once held their player’s attention and focus with...

Within the coming weeks and months hockey tryouts will be taking place all over the world. It’s an exciting time for any coach and their program, but as I experienced first-hand it can also bring stress, frustration and second guessing. The way you run your tryout can set the tone for the rest of...

The blue line is the most strategic area of the ice.  Gain the blue line with possession and you can generate scoring chances.  If you hold the blue line and force the other team to give up possession you will give up less scoring chances.  Here are a couple of ways to attack the...

The ADM model set forth by USA hockey and their endorsement for small area games has made this term much more popular among youth hockey coaches, especially here in the United States.  There are a wealth of games that are great fun and great for development and I think it is important to...

Planning for a small private session is tough sometimes because there are so many thing to work on and so many good hockey drills available.  An hour never seems like enough time. In these sessions it is helpful to pick out a particular skill and choose only drills that compliment this skill...