3 v 3 Pass Through The Cones from Nolan Baumgartner is a competitive small area game that allows teams to practice puck battles, puck support, and quick passes.
Setup
- Teams line up on the blue line. A coach stands on the blue line with pucks.
- To start, the coach dumps a puck into any area of the ice, which begins the 3 on 3.
- Each team tries to score by passing the puck cleanly through one of the cone gates. Players cannot pass through the same gate twice in a row.
- Coaches keep score!
Coaching Points
- Defenders should keep their sticks on the ice to block passing lanes and stay aware of offensive players.
- Forwards support each other and work on quick passes. Jump to open ice to be an outlet, keeping your stick on the ice.
Variations
- Can be 2 v 2 or 3 v 3.
- Can be set up in bigger or smaller areas of the ice.
- Can make the cone gates larger or smaller. The smaller they are the harder it is to score.
- Can set the gates up in different areas of the ice.
- If younger players are struggling, you can have only one team on the ice and challenge them to see how many gates they can pass through. See Gates of Buffalo Passing as an example.
