Please Note: The Practice of the Week is usually designed to be utilized across multiple age levels. With that being said, we highly encourage you to adjust the drills based on your team's age and skill levels. IHS should always be used as a starting point and you can add/remove constraints to fit your team.

Practice Theme: Retrieving the puck along the boards happens countless times throughout the course of the game and it is where many 1 on 1 battles are won or lost. When players collect the puck off of the boards is not usually a highlight-reel play, but if they are able to learn a few simple concepts, they will be able to impact the flow of the game. The purpose of this practice is to get your players comfortable with retrievals in different situations and and to work on 3 retrieval concepts.  These concepts will allow players to create space so they have time to make a play and they will become much harder to hit.  

Key Coaching Points

1. Shoulder Scan - This is concept # 1 because it is most important. Looking over your shoulder will allow you to know if you have time, need to make an evasive move to create time and also allows you to see where your support is.
2. Retrieve the Puck at an Angle - This will allow you to keep your speed up while you are going to get the puck so you can make a play. Plus it is much safer than going head-on into the boards.
3. Use Deception on Your Retrievals - Implementing skating, stick, body deception into your retrievals when you have pressure will create more time and space for you to make a play.