This practice plan will focus on the power play and getting it up to speed early in the season, but there's an important coaching aspect to these types of practices you should communicate with your team. This is a special teams practice, and not exclusive to the power play. Of course you can have days where you only have your power play units on the ice, and that has a lot of value. But if you want to include resistance then you're going to want to include penalty killers, and it's harmful in the long run to throw them on the ice without any pre-ice teaching. 

Make everyone on the team feel important, not just the pwer play. This will build pride in both units and hopefully give you less headaches as the season grows. 

Warm Up the Hands

Start the session with the most important element on the power play: passing the puck. You can have all the craziest routes, the most inventive schemes, and the most innovative tactics, but if your players bobble the puck then it's all useless. Start small and simple and progress from there. 

Note: goalies can work at one end of the ice with a goalie coach / assistant coach / bus driver

• Stationary passing: pass to the pivotperson in the middle fan style Progress to backhand passing and receiving, one touches, saucer passes, etc. 
• Key Points: Maintain good posture and stick readiness - stick should not come up in the air after each pass Keep feetquiet- don't spend unnecessary energy

Possession Over Position

This is helpful to avoid the problem of players simply waiting for the puck in their designated spots. Most penalty kills are aggressive these days, at least while they can see numbers, so the power play has to retrieve the puck before it can get set up. This occurs after dump-ins, shots, or possession switches. Running this drill will save you from screaming HELP from the bench, which no one ever hears anyways. 

Progression: once you're comfortable your players know where to go, now is the time to add penalty killers

• Non point players start in slot, coach spots puck in either corner
• Middle players and corresponding flank player sprint to corner to retrieve puck
• Point and opposite flank sprint o outlet spots
• Corner battle releases puck low to high or rim to weak-side: make a play!

Zone Entries

Breaking the puck out of the zone is usually the relatively easy part, but it's entering the offensive zone that we can really be efficient. Teach your players their options when they enter the zone, and choose whether you want to see the same thing every time (predictable, easy to learn), or use their instincts (tough to learn, unpredictable for both teams).

• Defenceman or coach passes puck to one of the four zone entry players, who skate over the blue line
  
  Progressions

1. Kickout to bump back
2. Kickout to rim around
3. Grab the line and traverse
4. Go score

• After setup players move puck around for chance

Breakout & Combine Everything

I really believe these power play component drills will lead up to something greater than the sum of its parts. We want players to be creative on the power play, but we don't want them operating as solo artists. Teach your players that if you're on the power play, it's because of your ability to work as a team first, and your ability second. 

• Power play unit starts in designated setup positions, coach passes 1st puck to PP QB
• On whistle coach spots 2nd puck in corner or shoots on net, power play retrieves and sets up for chance
• On whistle coach spots 3rd puck in far end for breakout or neutral zone for regroup

Download the entire practice plan here.