The Purple Eagle Angle Drill from TJ Manastersky, Head Coach of Brock University allows players to practice offensive puck protection and defensive angling concepts.
Setup
- Line up players by all 4 neutral zone face-off dots.
- On the whistle, alternating lines from opposite sides of the ice pass the puck to the player directly across from them.
- The puck carrier jumps up ice as soon as they get the puck while the player who passed them the puck works on angling them to the outside of the ice.
- The puck carrier then practices "cutting the defenders hands," works to get inside ice after they get into the blue line, and take a shot on net.
- Alternate sides so everyone gets chances to play on offense and defense.
Coaching Points
- Defender - keep stick on the ice and angle the puck carrier to the outside of the ice.
- Puck carrier - keep head up and work to cut the defenders hands to take away their strength to poke check and take the puck away from you. Practice shooting in stride or changing the shot angle on your shot.
Variations
- Can have defenders use token pressure (as shown in the video), or allow this to be a full 1 on 1.
