When players are comfortable with a high pace in practice, they'll play the game with the same pace.

Every coach is looking for that perfect mixture of hockey sense and raw skill. And while hockey sense might be an intangible skill, for USA Hockey’s Dave Starman, it’s certainly not a skill that’s impossible to teach.

Enter the age of the small area game at every level of our sport. At our Hockey Coaches Conference, Starman presented several small area games ranging from simple passing sequences to more in-depth situations involving multiple rules.

Starman, who has 33 years of coaching experience at various levels, from mites to professionals, is also a pro scout for the Montreal Canadiens.

For Dave, the best small area games borrow from the skills required when the puck drops for real and the lights are on – competition, creativity, and mistakes.

Incorporate small area games as a regular part of your practices. Switch up the rules. Make it competitive.

When players are comfortable with a high pace in practice, they’ll play the game with the same pace because their technical skills – stickhandling, passing, and shooting, will come as second nature. This is the sweet spot where hockey players don’t think, they just read and react.