Levels 3 vs 3 Small Area Game

https://vimeo.com/350132512/3281a9c997

A fun small area game to keep players, goalies and coaches on their toes! The video clip is of The Buffalo Sabres's playing Levels during their development camp. As time went on and the players got more comfortable with the game, you could tell they absolutely loved it. To do well in this game it is important that teams transition quickly, communicate well, create space on offense and takeaway space on defense.

Game Setup

2 nets and 2 goalies. 1 net is flipped the other way.
3 vs 3 with coaches that act as "bumpers." You can swap the coaches with players to get more players involved.
For the start of the game, the coach dumps the puck in for 50/50 puck.
Whichever team gets to the puck and passes to a coach is on offense and is allowed to shoot on both nets. The coach or "bumper" must always pass back to the team that passed them the puck.
During the game, if the defense gets the puck, they need to transition by passing to a coach first before they can play offense and attack.
The game presented lots of unique situations and everyone needed to be paying attention.

Please note: Having a net facing the opposite way presents fun, unique opportunities in the game, but it also has the opportunity for players to get hit with shots if someone misses the net. That is one reason why this activity is better for older age groups. If this is a concern for you as a coach, you can keep the exact same rules but flip the nets so they are both facing the "normal" way.

Variations

You can also swap out the two coaches that are bumpers and use players.
This can be 2 vs 2 in a smaller area of ice.
You can flip nets so they are both facing backward or facing the normal way but keep the same rules.
You can add additional bumpers. Or you can allow all players that are waiting their turn in line to be bumpers so everyone is paying attention and involved!