Recently, I posted a tweet that got a lot of attention in the hockey community. It was about the pre-season planning my coaching staff and I did—and how it played a huge role in our successful season.
If you missed it, here’s a copy of the two pictures I shared:
The story behind them is pretty simple.
Back in September, my two assistant coaches and I sat down for about 90 minutes after a pre-season skate.
Since it was our second season with most of the same players, we already had a rough idea of what we wanted to focus on throughout the year. We broke our notes down into simple concepts and key skills, then mapped out what each month should look like.
As the head coach, I had the final say, but I trusted both assistants’ opinions. They had different playing backgrounds than I did, and I’m a firm believer in communication and hearing everyone out.
That 90-minute pen-and-paper session laid the foundation for our drills, practice plans, and even our “coach speak” on the bench—so we were all on the same page.
Does that mean we didn’t try new things or that everything went perfectly?
Not at all.
But we had a strong base. If something needed to be slowed down or revisited, we always knew where we were in the ideal progression.
A lot of people asked if I could share a practice plan that incorporated those concepts.
Below—courtesy of IceHockeySystems.com (seriously, sign up; it made my life 100% easier, simplified getting practice plans out, and is packed with quality info)—is one of our recent practices. We had already run many of these drills multiple times. I’m a big believer in keeping things moving (you play at the pace you practice), and you’ll see that many of the skills and concepts we emphasized are in this plan.
Click HERE for the plan to understand the below drills!!!!
Drill #1: Gates of Buffalo
During this practice, I had a goalie coach join us, so I handed him my goaltender and tossed out six cones for the Gates of Buffalo drill. We played it 3-on-2 to work on concepts like moving into space and supporting the puck.
Drill #2: Circle Puck Protect
One of my favorite drills. It hits a ton of skills at once while also building compete levels (nobody wants to play D, lol). We focused on linear acceleration and forced a change of pace as the defender pushed up ice. We also worked on age-appropriate body contact training—so angling while skating forward was key.
Drill #3: Laker 3-Puck
I added this one later in the season after noticing we were getting beat around the net on rebounds. This drill helped everyone work on boxing out and attacking sticks. I also love creating offense from below the goal line, so this was a “double-dipper” — players moved into open ice and supported the puck while the goal-line player tried to find lanes being created.
Drill #4: Jets 2v2
I really liked this one, especially when modified to a Jets 3-on-2. With only one goalie available, it made working on rushes and gap control easier than drills needing two tenders (we used a shooter tutor on the other net). It’s a great overspeed drill that forces movement. You can add a defenseman above the top blue line and make forwards perform a “regroup” pass to them before reattacking. Since it’s a rush and zone entry drill, it’s perfect for communication—figuring out who’s F1, F2, and F3 on a mid-lane drive.
Drill #5: Trimble NZ Angle 1v1
This one comes from THF/NE Wolves coach and writer Andrew Trimble—shoutout to him for this gem.
It’s a great end-of-practice overspeed drill that focuses on backchecking and “beating your man to the post.” Edge work, quick pass, breakaway with pressure—you can’t ask for more.
Let me know if you want a downloadable version of the practice or more breakdowns like this. Always happy to share what’s worked for us!
Again, big thanks to Icehockeysystems.com for the amazing content, drill library, practice plan and drill creator they have!!! Absolutely love using it daily for all my training, learning and planning needs!
-TDC
