There are several defensive minded key points to this hockey drill. The first is the gap control. The defense should never give up the blue line because it is always a 2 on 2. Offensively, forwards need to make smart plays and chip the puck into the zone instead of trying to beat guys at the blue line.
Down low in the defensive zone the defense need to play tight man on man and make sure not to get beat back to the front of the net. The defense need to limit the time and space of the forwards. The forwards down low in the offensive zone need to maintain possession of the puck and be patient to limit turnovers.
The drill starts with two forwards in one zone at the hash marks and a puck behind the net. The defense start inline with the dots at center ice. On the whistle one forward swings behind the net and picks up the puck, the other swings in front of the net. The two forwards attack the two defense 2 on 2. Once they cross the offensive blue line, two new forwards sprint out to the breakout positions at the top of the circle (they cannot go below the top of the circle). Two new defense also come out to the blue line and should position themselves inline with the dots. Meanwhile, in the 2 on 2 down low, the defense will try to get the puck and make a breakout pass to one of the two new forwards. The two on two is then going the other way against the two new defense.
If the goalie feezes the puck or a goal is scored, the coach plays a new puck into the active zone.
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