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.

Players pair up in groups of 2.  Have players place their sticks on the ice.  Blade of stick facing out with space between two sticks. Have players skate figure 8s around sticks.  One player does 3, then other player goes. Then switch directions. Then have them do it backwards 3 times each way. Then have them do transitions 3 times each way.  Repeat as needed. If time, place handles of stick so they are touching and have them play tag arounds sticks. 

The Trucks & Trailers Warm-Up drill can be utilized for all age & skill levels, and done in any area of the ice. For this example, we are using the neutral zone, but the activity can easily be set up in each zone, or a smaller area.

The premise is simple, players partner up and one player is a Truck, while the other player is a Trailer. The Trailers try to mimic their Trucks movements. This activity forces both players to keep their head up, and be aware of their surroundings!

Setup

• Set up a designated area that the trucks & trailers can skate. Can be any zone, or any marked off area of the ice.
• Rep # 1 - without pucks:
  • On the first whistle, the trucks do their best to navigate the area and perform skilled movements (tight turns, pivots, forward & backwards skating, mohawk turns, etc).
  • The trailers do their best to follow the exact movements of the trucks, while being aware of everyone on the ice.
  • On the second whistle (Rep # 2), switch roles! The trucks become trailers and trailers become trucks.
• Rep # 2 - with pucks:
  • Same as above, but the truck & trailer both have pucks.

Coaching Points

• KEEP YOUR HEAD UP! All players need to keep their heads up and be aware of their surroundings.
• Trucks, work on skilled moves. Don't just skate and turn. Throw in some fakes and fun skill moves that the trailer must try to mimic.

Variations

• Can be set up in different areas of the ice (the smaller the space the more challenging it is)
• Coaches can shout out moves or skills that the trucks must perform, and the trailers must follow.

Have the kids pass back and forth.  Focus on the form.  Keep this simple and let's see how the kids do at basic passing.  Pair the kids up with a partner of equal skill level.

The Pit Chaos Handling With Passing drill is an excellent activity that helps players work on awareness, puck handling, and passing skills. This drill can be used as a warm-up in practice or games, or as a drill to reinforce keeping your head up.

Setup

• Setup 2, 3, or 4 players in the middle of a face-off circle. The more players involved will increase the difficulty of the drill because there will be more skaters to pass & stickhandle around.
• Setup 3 or 4 players around the outside of a circle.
• On the whistle, the players in the middle of the circle begin stickhandling within the border of the circle. The players on the outside begin passing the puck to each other. 
• After 20-30 seconds, players rotate.

Coaching Points

• Encourage players to keep their heads up and scan the ice.
• Players stickhandling should work to get to open space.
• Players passing the puck scan the ice and think ahead as to where they would pass the puck before they get it.

Variations

• Can set up in different areas of the ice.
• Coaches can require two touch or one touch passes for higher skilled groups.
• Can increase or decrease the # of players involved. More players inside the circle will make the drill more challenging.

F1 starts with puck (in black) and skates through the two tires, goes around the top tire and passes to F2.  F1 continues around a figure 8 (now in red), making a tight turn around bottom tire and receives the puck back from F2.  F1 goes back around the top tire and passes to F2 and now F2 becomes the new skater who will pass to F3.  Split the team up into 2 or 3 groups and run this concurrently.

A coach should be at each station and be ready to make a quick pass (or give another puck to F2 for another pass attempt) to keep the drill moving.  If one of the players makes a bad pass, coach to put new puck in play.

Switch directions halfway through

You can vary the distance of the passer to change the style and difficulty of the pass.