This article highlights why possession matters, and why keeping your head up and finding those lanes generates better chances than simply throwing the puck at the net.

At the 10U level I coach, but even at 12U (depending on the level) teaching special teams is fairly frowned upon under the American Development Model that USA Hockey utilizes. For the most part, it’s for good reason.

At these ages, you shouldn’t be focused on incredible power plays or penalty kills, but instead focusing on their puck possession, and ability to control a breakout. This is one reason I personally support the no-icing rule for short-handed teams at the youth level.

But special teams can make or break games, and while the focus at these ages is development, keeping kids and parents coming back also takes a little winning as well. To continue to ensure we are developing players, but also giving ourselves a winning chance when we can, this article focuses on puck possession. In this drill specifically, its possession coupled with passing and shooting lanes. This works even strength, it works short-handed, and it especially works on the power play.

In this drill, we put four tires or cones inside the circle. You can make the square larger or smaller depending on the challenge you want to create.

Two defenders go inside the faceoff circle and cannot leave it. They can move anywhere inside, but must keep their skates inside.

Five forwards (six if you’re wanting to work with a pulled goalie) around the circle can pass the puck to each other anyway they please (through the circle, outside of the circle, etc) and the player can move anywhere around the circle they want, but they cannot enter inside the circle.

If a forward makes a tape-to-tape pass through the tire square in the middle, the forwards are rewarded a point. If the defense intercepts a pass, they get a point. Alternatively, you reward the D who intercepted the pass and let them outside the circle and the player who botched the pass then goes inside.

The focus here is creating points with those passes through the tires, but by creating passing lanes. Many kids will try saucer passes or flipping the puck up at first, but will find these don’t become tape-to-tape passes.

Instead, they are moving the puck and the defense is chasing them around until they are suddenly out of position and a clear pass shows itself.

We highlight this and talk about how to move a puck around the offensive zone looking for clear passes, and then only shooting when there is a clear lane to the net.

After running this drill in a few practices, our team saw it come into action during a game.

The Coaches Site – Creating Passing Lanes from Dan Arel on Vimeo.

This goal was created by the players keeping their heads up, not being selfish, and finding those clear lanes.

In this image, you can see our forward takes possession behind the net, and instead of trying to go to the net with it, he finds our winger who has separated from the defenders and is open, out of harm’s way, and able to keep possession of the puck.

The winger then surveys his options and has two of our defense at the point. The easiest pass would be the player closest to him, however, our winger has now attracted two defenders and our right defense is wide open. 

Our defender fumbles the puck for a moment, but recovers and sends the puck towards the net for an opportunity. Not a perfectly clear shooting lane, but this is still a concept they are developing, and they found a lane they saw and took the opportunity.

Off the shot, our winger stays engaged in the play and begins to crash the net, which puts him in a perfect spot for the puck that was deflected away from the goal and right to his stick, giving him the perfect scoring opportunity because the opposing goalie did not anticipate the redirection.

On the bench, and again at our next practice, I was able to utilize this play to show them how this drill comes to life in a game. It highlights why possession matters, and why keeping your head up and finding those lanes generates better chances than simply throwing the puck at the net.