Every handful of practices, we’ll combine everything we’ve worked on into a “hero drill”; something that would be impossible to follow in a single practice and those drills that you see a team performing and think to yourself, “they must have played together for a long time.”
This single “hero drill” will be the majority of Friday’s practice.
Quick warmup to start and if we have time at the end we’ll introduce the basic version of what the next series of drills will look like.
Warm-up Drill: Skating pattern with shot & post-up
Both corners leave at the same time, 3 players from each.
1st player turns around the near cone, shoots on the close net, then stops in front of the net (for a deflection or rebound for the incoming 2nd and 3rd players).
2nd player goes far around the center faceoff circle, and shoots on the far net, then stops in front of the net (for a deflection or rebound for the incoming 3rd player).
3rd player goes all the way around all 4 faceoff dots, and shoots on the close net.
Hero Drill: Breakout to Rush to Cycle
This drill combines what we’ve been working on the last few weeks and requires 4 pucks across 4 phases before getting back in line:
- Retrieval & Breakout to 3v2 Rush & Battle
- Cycle to D-to-D shot (minimum 2 cycles prior to passing to D)
- Transition back to Retrieval & Breakout to 3v2 Rush & Battle
- Cycle to D-to-D shot
The intent of the drill is to gain as many reps as possible on the breakout, and also attempting to help players understand and recognize the cycle as an option any time a puck is being retrieved from the corner in the offensive zone. This becoming reflexive & instinctive helps the cycle’s usability during an actual game.
Throughout the practice we’ll pause for rests and remind players of some specific tips for effectiveness.
Follow-up Drill: Regroup to 2v1 Rush
Time permitting, we’ll take a look at the first iteration of what will likely be our next series of drills: the regroup.
Not all breakouts conveniently consist of a defense behind the net with the puck and all passing options available. This pattern will help the team leave their zone more effectively with possession from alternate starting points, and will also help practice getting through the neutral zone with speed.
In this version of the drill, each player has 1-2 primary focus points:
Defense: Accepting the pass, backpedaling (head up) and making a soft area bank-pass the forward can skate into.
Forward 1: Timing their curl so they don’t get ahead of the play. Variance of speed will be required (say 50% during the curl, then 100% through the neutral zone). Also, changing direction in the neutral zone to buy more space & time.
Forward 2: Timing their curl so they don’t get ahead of or behind the play. Straddling the blueline to maintain momentum if they get a little bit ahead, then either driving the net or providing a trailer option.
This drill also has a phase 2 (2-forward single cycle then pass back to D for a shot).