1-2-2 “Foosball” Forecheck: IN ACTION

Coaches' Corner, Offensive Zone, Philosophy, Team Systems
Here's a great example of the 1-2-2 "Foosball" Forecheck in action The 1-2-2 "Foosball" Forecheck can be a great set-up if you have the right type of team for it. This forecheck requires speed and discipline. If you lack either of those attributes, it'll probably fall apart for you. Here are the main key points on this set-up: 1-2-2 "Foosball" Forecheck 1. F1 "flushes" outside in, and chases the puck no matter where it goes 2. F2 and F3 set up at about the tops of the circles, slightly narrower than the dots 3. D-men set up the same distance apart as F1 and F2, but they're at the blue line 4. As the play moves up the boards, the strong-side forward hits the receiver, strong side d-man seals the…
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Holiday Hockey via Pops Ryan

Coaches' Corner, Miscellaneous, Philosophy
Happy Holidays from Weiss Tech Hockey! This poem came to me via Pops Ryan, Head Coach of the Rowan University Women's Team. It was too good not to share... I know the feeling! If your patience is tested, and your energy diminished, Stay loyal to your team – the season’s only half finished. If your leader in assists is still the goaltender, Stay true to your dream – show no sign of surrender. If they miss open nets, and are always short-handed Stay upbeat at all times – in Hockey that’s demanded. If you start to lose faith, because your team’s losing ground Remember, it takes just one goal to turn things around So may the rest of this season be nothing but thrills May you be 99% on the…
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Weiss Tech Hockey’s Top 5 Most Popular Posts of All Time

Weiss Tech Hockey’s Top 5 Most Popular Posts of All Time

Breakouts, Coaches' Corner, Defensive Zone, Hockey Drills, Individual Skill Drills, Off-ice Training, Passing & Timing, Philosophy, Skating & Agility, Speed, Team Skill Drills, Team Systems Drills, Useful Products
Weiss Tech Hockey Reveals its Top 5 Most Popular Posts of All Time I started this blog a little over 4 years ago… which is a long time in internet years! It started as a bit of an experiment for me. I wanted to try and use web technology to help local coaches with their practice plans. I'd been playing around with a "new" drill diagrammer I had just come across, DrillDraw, and thought it would be cool to make video explanations of drills using a "digital whiteboard." I started by posting a few video explanations of my favorite drills, and things just kinda took off from there! At that time, nobody was doing digital video explanations, and it seemed to be a method of delivery that resonated with coaches.…
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6 Ways to Make your Hockey Practices More Effective

Coaches' Corner, Philosophy, Useful Products
The Ice “Crisis:” It’s no secret that there’s a shortage of ice in a lot of hockey towns. Different organizations have tried to address this problem in different ways… with some outcomes working out better than others. Many organizations run half-ice practices, with two teams sharing the ice. Other programs are running “station practices,” with 50-60 players rotating through various stations. Some programs are still using the “old-fashioned” method of full-ice practices, with one team on the ice at a time. I believe most organizations are using some combination of the scheduling methods above. The purpose of this article isn’t to critique the various “ice accommodation strategies” that have been tried over the years, nor is it to attempt to solve the world’s ice scheduling issues (although that might be…
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2-1-2 Spread: In Action

Coaches' Corner, Offensive Zone, Philosophy, Team Systems
How to Execute a Proper 2-1-2 Spread Forecheck In our last post, we talked about beating a 2-1-2 with a D to D pass. In the footage, we saw the NJ Devils using an aggressive 2-1-2 "Stack" against the Rangers. In this post, we'll show you the LA Kings using another variation of the 2-1-2, the 2-1-2 "Spread." 2-1-2 Stack vs Spread There are two types of 2-1-2 set-ups; the "stack," where the first two players enter the zone on the same side of the ice, the first player hits and pins, the second player takes the puck; and the "spread," where the first player attacks the puck carrier, and the second player eliminates the D to D pass (this is what the Kings are using in this clip). See…
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