The major concept of the Gates of Buffalo Small Area Hockey Game is to practice moving to open space, communicating verbally and non-verbally with teammates, so they can score Goals by passing through Gates. 

This game framework will help players learn to play with their head up, communicate with teammates and move to open space. 

As a coach, If you commit to working on activities like this instead of memorization drills for a portion of each practice, you will marvel at how your team begins to work together. It will look extremely messy at first, but players will get better with each repetition. Moving to open space, and moving the puck will eventually become second nature to the team.

GAME OBJECTIVE

• Score as many goals as possible by passing through the "Gates."
• You can not pass through the same gate twice in a row!

SETUP & ACTIVITY VARIABLES

• Players: great for 3, 4 or 5 players at a time.
• Time: You can rotate through groups of players in 30, 45 or 60 second shifts and count how many goals are scored.
  • Or you can set a number of goals (let's use 5 for example) and stop the watch after 5 goals are completed.
  • 5 players can be participating in the activity, while another 5 rest. Blow the whistle and the next 5 jump in. It gets fun when the teams compete against each other!
• Space: can be set up to be within a zone, or half of a zone (station) or a smaller area. The smaller the space, the more challenging it will be for the players as they are forced to make quicker decisions.
• Added Challenge: add obstacles within the space to challenge the players further.
  • Tires, cones, sticks, defenceman, etc placed in the space will make it harder to pass and skate around. As time goes on the added obstacles will help improve their reaction & decision making.
• Group Competition: After the group gets comfortable with the exercises, you can add a natural element of competition between the groups by counting the number of successful goals made in the specified amount of time.
  • Or you can time each group and see how fast they can complete 5 (or any other number) goals. You will marvel at how the natural element of competition between groups will make the game more intense, competitive and fun!
• With a Goalie: You can require the players to make 2 (or more) passes through a gate before they can shoot on net. After they shoot on net, they need to make the required number of passes through the gates again. 
• Pucks: You can add in 2 or more pucks at a time to make players pay more attention to the game and their surroundings.
• Gates: You can add 3 or more gates. They can be made of tires, cones, pucks and other materials. Change up the sizes of the gates for an extra challenge. The smaller the gate, the more challenging the game is!
• 3 vs 3 Game: You can setup gates and make the game 3 v 3, 3 vs 2, or 3 vs 1 so there is another team working to prevent scoring on the gates. Adding additional players for the team to play against will give the game a whole new spin. View a video demo of the 3 vs 3 game setup.

Setup Suggestions for Elite Players

• Make the gates much smaller.
• You can add a hockey stick at the bottom of each gate so players must "sauce" through a gate and over the stick for the point.
• Add various obstacles on the ice such as sticks that players must be aware of and pass around or sauce over.
• For extra fun, add a defenceman. Or play 3 vs 2 or 3 vs 3.  
• If you have a goalie, require 2 or more passes through the gates before players are allowed to take a shot on net.  

COACHING POINTS 

• Encourage players to always move to open space on the ice. Do not allow them to stand still and pass the puck back and forth.
• Encourage players to find "passing lanes" to allow good passes. 
  • This skill is extremely valuable for youth players to work on. Finding passing lanes when you have the puck and jumping to open space when you don't have the puck so your teammate can pass to you is extremely beneficial during games. 
• Encourage verbal communication (calling teammate by name, saying you are open, etc).
• Encourage non-verbal communication (good eye contact, showing a passing target, tapping a stick, etc).
• Allow players to make mistakes. It will take time to get comfortable with these activities. But as time goes on you will see them picking their head up to make a decision, which is the goal of this small area game.

Why do we call this small area game "Gates of Buffalo?" The game has been called "gates" in the world of soccer and we decided to add Buffalo to it for two fun reasons: First, IHS has strong ties to Buffalo, NY. Secondly, the imagery of a Buffalo can help drive home to your youth players why you are practicing this game. If you do not pick your head up and use your teammates while playing the game of hockey, you run the risk of getting trampled by the other team. This can feel like getting run over by a Buffalo (physically or on the scoreboard). This game helps prevent both of those situations by forcing players to keep their head up while communicating and working with teammates to score goals. 

This 2 vs 2 drill is excellent for working on high-speed turnovers or transitions in the neutral zone. When a turnover occurs in the neutral zone it is important for the forwards to get up ice quick, find passing lanes and work to generate a scoring opportunity. On the defensive side of things, it is important to work with your partner to keep the forwards to the outside of the ice with good gap control. 

The video clip is from Buffalo Sabres Development Camp. The drill is set up to be half-ice situation but it is running out of both sides of the ice for full ice drill. Coaches can easily set up this drill to be full ice (like shown in the video), half ice (with only one side running), full-ice half-width (so the other width can be used for stations) or a 1/4 ice station. The variety of ways this drill can be set up makes this an excellent option for many ages and skill levels.

