9/2 practice

The Jets 2 V 2 Drill from TJ Manastersky was shared 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.

The Jets 2 V 2 is a rush drill that puts a lot of pressure on the defenseman because they will be trying to gap up properly as they try to handle a lot of speed from the forwards.

Setup

• Start with 2 defenseman at the top of the circles. The rest of the defenseman are along the boards at center ice.
• Forwards are on all 4 blue lines with pucks.
• On the first whistle, the far forwards exchange lanes (and can exchange a puck) before they attack. They must attack from outside of the neutral zone face off dots.
• The defenders jump up the to neutral zone and attempt to gap up properly and handle the excess speed.
• The 2 v 2 plays out until the coach blows a second whistle. 
• On the second whistle, the first set of forwards is done, the second set of forwards on the near blue line start and race around the far face-off dots before they begin their attack on the defenders.
• The defenders that just finished the original 2 v 2 race to gap up against the second set of forwards.

Coaching Points

• Defenders need to be aware of the speed from the forwards and need to work to create a proper gap while matching their speed.
• Coaches can have defenders work on their angling skills on the second 2 v 2 rep.
• Forwards should practice fundaments that they would use on a 2 on 2 rush. They might consider driving the net, utilizing cut backs or change of speed to create additional space on the rush.

Connect with TJ by visiting his IHS Contributor Page, where you can subscribe to his newsletter, podcast, and see other drills he has shared.

Set-up

in one corner  there will be 3 lines of forwards. In the opposite corner one line of forwards. Both lines will have pucks. 

Defensive players will line up in the neutral zone out of the way. 2 will be on the blue line at the start of the drill

Part 1

The single line of forwards(bottom line in diagram) will make a pass to the Near defense. The Near D will pay across to the far D. The Far D will “walk” the puck into the zone and take a low hard shot on net.

At the same time the forward who made the initial pass will move to the front of the net to screen the goalie for the shot. 

Part 2

After the shot the line of forwards (top line in the diagram) will take off up the ice for a 3 v 2. 

The single Forward who made the initial pass will forecheck

The Paint Scoring Drill is one where players will see how fast they can score three pucks. Players will be able to work on finishing using backhands, one timers, and wrist/snap shots. To set up the drill place a couple barriers stacked on top of each other in front of the net. Another net placed face down (or another type of object that you can use to bounce pucks off of) at about the hash marks directly in front of the net. The first player starts about a sticl length away from the face down net and the drill operates as follows:

• Next player passes a puck off the face down net from behind player 1.
• Player 1 reacts to the puck, gathers it to their backhand as they move around the face down net and shoot a backhand shot.
• They immediately open up to face player 2 who gives them a pass and they receive and shoot again trying to elevate the puck over the two barriers.
• Player 2 passes another puck off of the face down net
• Player 1 stops after their 2nd shot and retrieves this third puck on their forehand.
• Player 1 takes another shot as they move around the face down net on their forehand.

The Circle Puck Protect Drill from John Dean is a warm-up drill that gets players engaged at the beginning of practice while practicing puck protection & angling concepts.

Setup

• Players in opposite corners of the ice.
• On the first whistle, 2 players from the corner battle for the loose puck inside the face-off circle.
• On the second whistle, the player with the puck, or the player that last touched the puck, takes the puck down the ice, while the player without the puck gets up ice and looks to angle the other puck carrier coming down the ice.
• The forward with the puck can NOT cut to the middle of the ice until they pass the red line.

Coaching Points

• For the 1 v 1 circle battle, compete, get low and work hard to use your body to protect the puck.
• For the 1 v 1 full ice:
  • Defender: Try to match their skating speed. Keep stick on the ice and not let the forward cut to the center of the ice. Push them wide with your stick and angle.
  • Forward: Keep head up and look to see if there are any opportunities to cut to the middle of the ice. If not, drive wide and to the net.