Ice Hockey Coaching Blog

In Coaching Tips on Tuesday, February 18th, 2025 by
USA vs. Canada Preview: A Showdown for the Ages
It’s been nearly a decade since the hockey world last witnessed a true best-on-best international tournament at the men’s level. The 4 Nations Face-Off has delivered exactly that—elite talent, national pride, and a level of intensity that reminds us why playing for your country is so special. And now, we get the matchup almost everyone in North America wanted to see: USA vs. Canada, a battle...
In IHS News on Thursday, February 13th, 2025 by
5 Drills & Insight from NHL Coach Nolan Baumgartner
IHS is proud to announce Nolan Baumgartner as a new contributor to IHS as part of The Knowledge Bridge series with the NHL Coaches’ Association. Nolan Baumgartner is the Assistant Coach of the Ottawa Senators of the NHL. Nolan was selected by the Washington Capitals in the 1st round (10th overall) of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft. He played parts of ten seasons in the NHL from 1995 to 2010....
In Coaching Tips on Tuesday, February 11th, 2025 by
The Complete Hockey Tryout Guide for Coaches and Associations
Dwayne Blais, Hockey Canada Certified Skills Coach and current Skill Development Coach for the Detroit Red Wings gives hockey coaches and associations advice on how to run a smooth, effective, and less stressful hockey tryout. The overview of the video, along with links, resources and additional tryout tips is displayed below: 1. The Tryout Process Overview Tryouts can be stressful...
In IHS News on Thursday, January 30th, 2025 by
Alex Tanguay
IHS is proud to announce Alex Tanguay as a new contributor to IHS as part of The Knowledge Bridge series with the NHL Coaches’ Association. Alex is the Assistant Coach of the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL. He is a 16 year NHL veteran that won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001. After Alex retired from playing, he began his coaching career with the Iowa Wild of the AHL, and then...
In IHS News on Wednesday, January 22nd, 2025 by
6 Drills & Insight from NHL Coach Cail MacLean
IHS is proud to announce Cail MacLean as a new contributor to IHS as part of The Knowledge Bridge series with the NHL Coaches’ Association. Cail is the Assistant Coach of the Calgary Flames in the NHL. He played 10 years professionally in the AHL, IHL, and ECHL. After retiring from playing, he began his coaching career in the ECHL as an assistant with the South Carolina Stingrays, where he won...
In IHS News on Wednesday, January 15th, 2025 by
Drills & Insight from Seth Appert
IHS is proud to announce Seth Appert, as a new contributor to IHS. Seth is the Assistant Coach of the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL. Prior to coaching the Buffalo Sabres, Seth was the Head Coach of the Rochester Americans of the AHL. Before coaching at the pro ranks Seth coached at the USA National Team Development Program, RPI and the University of Denver. Seth shared 6 drills and sat down to...
In IHS News on Wednesday, January 8th, 2025 by
NHLCA Launch
Five NHL Coaches. 25 New Drills. Exclusive Insights. Now Live on IHS! As part of The Knowledge Bridge series with the NHL Coaches’ Association, five NHL coaches are bringing their expertise to Ice Hockey Systems. Their contributor pages feature everything from their favorite drills to whiteboard explanations of key tactics and concepts, all designed to help you elevate your coaching and player...
In IHS News on Wednesday, December 18th, 2024 by
Top Practices, Small Area Games, Drills & Videos of 2024
As we look back on 2024, the team at IHS wants to extend a heartfelt thank you to all our members, associations, contributors, and partners. Your support fuels everything we do, and we’re incredibly grateful that you are part of the IHS Community. At IHS, our mission is to work with the best minds in hockey to create content and tools that inspire coaches and players around the world. Below...
In Coaching Tips on Wednesday, October 23rd, 2024 by
10 Racing Drills to Increase Competition, Skills & Fun
Races for loose pucks, and races to create space are a part of every shift, in every game, at every level of hockey. The next time you watch a game, notice how often the puck is up for grabs. In an average game, neither team has clear puck possession roughly 50% of the game. This makes it crucial for teams to practice their ability to win these loose pucks, and create space to...
In IHS News on Wednesday, October 16th, 2024 by
IHS and NHLCA Partnership
IHS Partners with the NHL Coaches' Association to Launch The Knowledge Bridge Video Series Ice Hockey Systems is excited to announce its official content partnership with the NHL Coaches' Association (NHLCA). As part of this ground-breaking partnership, IHS will launch The Knowledge Bridge, a video series where NHL coaches share their drills, advice, and insights to support the...
