Share via

Purpose: 

This drill teaches teammates to maintain eye contact and coordinate activities to get the puck up the ice and past a defender. It also promotes proper passing and total-body coordination when skating with the puck.

Setup:

On the ice you need two defensemen and a forward. 

How it works:

  • PCoach blows his whistle or says “Go.” 
  • The Defender starts with the puck and skates behind the net. The Forward skates in front of the net
    and diagonally (essentially skating down the ice toward his own net and diagonally to the left, from
    his perspective), in order to meet the Defender as he comes around the net. 
  • When the Forward reaches the right circle, he pivots and begins heading up the ice toward the
    right boards. When he pivots, the Forward will need to turn backwards so that he is always facing the Defender. This means the Forward will go from skating forward down the ice to the right circle to skating backward toward the right boards, in order to face the Defender at all times. 
  • As the Defender comes around the net, he passes the puck to the Forward, who is now skating backward and waiting for the pass. 
  • Upon receiving the pass, the Forward breaks down the ice and goes head-to-head against the second defender. 
  • Run the drill for 5-10 minutes.

Coaching Tips:

  • When working on passing, skaters should alternate between making passes that hit the forward’s stick or their skates, depending on what the coach instructs. 
  • You can add a goalie to this drill to increase the difficulty on the attacker.
Share via