Work on skating, passing, shooting, special teams, and individual skill development, all while keeping the practices fast paced and fun.
One of the best ways to utilize ice time and get the largest amount of players moving at once is through station based hockey, with small area games.Now, stations don’t mean your entire place has to happen in small stations. For those who have it, there are still useful full ice drills and half ice drills that make the most of the ice time.
Regardless of half ice or full ice, we start every practice with a team skate. We may do edgework, or even sprint based hockey skating before jumping into a few drills, then moving into station based drills or small area games.
Drills created with Hockey Coach Vision.
Full Ice Warm Up Drill: 1v1 Gap Control
In this drill, the focus is mainly on defenders to choose the right gap on the forward skating at them.
On the whistle, both players in all four corners skate around the circle before taking off. Pucks are in opposite corners so each side can run at the same time, moving four players at a time.
The puck carrier is working towards skating to the far end net to get a shot, while defenders are defending the same zone they started in. As they approach the forward they need to pick the timing at which they will transition and try to force the player to stay outside the dots.
Half Ice Warm Up Drill: Gap Control Passing
This is a half ice version of the gap control drill, but one nice element to this one is the addition of a hard pass that needs to be caught by the forward. This pass helps players increase their ability to catch passes on the move that works nicely with more breakout options.
Forwards start without the puck and skate diagonally across the zone catching a pass from the defender. The forward then leaves the zone and skates around the cone before reentering.
The defender must catch up to the player and like above, choose the space in which they will transition and attempt to force the forward away from the net.
Skating Stations
In our skating station, we try to find fun and creative drills that focus on a different aspect every week. Sometimes they include pucks, sometimes not. We will use this time to work on edgework, stride, and other conditioning drills that help ensure our players are always focused on their skating.
Station 1: 3 on 1 Power Play
This drill is a go to when it comes to station based hockey. Players love how fun it is, and our goalies always request extra time in this one.
Have 3 forwards line up in a triangle formation outside of the faceoff circle, with the net placed on the goal line. A defender is inside the circle, and they cannot leave it. The offensive players on the outside can move around on their side of the circle and should pass the puck around to each other until a clear shooting lane has been determined.
Watch out for players taking bad shots just to score and encourage more passing to find the exact right moment.
One modification we make once the drill is flowing is that once the shot is taken, forwards can crash the net and the defender can leave the circle to help protect the net.
You can also add points: 2 points for a goal, 1 point for a good shot on net, and if the defender inside catches the puck or blocks a shot or pass, they get a point.
Station 2: Clear Attempt to Deflection
This drill begins with working on two different aspects of our game. Clearing a puck out of the zone, and stopping a puck from being cleared.
So to start the drill, the player in the corner should make an attempt to clear the puck along the boards. This can be done with a hard puck up the boards, off the glass, or however they can think to beat the defender at the point.
The player at the point should make every attempt to stop the puck. (Should the puck clear, you can have a stash of pucks behind the defender they can grab from to continue the drill).
Once the player at the point has the puck they should move towards the middle of the ice and take a hard low shot on net. The player who passed the puck should move to the front of the net to create a screen or deflect the shot on net.
Small Area Game: Back to Back PP/PK
This drill is a favorite to close out practice with for both coaches and players. We love it because we’ve seen it make a real difference in our team’s passing ability and power play and penalty killing play.
Players love it because it’s really competitive and fun.
To start, you want to put 3 opposing forwards on each side of the ice, and 2 opposing defense. This is played as a 3 on 2 in each section, neither side can cross the middle of the ice and must stay on their side, but defenders are trying to pass the puck to their forwards on the other side.
On a goal or puck cover, a new puck should be passed from the coach to the opposing forwards to start play on the other side.
If players are trying to hold the puck and not use their teammates, it comes apparent quickly and offers a great place to blow the whistle and ensure players understand that special teams only work when players work together.
All in all, these practices include a lot of repetition, and allow an hour of ice to touch on many different aspects of their development. You’re not stuck using a full hour with long lines and only a handful of skills.
In a single practice we can work on skating, passing, shooting, special teams, and individual skill development, all while keeping the practices fast paced and fun.
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