Playing With Pace

A warm-up drill that can be performed in any zone with the entire team. Coaches can customize this warm-up activity with different skills based on the age and ability level of the team.

Setup

• Each player has a puck. 
• Whistle # 1 - players skate at 50% speed and their feet do not leave the ice.
  • Skates are in the ice at all times and players move by driving their weight off of their inside edges. Players stickhandle the puck side to side with wide lateral movements as they shift their weight looking for open ice.
• Whistle # 2 - players skate at 75% speed and their feet can leave the ice.
  • Be creative! Players can pick their feet up from the ice and they are moving at about 75% while being creative with tight control turns, sharp lateral movements, and still looking for open ice.
• Whistle # 3 - players skate at 100% speed.
  • Be explosive and move their feet outside of your comfort zone. Jump to open areas of ice. Goalies skate backwards.

Coaching Points

• Players must keep head up and look for open ice during all 3 speeds.

The 2 V 0 Continuous Backcheck drill from TJ Manastersky, the Head Coach of Brock University, practices quick attack rushes that are under pressure from backcheckers.

Setup

• The whistle starts the drill with a 2 v 0.
• The players catch a pass from coach and attack 2 v 0. Players stop at net.
• Whistle starts next 2 v 0 and coach pass to next group.
• The first 2 v 0 now backchecks the next group that is going down 2 v 0.
• The drill is continuous.

Coaching Points

• Offense: attack quickly & stop at net
• Backcheckers: relentless recovery with stick on ice

Description

This quick paced small area game from Kendall Coyne Schofield gets a lot of players moving and is great to work on goal scoring when there is back pressure. 

Set Up

• Set up 2 nets on the half wall in one of the zones
• A goalie is defending each net
• Team "X" and Team "O" should be lined up on the blue line on one side
• Make sure there is at least a 10 ft space between the teams on the blue line
• There should be pucks lined up for each team near the center of the blue line

Game

Play up to a certain amount of goals, team "X" vs team "O"

• On the whistle, player 1 from team O skates in on a mini breakaway 
• Player 1 from team X leaves on the same whistle to apply back pressure on the player from team O
• On the second whistle player 2 from team X skates in on a mini breakaway while player 2 from team O applies the back pressure
• On that same second whistle, player 1 from both team X and team O join the rush to make it a 2 v 2
• On the third whistle player 3 from team O skates in on a mini breakaway while player 3 from team X applies the back pressure
• On that same third whistle, players 1 and 2 from both teams join the rush to make it a 3 v 3
• Coach can blow the whistle whenever they see fit
• Make sure the team who starts with the puck switches after every rep to keep it fair
• Keep score!

Coaching Points

1. Scoring Under Pressure - players need to control the puck and get to the net and shoot quickly
2. Escaping Pressure - when your teammates join the rush you can make the decision to escape pressure and find the players joining the rush
3. Applying Pressure - working hard to apply pressure to your opponents trying to score

The Jets 2 V 2 Drill from TJ Manastersky was shared with the IHS Community while he was an Assistant Coach at Union College. TJ is the Current Head Coach at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario.

The Jets 2 V 2 is a rush drill that puts a lot of pressure on the defenseman because they will be trying to gap up properly as they try to handle a lot of speed from the forwards.

Setup

• Start with 2 defenseman at the top of the circles. The rest of the defenseman are along the boards at center ice.
• Forwards are on all 4 blue lines with pucks.
• On the first whistle, the far forwards exchange lanes (and can exchange a puck) before they attack. They must attack from outside of the neutral zone face off dots.
• The defenders jump up the to neutral zone and attempt to gap up properly and handle the excess speed.
• The 2 v 2 plays out until the coach blows a second whistle. 
• On the second whistle, the first set of forwards is done, the second set of forwards on the near blue line start and race around the far face-off dots before they begin their attack on the defenders.
• The defenders that just finished the original 2 v 2 race to gap up against the second set of forwards.

Coaching Points

• Defenders need to be aware of the speed from the forwards and need to work to create a proper gap while matching their speed.
• Coaches can have defenders work on their angling skills on the second 2 v 2 rep.
• Forwards should practice fundaments that they would use on a 2 on 2 rush. They might consider driving the net, utilizing cut backs or change of speed to create additional space on the rush.

Connect with TJ by visiting his IHS Contributor Page, where you can subscribe to his newsletter, podcast, and see other drills he has shared.

2 vs. 2 2 Ways Game from Topher Scott is a high-energy game that helps forwards practice zone entries while the defense practices stepping up on the puck carrier at the blue line. There is also a conditioning element to this game as you will see that players that finish their 2 vs. 2 game will rush down to the other end of the ice to join a 4 vs. 4 game.

Setup

• Coach passes a puck to any one of the Forwards to begin a 2 vs. 2.
• For the video example above, the Coach passes it to the Forwards that are heading into Zone 1.
• The Forward & their teammate work to get the puck into Zone 1 & score while the Defense tries to hold the blueline and gain possession during the 2v2.
• On a whistle, the Coach passes the puck to the second set of Forwards, and their 2v2 begins into Zone 2.
• The first set of Forwards & Defenders stop their play in Zone 1 and race down to Zone 2 to begin a 4 vs. 4.

Coaching Points

• Defense: work to hold the blue line! Keep stick on the ice drive through the body.
• Offense: practice zone entries by skating or chipping the puck into the zone (do not dump the puck)!

The Renegade Line Rush from TJ Manastersky, the Head Coach of Brock University, practices an in tight 3 v 2, and transitions to a 5 v 5 line rush.

Setup

• On the 1st whistle, coach passes to the 3 v 2 down low group, which starts a quick attack against turned around net.
• On 2nd whistle, coach passes to any forward outside of the 3 v 2 down low group, and it starts 3 v 2 out of the corner toward the far end.
• The forwards and defense involved in the 3 v 2 down low group join to make it a 5 v 5 line rush.
• The 5 v 5 plays out until coach blows the whistle.

Coaching Points

• Defense: Communication and sort out coverage.
• Offense: Puck moves forward at blue line, puck enters inside the dots, net drive.