King or Queen of the Hill Puck Control Drill

By: Ice Hockey Systems

This is a fun drill to start or end practice with that is great for the U6 age levels all the way to the NHL. Players love this drill! It is also known as Knockout or King / Queen of the Ring if you only use circles. If you have more than 6 players you can start by increasing the boundaries to include the entire neutral zone. Once there are 6 players remaining then you can narrow the boundaries down to the circle.

Setup

Every player will have a puck to start and on the whistle players will skate around controlling the puck. The object of the game is to maintain control of your puck and be the last player to have control of your puck. As players skate around they will also try to knock other players pucks away. If you get your puck knocked away then you have to leave the playing area. The last player with control of their puck WINS!

Watch the Colorado Avalanche perform this fun exercise below:

If you need further proof that this drill is great for all levels then watch this video of the Pittsburgh Penguins playing King of the Hill with the whole team in the neutral zone. This was during the Stanley Cup Playoffs when they won in 2017!