In IHS News on Wednesday, October 9th, 2024 by
6 Drills from New IHS Contributor Daniel Paille
IHS is proud to announce Daniel Paille, as a new contributor to IHS. Daniel Paille is an 11-year NHL veteran and Stanley Cup champion, having won the cup with the Boston Bruins in 2011. He also captured an OHL Championship with the Guelph Storm in 2004. Following his playing career, Daniel transitioned to coaching, first serving as an Assistant Coach with Canisius College in the NCAA and is he...
In Coaching Tips on Tuesday, October 8th, 2024 by
OZ Concepts: Find The Puck, Close Support & Attack The Net
Stanley Cup Champion, Daniel Paille, now Assistant Coach of the Niagara IceDogs of the Erie Otters in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), discusses 3 Simple Offensive Zone Concepts that teams of all ages can implement, no matter what their forechecking structure is. The video clip shown is from Daniel's presentation on Offensive Zone Concepts at the 2024 Brock...
In IHS News on Sunday, October 6th, 2024 by
Belfry Event Traingles
Mark your calendars! On October 16th at 12:30 PM EST, we’re hosting a members-only live event with Darryl Belfry: Teaching Hockey Sense Through Triangles. Register Here - IHS Members Only This session will focus on using triangles to help develop hockey sense in your players so they can read the game better, make quicker decisions, and elevate their on-ice performance. What to Expect...
In IHS News on Thursday, October 3rd, 2024 by
Darryl Belfry becomes part-owner of IHS
We are proud to announce that Darryl Belfry, one of the most innovative minds in hockey, is now an official part-owner of IHS. This long-term, exclusive partnership not only solidifies Darryl’s place within our organization but also brings his unique coaching insights and expertise solely to our platform. Darryl has been instrumental in developing some of the NHL’s brightest stars. As an NHL...
In Coaching Tips on Thursday, September 19th, 2024 by
Best of Last Season: Small Area Games
We are onto week 3 of our Best of Last Year Recaps! We started things off with our Top 10 Practice Plans, followed by our Top 20 Drills, and this week, we shine light on our Top 20 Small Area Games from last season. The goal of these recaps is to help you build upon last seasons most popular content. The games below cover a wide range of skills and concepts, offering plenty of...
In Coaching Tips on Friday, September 13th, 2024 by
Top 20 Hockey Drills
Our "Best of Last Season" recaps continue! Last week, we ranked our Top 10 Practice Plans. This week, we've compiled our Top 20 Hockey Drills, and next week, we'll dive into our Top Small Area Games. The goal of these recaps is to help you build upon last year's most popular content. The drills below cover a wide range of skills and concepts, offering plenty of inspiration. Feel free to tweak...
In Coaching Tips on Friday, September 6th, 2024 by
Top 10 Practice Plans from the 2023 - 2024 Season
IHS's Weekly Edge newsletter will begin delivering brand-new practice plans for the 2024-2025 season starting the first week of October! In the meantime, we've curated our Top 10 Practice Plans from last season to help you build off of last years most popular practice concepts and themes. These practice plans cover a wide range of age and skill levels, offering plenty of inspiration. Feel...
In Coaching Tips on Wednesday, August 21st, 2024 by
20 Resources to Create A Season You Will Never Forget
Create a season you will never forget. At IHS, we understand that the start of a season is more than just the beginning of a schedule, it's an opportunity to lay the groundwork for an unforgettable year. We've curated 20 resources designed to help you make the most of this season. From preseason meeting templates to world-class coach education content and organizational tools, these...
In IHS News on Monday, August 12th, 2024 by
NSDA
IHS is thrilled to announce a long-term partnership with the National Skill Development Association (NSDA), led by esteemed NHL skill development coach Dwayne Blais. This groundbreaking collaboration will integrate NSDA’s over 300 skill development videos, courses, age-specific guides, and more into the IHS platform, creating an unparalleled resource for hockey coaches, parents, and players...
In IHS News on Tuesday, July 9th, 2024 by
 2024 High Performance Hockey Presentations Are Live
The 2024 Brock University High Performance Hockey Seminar Presentations are now live and can be watched on-demand in the Coach Education Section! We would like to thank TJ Manastersky and Brock University for all of their hard work to make the 2nd year of this event a huge success! We are extremely grateful to all of the presenters for openly sharing their experiences, research...