As we look back on 2024, the team at IHS wants to extend a heartfelt thank you to all our members, associations, contributors, and partners. Your support fuels everything we do, and we’re incredibly grateful that you are part of the IHS Community.
At IHS, our mission is to work with the best minds in hockey to create content and tools that inspire coaches and players around the world. Below are highlights from the past year, including top practices, small area games, drills, coach education videos, skill development videos, coaching clips, tools and more.
2024 IHS by the Numbers
- 25,000+ members and 600+ associations from 38 countries across the globe
- 750,000+ drills created by members
- 215,000+ practice plans created by members
Top Announcements for 2024
- Darryl Belfry Joins IHS as Owner & Exclusive Partner
- IHS & NHLCA Become Official Content Partners
- IHS and the NSDA Join Forces
- 2nd Annual Brock University High Performance Hockey Seminar
- The Belfry Way Series Launch
Top Practice Plans of 2024
The practice plans below cater to a wide range of ages and skill levels. They are designed to spark new ideas—use it as a starting point and always adjust to your team’s unique needs. Progress and/or regress drills as necessary, and most importantly, let this resource inspire creativity, not replace it.
- Give & Go's (Pass & Move to Space)
- Breakout Stations
- Passing & Playmaking
- Angling Stations
- Defensive Zone Coverage
- Breakout Habits
- Power Play Passing & Penalty Kill
- Down Low Play
- Loose Puck Battle Stations
- Transition Practice
- Puck Protection Stations
- Passing Between Two Checks & One Touch Passing
- Wall Play with 2 v 2 Situations
- Tracking & Backchecking Practice
- Rims and Picking Pucks Off of the Wall
View all IHS Practice Plans here and if you have not already, sign up for The Weekly Edge Newsletter to join 36,000+ coaches that get new practices delivered to their inbox for free, once a week!
Top Small Area Games of 2024
- 2 v 2 Rim Game from Jeff Meredith
- Oreo from Jason Lammers
- The Box Game from Brad Flynn
- 3 v 2 Puck Protection Game from Daniel Paille
- Gates of Buffalo Passing Game
- 4 v 2 Rondo to 4 v 2 Quick Attack from Alyssa (Gagliardi) Sleasman
- Defend Net Front Progression With 2 Point Players from Global Hockey Network
- Hit Tire Passing Game with No Goalie from Global Hockey Network
- The Breakout Game from Jason Lammers
- 3 on 2 Race to 5 from Cail MacLean
- 2 on 2 Transition & Track from Jason Lammers
- 4 on 2 Split Power Play Drill from Cail MacLean
- 3 on 3 Play Fast from Seth Appert
- 2 on 2 NZ Puck Race with Support from Darryl Belfry
- 2 on 2 Angling With Defensive Reward from Marty Wilford
View 220+ Small Area Hockey Games
Top Hockey Drills of 2024
- Pit Chaos from Global Hockey Network
- The Ricky from Tyler Bielby
- 1, 2, 3 Forecheck from Nik Passero
- D-Zone Coverage Tire Drill from Tyler Bielby
- The Chicago 5 Puck from TJ Manastersky
- 3 v 1 Keep Away To Line Rush With Backchecker from Global Hockey Network
- Wall Retrieval Station
- Circle Puck Protect from John Dean
- Wagon Wheel from Wes Wolfe
- Tag Up Forecheck from Tyler Bielby
- Ferarri 3 v 2 from Steve Wiedler
- 2 v 2 Shawzy from Nolan Baumgartner
- 2 v 1 Net Play Drills for Defenseman from Marty Wilford
- Side Middle Side Passing from Darryl Belfry
- NZ Pad Skating Race with Shot from Tom Occhino
Top Coach Education Videos of 2024
- Teaching Hockey Sense Through Triangles from Darryl Belfry
- Surfing for Defenseman from Nolan Baumgartner
- Game Preparation, Management & Reflection from TJ Manastersky
- U8-U10 Season Launch from Topher Scott & Alyssa (Gagliardi) Sleasman
- How Do You Determine What to Practice? from Darryl Belfry
