The Wagon Wheel from Wes Wolfe has an emphasis on timing, communication, passing, and getting pace going.
Setup
- Players and pucks in all four corners.
- On the whistle, opposite corners start at same time.
- The players leave and go around the close neutral zone face-off dot and head back towards the corners they came from. They exchange one touch passes with the next player in line, and continue across the slot area to exchange one touch passes with the first player in line.
- After the one touch exchange from the player in the corner, the player in the corner takes the puck out from the corner, gets middle ice and passes to the player along the boards.
- The player along the boards takes the puck down the ice and fires a puck on net while the player that made the pass continues around the neutral zone face-dot to continue the drill
Coaching Points
- Timing, communication, and quality passing is important in this drill.
- Timing - players leaving the opposite corners need to keep their head up and make eye contact to ensure they are rounding the neutral zone face-off dots around the same time. If they are not, it will throw off the whole drill. Players should make in drill speed adjustments to make sure they are rounding at the same time.
- Communication - players should communicate verbally when they are ready for a pass, and non-verbally by keeping their stick on the ice for a target when passing.
- Passing - players should focus on hard crisp passing during this drill.
Variations
- Coaches can have players work on various shooting techniques or zone entry concepts when entering the zone before they shoot.
