Half Ice Puck Skills & Activities #1

This is a half ice skill development setup where you can run as many skill variations as you want depending on the skill level of your players. This setup allows you to use the half ice in a way that allows players to get a lot of repetitions. The animation shows an example of the following four skills:

1. Mohawk Pivots - open hips towards the tire, heels together.
2. Backwards Underhandling - cradle the puck smoothly as you skate backwards around the tires, the less stickhandling the better.
3. Escapes - approach the tire forwards, use a 360 degree turn away from the tire, close the blade of the stick to control puck.
4. Long Reaches - skate in a straight line between tires and use long reach to move puck outside each tire.

This drill allows players to work on a coupl eof key fundamentals. First, in order to do this drill properly the players must do this with their head up and an awareness of their surroundings. Second, they have to work on backward skating and agility.

Mark off the boundaries using cones or borders. In most cases this activity works best in either the offense/defensive zone (from the blue line to the end boards). Have your players split up into pairs with one puck for each pair. One player in each pair will start with the puck facing their partner who is also facing them about 3 stick lengths away. On the whistle the player without the puck will skate backwards anywhere they want to go in the zone. The player with the puck will skate forward and try to stay in front of them while maintaining control of the puck. Both players will have to pay attention to their surroundings because everyone is doing this at the same time. The players going backwards are trying to lose the player with the puck by changing directions and speeds.

Allow players to go for 45 seconds to 1 minute then blow the whistle. The players can then switch roles, take a 15 second break, and then start a new round.

This activity works on puck control while skating forwards and backwards, awareness, agility, and creativity. There are 4 progressions and each progression is slightly more difficult. The fourth progression should be reserved for advanced players.

Setup

This is a great station activity for 1/3 stations, 1/4 ice stations, and 1/6 ice stations. Depending on how difficult you wish to make it you can place objects like borders, cones, and tires scattered throughout the station. Pair up the players with partners of similar ability.

How to Play

In each round one player is designated as the "Rabbit" and is chased / followed by their partner. Each round should last 30 - 45 seconds followed by a short rest. The next round players will swap positions.

Variation #1 - The "rabbit" has the puck and tries to stay away from the chaser with deceptive moves, quick stop and starts, changes of directions, tight control turns, and any other creative moves they can execute. The chaser does not try to steal the puck, just maintain a close distance.

Variation #2 - Both players will have a puck. The same rules apply. The player chasing the rabbit tries to maintain a close distance and execute all of the moves made by the "Rabbit".

Variation #3 - The "Rabbit" skates backwards without a puck. The chaser has a puck and tries to maintain a close distance to the "Rabbit" while they skate backwards.

Variation #4 - Both the "Rabbit" and the chaser skate backwards with pucks. Requires both players to have awareness while maintaining puck control going backwards.

This game is guaranteed to be loved by your players. It may involve some participation of your coaches but players can also be used as the "taggers". The game forces players to maintain puck control while having to be aware of what is going on around them.

Set Up

The game is best set up in a zone or station. Each player will start with a puck. Designate 2 or 3 players or coaches to be the "taggers". On the whistle players will skate around the zone while maintaining control of their puck and trying to not get touched by a "tagger". If a player gets tagged they must hold their stick in their top hand with the puck touching the blade of their stick and the bottom hand high up in the air and their feet spread to shoulder width apart. They cannot join the game again until another player attacks thir triangle by stickhandling through their legs or under their stick (triangle created by stickblade and feet). The goal for the "taggers" is to try and get all the players "frozen" at the same time.

This is a fun drill to start or end practice with that is great for the U6 age levels all the way to the NHL. Players love this drill! It is also known as Knockout or King / Queen of the Ring if you only use circles. If you have more than 6 players you can start by increasing the boundaries to include the entire neutral zone. Once there are 6 players remaining then you can narrow the boundaries down to the circle.

Setup

Every player will have a puck to start and on the whistle players will skate around controlling the puck. The object of the game is to maintain control of your puck and be the last player to have control of your puck. As players skate around they will also try to knock other players pucks away. If you get your puck knocked away then you have to leave the playing area. The last player with control of their puck WINS!

Watch the Colorado Avalanche perform this fun exercise below:

If you need further proof that this drill is great for all levels then watch this video of the Pittsburgh Penguins playing King of the Hill with the whole team in the neutral zone. This was during the Stanley Cup Playoffs when they won in 2017!

This drill has players working on puck protection and awareness. This is a good activity to use after working on puck skills and fundamentals so players can work on these skills in a competitive environment.

Depending on the size of your team you can use the neutral zone of one end from the blue line to the end boards. You will need half as many pucks as you have players. For example if we have 12 players then we will use 6 pucks. On the whistle the coach will shoot the pucks into the zone. The objective for the players is to find a puck and maintain puck possession. The coach will allow the players to go for 45 seconds to 1 minute. On the whistle the players must stop where they are. The coach can decide a consequense for the players that do not have a puck such as push-ups or skating.

Players that have the most success will be playing with their head up and protecting the puck towards open ice. They will also use awareness to look for opporunities to steal pucks from other players.

This drill is great for working on awaness and puck support. It is a variation of the original "Finders Keepers" drill but now players are divided up into two teams. Players will need to communicate, protect the puck, support the puck, and pass in order to be successful.

Set Up

To set up the drill divide the players into 2 teams and use an odd number of pucks and less than half as many players. For example, if you have two teams of 7 players then use 7 pucks. If you have two teams of 6 players then use 5 pucks. You can play in one end from the blue line down, half-ice, or even full ice depending on the amount of players.

How to Play

Each team will start on the wall or on the end line. The coach will blow the whistle and shoot the pucks into play. The players will work in their teams to possess as many pucks as possible. The coach will decide on a length of time to play and then blow the whistle. On the whistle all the players must stop. The team that is in posession of the most pucks wins that round.

Players need to communicate and have good awareness. When they have the puck they need to be looking to make a pass to a teammate that will not have pressure when they recieve it. When they do not have the puck they can work with teammates to surround the puck or force passes into crowded areas.