Roadrunner Skating & Passing

PURPOSE

This a quick skating and passing in motion drill designed mimic transitional passing plays in games. Using them in progression helps to build the hockey sense related to these skills.

SKILLS

• Passing
• Skating
• Hockey sense

HOW TO

VERSION A:

• Two lines with two cones used a visual reference markers (advanced players may not need the cones), and one puck (have a few nearby for the errant pass situation to keep things moving).
• First player starts forward with the puck and at the first cone, passes to the line across from them, then finishes skating to the other line.
• The player receiving the pass then takes a few strides to their near cone and passes to the opposite line.
• Drill is a continuous flow.

VERSION B:

• Two pass version of A.
• Players make first pass to opposite line at near cone, receive puck back, then make a second pass near second cone.

VERSION C:

• Players from each side go at the SAME time
• Players carry puck toward their far cone.
• At the cone they will pass to the line nearest them (opposite from where they started), transition open and receive puck back.
• Player will then skate forward toward their original line and at the next cone, pass to the next person in line to start over.

VERSION D:

• This one is closer to A & B, but involves a quick transition, making it more technical than C, so here we are.
• First player in a line skates backward with a puck and makes 2 passes to their original line (one at first cone, one near center of the drill).
• Transitions to forwards and makes one pass to the other line, who starts the drill from the other side.

FOCUS

• Skating in a game-like speed and with heads up hockey intent. If players are only going half speed just to do it right, they need to work to build to push the boundaries.
• Passing on-target with pop and receiving with forward thinking. This means they pass with pace – no soft, limp noodle, passes (game-like passes) and they are thinking about where they need to go next on both sides of the puck

VARIATIONS

• For these drills you can always add in more steps/passes or even more cones.
• This can be hybrid with the 3 Cone Passing drill, where instead of shooting, they release to pass to the other line creating a continuous passing drill with two open transitions.