This drill starts with playersin two parallel lines on each side of the coach between the blue lines.  On the first whistle, one skater from each side skates forward and crosses over around low the face-off circle on their side of the ice and continue to where the blue line and boards meet where they stop and immediately begin to side-step across the blue line.  When they reach the line of forwards they stop and immediately skate forward to the redline where they side step across to the boards, where once again they stop, skate and finally side-step the blue line before one last stop and then crossover the low face-off circle before getting back in line.  Once the first skaters hit the blue line, the coach can blow the whistle and send the next two players in line.  There will usually be anywhere from 3 to 4 players completing the drill on each side of the ice at a given time.  It's a great drill to use to evaluate your player's skating abilities or to start a practice with.  It's also good to have the d-men do the drill skating backwards.

To start, get all defense in the corner with a group of pucks.  There should also be a line for LW, C, and RW.  Also place a bunch of pucks behind the net.  To start, D1 skates behind the net, picks up a puck and makes a breakout pass to RW.  The Center times their loop so they are available for a pass from the RW.  The RW makes a quick pass to C and then breaks to receive a pass back from the Center.  The Center and D1 then regroup.  D1 picks up another puck behind the net and makes another breakout pass to LW.  LW makes a pass to the Center and receives the puck right back, then continues down the ice for a shot on net.  D1 and the Center then regoup again, this time D1 makes a breakout pass to the Center and the Center skates down the ice for a shot. After making the pass to the Center, D1 makes themself available in the slot for a pass from the next Defense in line.  D1 then goes down the ice for a shot and the second Defense start the new repetition.

The Billy Purcell Breakout Drill from Coach TJ Manastersky works on fundamentals of breakouts, such as passing, support, communication, and it leads into zone entry concepts.

TJ Manastersky shared this game with the IHS Community while he was an Assistant Coach at Union College. TJ is the Current Head Coach at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Setup

• Forwards are at center ice.
• Defenders are at opposite corners.
• Coaches are set up in each zone.
• On the whistle, the first D will skate and pivot forwards to backwards around the first dot.
• The second D chips a puck behind the goal line for the first D to pick up and wheel around the net.
• The forwards at center ice come down into their defensive zone and help with the breakout.
• One forward goes to the boards as a breakout option and the other forward acts as a center and swings low in the middle of the ice for support.
• The coach in the zone will take one of the forward options away. This makes the D keep their head up so they can select the appropriate passing option.
• After the D makes the pass, this begins a 3 on 0 rush. Coaches can be an obstacle in the offensive zone and teams can work on various zone entry options before they attack the net.

Coaching Points

• Defensemen need to pick their head up coming around the net to be aware of the opposition and where their forwards are.
• Forwards need to work hard to get back and support their defenseman.

The Sens Regroup Drill from Coach TJ Manastersky works on offensive zone concepts and neutral zone transition. 

TJ Manastersky shared this game with the IHS Community while he was an Assistant Coach at Union College. TJ is the Current Head Coach at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Setup

• There are forwards in the corners, two defensemen at the point and two defensemen in front of the net
• On whistle # 1, the forward in the corner passes to the defensemen at the point and begins a net front battle. The defensemen walks the blue line and tries to hit the forwards stick for the deflection.
• On whistle # 2, the same forward to defenseman low to high pass happens, but this time there is a 2 v 2 in front of the net. The defenseman walks the blue line and takes a shot on net.
• On whistle # 3, another forward out of the corner passes low to high to the defenseman at the point, who walks the blue line and takes a shot on net into the 3 v 2 in front of the net.
• On whistle # 4, the coach on the far blue line will spot a puck around the blue line. The defenseman that was at the point jumps back to retreive the puck while the other defenseman jumps in the hole as support.
• The 3 forwards that were battling in front of the net join the defensemen in the neutral zone, while the two defensemen that were in front of the net gap up. This begins a high tempo 3 v 2 rush.

3 v 3  Neutral Zone Break is a competitive small area game that also encourages some creativity and anticipation to be successful. Each team has coaches that are involved in passing. These positions can also be players if you do not want to use coaches.

Setup

• 3 on 3 in the neutral zone.
• Goals and goalies on the blue line.
• Coaches are on the blue line with pucks.
• Game starts with a coach flipping in one puck into the neutral zone. The team plays 3 v 3, both trying to score.
• The one major wrinkle in the game is that a team can throw the puck behind their own blueline at any point to get a new puck and pass from their coach.
• If an offensive team shoots the puck and misses the net, it is the other teams puck as the coach will pass them a new puck.

Coaching Points

• Coaches / passing player at the blue line be alert! This game is only successful and fun if that coach or passer is alert and ready to make passes if a puck goes wide or a puck is shot back past a teams own blue line.
• Team with the puck, be alert and look for fast break opportunities, especially if a player dumps the puck back past their own blue line.
• Offensive players keep sticks on the ice and be ready for passes from your teammate or the coach.
• Defensive teams be alert of all players on the ice and be aware of potential fast break opportunities. Keep sticks on the ice to block passing lanes.

Variations

• Can have the coaches that are passing be players.
• Can have this game be 2 v 2 or 3 v 3 with the neutral zone setup.
• If you make it 4 v 4 you will want to move the nets back to the top of the face off circles, and any puck dumped past where the net is can activate a new puck.