- U12 Season Launch from Topher Scott & Alyssa (Gagliardi) Sleasman
- Parent Communication - Preseason Meetings & Building Parent Culture from Topher Scott
- Offensive Zone Concepts from Daniel Paille
- U16 Season Launch from Topher Scott & Alyssa (Gagliardi) Sleasman
- Team Building from Topher Scott
- Adding Decisions and Cues to Practice from Ben Eaves & Alyssa (Gagliardi) Sleasman
- U14 Season Launch from Topher Scott & Alyssa (Gagliardi) Sleasman
- Preparing Your Team For A Game from TJ Manastersky
- Teaching Skill in a Team Environment from Darryl Belfry
- Winning vs Development in Youth Hockey from Darryl Belfry & Topher Scott
View 100+ Coach Education Videos
Top Skill Development Videos of 2024
- Breakout Tips For Off-Hand Wingers from Ben Eaves
- Breakout Tips for Strong Side Wingers from Ben Eaves
- Simple Drills to Improve Your Shot from Dwayne Blais
- 1 v 1 Tips for Defenders from Ben Eaves
- Breakout Tips for Centers from Ben Eaves
- Zone Entry Tips from Ben Eaves
- Puck Retrieval Along The Boards from Ben Eaves
- Improve Your Wrist Shot from Dwayne Blais
- Quick Fix for Stopping from Dwayne Blais
- 2 v 1 Tips for Defenders from Ben Eaves
- Forward Skating from Dwayne Blais
- Developing a Quick Release from Dwayne Blais
- Quick Fix for Forward Skating from Dwayne Blais
- Transition Turns from Dwayne Blais
- How to Skate Backwards from Dwayne Blais
View 200+ Skill Development Videos
Top Coaching Clip Categories of 2024
- Breakouts
- Down Low Play Defensive
- Power Play 5 v 4
- Offensive Zone Face-Offs
- 3 v 2 Zone Entry
- Compete Level
- Backhecking
- 2-1-2 Forecheck
- Net Front Defensive
- Defensive Zone Face-offs
- Angling
- Penalty Kill 4 v 5
- Gap Control
- 1 v 1 Defensive
- F1 Pressure
Most Popular IHS Coaching Tools of 2024
- IHS Drawing Tool - our digital drawing tool that allows coaches to easily draw drills & systems. Coaches without a membership can download images & PDFs for free. IHS Members can save their drawings in a drill library, add video, add the drills to a practice plans, and easily share the content with players, parents & coaches.
- IHS Practice Planner - create engaging practice plans & share them with coaches, players & parents.
- IHS For Associations - IHS for your whole association. Allows for easy collaboration between coaches with a shared association practice & drill library.
- Save & Share Coaching Clips - Coaches can save & share coaching clips with their team.
- IHS Game Planner - plan out your game day roster & game strategy.
- The Weekly Edge Newsletter - join 36,000+ coaches that get new practices delivered to their inbox for free, once a week!
- Adding Team Logo to Content - add your team logo to drills, practices & more.
- Age Specific Landing Pages - coaches can find relevant content for their age group in our age specific landing pages: U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, U18, Over 18.
- New Content Feed - Stay on the cutting edge with new ideas and concepts by following our new content feed.
Look back at previous best of recaps: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019.
The Team at IHS would like to wish you all a Happy 2025!
Thank you so much for being part of the IHS Coaching Community. We really appreciate you being here and allowing us to be part of your coaching journey.
Please contact us anytime with any questions or suggestions. We would love to hear what you would like to see from us in 2025, what we can improve upon, or just reach out to say hi! We love hearing from our members and truly appreciate every message and suggestion that we receive. We have a lot of exciting developments for the new year that we can not wait to share with you. Happy New Year!