This drill highlights one of Peter Bohunicky's core teaching concepts: players can maintain possession of the puck without actually constantly having it touch the blade of the stick. Rather than relying on continuous stickhandling, players learn to place the puck while increasing speed to create an advantage.

Essentially, you're chasing your own puck.

To illustrate this concept, Bohunicky has players build momentum through turns before receiving a pass. After that the goal is to push the puck into space and skate onto it. This allows them to maintain speed, keep their feet moving, and attack more efficiently. Bohunicky believes that elite players separate themselves by their ability to combine skating and puck skills, using the puck as a tool to generate speed rather than something that slows them down.

The result is a player who can control possession while moving faster, resulting in more dangerous offensive opportunities in transition.

Watch Bohunicky's entire presentation here.

Description

• Players line up at the hash marks and along the outside of the centre-ice circle.

• On the whistle, the first player from the centre-ice line skates around the pylons, building speed through the turn.

• The player receives a pass (with one hand) from the player at the hash marks while continuing to accelerate.

• After receiving the pass, the player immediately pushes the puck slightly ahead into open ice.

• The player skates hard to catch up to the puck and attacks the net for a shot. Progress to adding a backchecker

Key Points

• Generate speed through the turn around the pylons and continue accelerating as the pass is received.

• Push the puck only slightly ahead using one hand on the stick, creating space to skate into.

• Keep the feet moving and accelerate to regain possession rather than relying on extra stickhandling touches.