Setup:

• Have 2 forwards and 2 defensemen ready to go 2 vs 2.
• Can be full ice, half ice, or set up as a 1/4 station.
• When the whistle blows, the two forwards cross to generate speed coming through the neutral zone. You can have the players skate around the players waiting for their turn (like it is shown in the video). This makes it hard for the defense to know which forward is coming out with the puck.
• The forwards go into the zone and the 2 vs 2 begins.
• The forwards work to score a goal. The play goes until a goal is scored, the play is whistled down, or the defense takes the puck out of the zone.
• When the whistle is blown all players need to sprint out of the zone.

Forward Coaching Points:

• Forwards should work to generate speed crossing over at the start of the drill.
• Forwards should be mindful of the defense and consider crossing with their teammate to drop the puck or changing up their skating speed to create space and throw off the defenceman's gap.
• The forward without the puck should be looking to go to open space to be an outlet or driving to the net to bring the defense with them.
• Communicate with your teammate!

Defensive Coaching Points:

• Stick on the ice!
• Use good defensive stick position to steer forwards to the outside and take away dangerous passes.
• Work on keeping a close gap to the forwards. You do not want to be so far back that they can easily shoot.
• Work to angle forwards to the outside of the ice.
• Communicate with your partner!

Variations:

• Quick Turn Up 3 on 2. Same setup as the drill above but add an additional forward.
• Quick Turn Up 2 on 1
• Quick Turn Up 1 on 1

Description

The 2 v 1 Quick Strike from Kendall Coyne Schofield is a great small area game for practicing quick developing 2 on 1's for both offense and defense. The game should have a lot of scoring and pace to it.  

Set Up

• Set up 2 nets on the half wall in an offensive zone
• Draw a line (or place a few cones/tires) in the middle of the zone going from the blue line to the end boards (through the crease)
• Each side has 2 forwards, 1 defenseman and a goalie
• Players who are not in the 2 v 1 should keep the puck in along the blue line

Game

The objective of the game is to play up to a certain number, team "X" vs team "O"

• Coach passes a puck in or chips it in for a battle
• Forwards are trying to score
• Defense is trying to get the puck to their forwards on the other side of the ice to activate the 2 on 1
• As soon as the puck crosses over to the other side, the 2 forwards and defensemen clear out and 3 new players come in
• Players can go anywhere on their half of the ice
• If a goal is scored, the coach should reward the scoring team with another puck
• This game should be continuous, but the coach can dump in another puck if one clears the zone or the goalie freezes it
• Keep Score!

Variation

• After the defenseman transitions the puck to his or her forwards, they are allowed to activate and cross to the other side
• If this happens, then one of the forwards (from zone that was just cleared) can also activate, making it a 3 v 2
• This version is a little more skating and has more decisions involve

Coaching Points

1. Quick shots and quick passes
2. Players on the side without the puck should work to be an outlet for their teammate (get open, call for the puck and present your stick as a target).
3. Defensive players need to keep their heads up and make quick decisions to transition the puck to their teammates

Description

This quick paced small area game from Kendall Coyne Schofield gets a lot of players moving and is great to work on goal scoring when there is back pressure. 

Set Up

• Set up 2 nets on the half wall in one of the zones
• A goalie is defending each net
• Team "X" and Team "O" should be lined up on the blue line on one side
• Make sure there is at least a 10 ft space between the teams on the blue line
• There should be pucks lined up for each team near the center of the blue line

Game

Play up to a certain amount of goals, team "X" vs team "O"

• On the whistle, player 1 from team O skates in on a mini breakaway 
• Player 1 from team X leaves on the same whistle to apply back pressure on the player from team O
• On the second whistle player 2 from team X skates in on a mini breakaway while player 2 from team O applies the back pressure
• On that same second whistle, player 1 from both team X and team O join the rush to make it a 2 v 2
• On the third whistle player 3 from team O skates in on a mini breakaway while player 3 from team X applies the back pressure
• On that same third whistle, players 1 and 2 from both teams join the rush to make it a 3 v 3
• Coach can blow the whistle whenever they see fit
• Make sure the team who starts with the puck switches after every rep to keep it fair
• Keep score!

Coaching Points

1. Scoring Under Pressure - players need to control the puck and get to the net and shoot quickly
2. Escaping Pressure - when your teammates join the rush you can make the decision to escape pressure and find the players joining the rush
3. Applying Pressure - working hard to apply pressure to your opponents trying to score

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!

Related Content

• 14 Benefits of Small Area Hockey Games & 45+ Game Ideas