12Jul 2012 by Jeremy Weiss No Comments
Controlled Skating Breakout Drill

Controlled Skating Breakout Drill

Breakouts, Hockey Drills, Individual Skill Drills, Passing & Timing, Team Systems Drills
Controlled Skating Breakout Drill Although this drill loosely mimics a breakout drill, the real purpose behind this one is to introduce Timing and Support concepts to youngsters. Players must time their skating to arrive at the designated receiving zones on time for a possible pass. Here's the diagram: Controlled Skating Breakout Drill 1. 2 lines of Fs and Ds on the blue lines (out of the way) 2. D starts drill on dot 3. On the whistle, F passes to D, who pivots toward the boards, then skates behind the net to initiate a breakout 4. F control skates through each of the 4 receiving zones, presenting him or herself as a passing option in each zone (never taking eye off puck) 5. After receiving pass, F attacks 1 on…
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09Apr 2012 by Jeremy Weiss No Comments
Butterfly Passing Drill

Butterfly Passing Drill

Hockey Drills, Individual Skill Drills, Passing & Timing
Butterfly Passing is a Simple but Effective Hockey Passing Drill Butterfly Passing is a great drill to work on passing fundamentals with youngsters, and to iron out technical "wrinkles" in more experienced players. Although the drill itself is simple, players should use this drill as an opportunity to work on passing accuracy in stride, and should focus on precise execution at full speed. Here's the diagram: Butterfly Passing Drill: 1. Two lines at one end, the width of the goal posts 2. Players skate in pairings all the way down the ice, passing back and forth while maintaining stride 3. At far end, players peel off, around the bottom of each's respective circle, then skate back making cross-ice passes back into the zone they started from Variation: have d-men skate…
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11Sep 2011 by Jeremy Weiss 1 Comment

Penalty Kill: Simple Box

Special Teams, Team Systems
The Simple Box is strategically very similar to the Box +1 d-zone coverage Our penalty kill set-ups closely mirror the characteristics of each of our defensive zone coverage systems. In this case, our Simple Box is very similar to the Box +1. It is great for covering the front of your net, but it is not very aggressive. So don't expect to get the puck back very quickly. This can be a great "starter pk" for youngsters or inexperienced players. However, you should quickly work toward implementing one of the more advanced penalty kill set-ups such as the Wedge +1 or Expanded Wedge +1. Enjoy!
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08Sep 2011 by Jeremy Weiss 2 Comments

Power Play: Umbrella

Special Teams, Team Systems
The Umbrella is a solid power play set-up that can be very difficult to defend against if run well The Umbrella is a very common power play set-up at higher levels of play. The reason for this is that it is extremely effective when run well. Remember to structure your set-up using players that fit each position's "job description," including what way they shoot. The Umbrella works very well when two cross-ice passes occur before the shot (see video for examples). This helps to hang the goalie out to dry, and can really mess up the opposition's penalty kill. Enjoy!
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08Sep 2011 by Jeremy Weiss No Comments

Power Play: Overload

Special Teams, Team Systems
The Overload can be a great power play set-up to start with... Because of its simplicity, the Overload is a really good power play set-up for youngsters. However, it also offers enough options that it can be very effective at older, more advanced levels of play as well. I believe the Overload is a fundamental set-up that every player should know. Having a solid understanding of its principles will allow players to be effective in more complex power play set-ups like the "Hybrid" Power Play we discuss here. Enjoy!
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