PURPOSE

Work on angling, body contact, and keeping players to the front and/or outside in a tight area, controlled manner.

SKILLS

• Transitional skating
• Mirroring
• Angling

HOW TO – 1v1

• One player at blue line and one player at top of the circle.
• At the same time, player 1 will skate forward with a puck toward the top of the circle and player 2 will skate backward without a puck.
• About halfway, player 1 will pass to player 2 (if necessary you can ad cones as markers for where to pass).
• Player 2 will receive pass and transition back to forwards at the bottom of the circle. Player 1 will transition to backwards to the top of the circle. Player 2 will pass back to player 1, about half way again.
• Player 1 will continue to skate backwards to the blue while player 2 will continue to skate forwards to the top of the circle. Player 1 will transition to forwards and drive down the boards, player 2 will step out and play D for the 1v1 trying to tie up the player on the boards and get possession. Player 1 will try to drive wide and then go to the net.
• Player 1 then goes to player #2 spot. Player 2 gets in line at #1 spot.

HOW TO – 2v1

• This is essentially the same as the 1v1 version except player 2 starts with the puck and passes to the D (3). Player 1 will receive the puck back from the D.
• Player 1 will drive board side on the top transition while player 2 will curl inside. The D should still force the contact at the boards while player 2 should put themselves in a position to be an option.
• Play 2v2 to either a shot or clear.

FOCUS

• Keeping players wide and making contact as soon as possible. Players, especially those with body contact hesitance, will allow the puck carrier to continue to the corner or net.
• This is a defensive drill, not a scoring drill. The whole point here is actually to NOT let shots and opportunities happen. The more bored a goalie is, the better, so to speak.