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Cheat Sheet

Power Play Passing & Penalty Kill Habits

Power Play Passing & Penalty Kill Habits

Monday, January 15th, 2024

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. These drills and practices can be modified to become more basic or more advanced.

Practice Theme: The drills & games in this practice help teams work on power play passing & penalty kill habits. We encourage coaches to let players get reps on both the power play & penalty kill. 

Power Play Passing Coaching Points:

  1. Keep head up: it is critically important to keep your head up and scan the ice to identify where open ice is, where the defenders are, and where your teammates are.
  2. Use deception: create space & openings by using your head, eyes, body or fakes to make the defenders think you are going somewhere else with the puck.
  3. Move & get open: when you do not have the puck, jump to open ice & keep you stick on the ice, so you are an outlet for your teammates. 
  4. Shoot quickly after a pass: increase scoring chances by shooting quickly after a pass, since the goalie and defenders will be out of position.

Penalty Kill Coaching Points:

  1. Keep head up: scan the ice to know where your teammates are, and where the opposing team is.
  2. Keep sticks on the ice: keep your sticks on the ice to block passing & shooting lanes.
  3. Be smart when chasing: work to protect the high percentage scoring areas inside the dots. Only chase when there is a good chance you can win the puck.
Rondo Circle Keep Away

Break up the team into even groups. Have 4 or 5 passers and 1 to 2 defenders around each circle.

Alternating 4 V 3 Power Play Game
  • Power Play team should focus on keeping possession and creating passing lanes by getting open for their teammates.
  • Penalty Kill team should focus on good Penalty Kill Habits by keeping their sticks on the ice to block passing lanes, and angle players to the outside of the ice.
Triangle Scoring Game
  • The Power Play team should focus on quick passing & shooting during this game. Encourage deceptive passes.
  • The Penalty Kill defender should focus on keeping their stick on the ice to block passing lanes.
  • Teams can progress this drill & allow the offensive players to move around.
Defend Net Front Progression With 2 Point Players
  • Players on offense should act as if they are on the Power Play and make sure to work to be an outlet to their teammate at the point. They can also find space in front of the net for tips & deflections.
  • The point players should work on finding passing & shooting lanes when they have the puck.
  • The defenders should focus on keeping their sticks on the ice to block passing lanes, and work to turnover the puck so they can transition to offense.
Sticks In Lanes Game
  • The Power Play team should focus on quick passing & shooting during this game. Practice deceptive passes.
  • The Penalty Kill defenders should focus on keeping their stick on the ice to block passing lanes.
Power Play Reps with Mad Attackers

Use this setup to work on in zone Power Play reps. The Power Play team has all 5 players, and the Penalty Kill team has 1 "Mad Attacker" and then progress to 2. The Mad Attackers pressure the puck really hard to force the Power Play to make plays and get comfortable with the power play setup.

5 v 3 to 5 v 4 Power Play Game

Finish the practice with the 5 v 3 to 5 v 4 Power Play Game to bring all of the practice teaching to life in an in zone Power Play setup. Reinforce everything that was worked on earlier in the practice. Keep score! 1 point for a power play goal and 1 point if the penalty kill can skate the puck through a gate.

Additional Resources