29Nov 2012 by Jeremy Weiss 4 Comments

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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18Jun 2012 by Jeremy Weiss No Comments

Dryland Training Kits from HockeyShot (full review)

Coaches' Corner, Hockey Equipment, Off-ice Training, Speed, Strength, Useful Products
Use these Dryland Training Kits from HockeyShot to set up Structured, Well-Organized Dryland Sessions with your Team! I recently had the opportunity to do a detailed review on HockeyShot's Dryland Training Kits. So I took my boy Tyler down to the tennis courts to have a workout and make some videos. We had a great workout, and had a blast putting these videos together. These kits are available in three different sets; the Starter Kit, Premium, and Premium Plus. I reviewed the Starter Kit, and was impressed with how much equipment it came with, even for the lowest-priced option! All three kits are fantastic. The main difference it that the Premium and Premium Plus kits come with more equipment (Speed Chutes & Plyo Hurdles) In this post, I'm including 6…
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14Aug 2009 by Jeremy Weiss No Comments

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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28Oct 2008 by Jeremy Weiss 9 Comments

Off-ice Hockey Agility Drill

Off-ice Training, Speed
The Dot Drill is One of my Staple Off-Ice Agility Drills The Dot Drill is one of the most effective off-ice hockey agility drills I’ve ever seen. This drill is easy and inexpensive to set up, and only takes about a minute of the athlete’s time each day – so there are no excuses not to do it! Remember, the dots should be placed in a 2′ x 3′ rectangle, with one dot in the middle. Each dot should be about 5″ in diameter. You can spray paint the dots onto your garage or basement floor, or onto an old piece of carpet. You could also use something less permanent such as sidewalk chalk or tape. I prefer the rubber dot drill mats because they have better grip and are…
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