Level 5 Clinic – Day 3

Coaches' Corner, Philosophy
Just a quick report on today's sessions... Interesting day today at the Level 5 Clinic here in Minnesota. We heard from a bunch of pretty good hockey guys including Todd Richards (head coach of the Wild), Mike Sullivan (assistant coach of the Lightning), Mark Johnson (member of 1980 "Miracle" team and Head Coach of Wisconsin's women's team), Bryan Trottier (NHL Hall of Famer), and a panel of players from the 1980 American Miracle team. One of the things I found interesting was Mike Sullivan's take on defensive hockey (playing when the other team has the puck). He likes a very aggressive style when his team doesn't have the puck, and showed us a few examples of his 1-2-2 forecheck that looked almost identical to our 1-2-2 Fooseball Forecheck. So -…
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Hockey Breakout Drill

Hockey Breakout Drill

Breakouts, Defensive Zone, Hockey Drills, Team Skill Drills, Team Systems Drills
This is an Excellent Hockey Breakout Drill to Teach the Patterns of Game Situations Many hockey situations occur in patterns. This simple hockey breakout drill breaks down these patterns into their simplest form, then puts them back together in sequence to mimic a game situation. Here's the diagram and explanation: Hockey Breakout Progression: PHASE 1: 1.Set up forwards on the blue line, with defensemen on the close hash mark. Defenseman who is going steps out to the dot 2.On whistle, first forward in line passes to the defenseman, then skates down around the bottom of the circle and opens up for a breakout pass 3.Defenseman skates behind the net, then passes to the forward on the boards, who skates down for a shot Note: Teach forwards to pivot and keep…
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