Purpose

Players learn to deal with bad passes.

Setup

  • Players form two lines along the boards.
  • Two coaches stand at center ice.
tough passes hockey passing and receiving drill

How it Works

  1. A coach blows his whistle or says “Go” to start.
  2. The first players in each line skate forward and the coach on that side passes the puck to the player.
  3. The coach purposely makes the pass far enough ahead of the player so that it is tough to reach.
  4. The player should perform a ‘dead stick’ maneuver, where they drop to one knee and reach forward with their stick or just reach out with one hand to receive the puck.
  5. Another bad pass option would be for the coach to fire a pass into the skates of the player and they need to control the pass and get it to their stick so they can make a play and head down the ice.
  6. Run the drill for 6-12 minutes.

Coaching Tips

  • One more option for this drill would be to make the pass high so that the player has to knock the puck down with a glove and then put it into play.