Hockey Defense Drills

Helper Drill

Here's a great drill from Sportvideos.com that encourages defensemen to scan the ice before they receive the puck when regrouping in the neutral zone.




In this drill, the defenseman starts on either size of the ice at the center line and skates backwards between two cones at the center ice face-off circle.

The defenseman then looks to both sides of the ice to see not only where the puck is coming from, but also to see which teammates are open.He then makes a quick pass to the open player at the other side of the ice, and skates around to the front of the cones and repeats the drill on the other side.

A very common mistake is to call for a pass without having any idea what you will do with the puck once you get it. By scanning the ice before you receive the pass, you can quickly move the puck on to your teammate's stick. You may even be able to practice this drill during your team's warm up before a game (without the cones.)


Breakout Drills DVD

Breakouts are necessary to create the dangerous 2-on-1 plays. Mark Carlson, the USHL's Coach of the Year in 2004-05, covers the key breakout ingredients - quick, move the puck, timing, talking, read pressure and maintain puck support - in these hockey drills.
Details include getting to the puck quickly, check shoulder, not handling the puck, forwards in position and support of the puck. The defense drill uses only the defensemen in a 2-on-2 alignment.
The next drill involves one defenseman and one forward and can be run out of both ends. The Mohawk Turn is a skill used in this drill where the player's chest is facing middle rink, ready to receive a pass.
Breakout options include adding two defensemen with two forwards at both ends. Other drills focus on support and positioning, reading pressure in the neutral zone and reading pressure in breakouts. These hockey drills are fundamental in nature and rely on many small details to assure execution.