The start of the season brings plenty of challenges for coaches, and one of the biggest is that players often aren’t in peak shape. Building endurance and strength can be important, but bag skates are ineffective, outdated, and don’t develop the skills, habits, or decision-making that truly prepare players for the season. The good news is that conditioning doesn’t always have to feel like conditioning. With the right practice structure, pace, and drill selection, players can get a great workout while also developing other areas of their game.
Instead of using bag skates and line-to-line drills, think through drills and small areas games that have multiple benefits. Your players will love competing in them, they'll improve their skills and you'll still achieve the conditioning benefits needed to prepare for the season.
Before we get to the drills and small area games, here are 3 important tips to keep in mind:
- Ice Utilization Matters- Be intentional with every rep. Plan where drills start, how players rotate, and the work-to-rest ratio. The more efficient the setup, the more touches, decisions, and conditioning your players get out of the same amount of ice time..
- Regulate the Intensity - push the tempo when you need maximum effort, and pull it back when the focus is teaching or recovery. Managing this balance keeps players engaged, prevents burnout, and ensures practices mirror the flow of a real game.
- Create a Competitive Environment - Build competition into your drills and games to keep players sharp and motivated. Your long-term goal is for the players themselves to drive this competitive edge, but as a coach you set the standard and create the environment that makes it possible.
We hope you can find a few ideas below that work for your team this season. As always, we encourage you to adapt and adjust our content to fit your team and players. Our goal at IHS not to replace creativity, but to spark it.
Ramsay 3 v 3 Race
Ramsay 3 v 3 Race from Jason Lammers is a competitive game that involves puck races and 3 v 3 play. We love this drill because it works on communication, puck support and winning 50/50 puck races. You can also get 12 players going at once and utilize the entire ice. This drill also has some nice variations with the same setup as you can change the starting point or even do the game 2 v 2 or 4 v 4.
2 v 0 Continuous Backcheck
2 v 0 Continuous Backcheck from TJ Manastersky of Brock University is a fast paced drill that works on transition and making a play with back pressure. This is a great drill to start practice to set the pace and get the feet moving. We prefer the nets where they are in the video, but you can move them back to create more skating and a better chance for the backcheckers to make a play. You can also do this 3 v 3, but we recommend a larger area if doing so.
Sully 2 on 2 Transition Game
Sully 2 on 2 Transition Game from Michael Peca is a high intensity small area game that requires quick transitions from offense to defense. This drill is fast-paced, requires a high compete level and uses 1/3 of the ice. It is a great game to work on defensive communication and transition mentality on both offense and defense.
NZ Pad Skating with Shot
NZ Pad Skating Race with Shot from Tom Occhino is a fun race game that includes tight turns, establishing body positioning when approaching the puck and requires a high compete level. We love this drill for all of those reasons but it also takes up a very small area of the ice surface and there are endless variations you can implement for different skating patterns.
2 v 2 Bagger
2 v 2 Bagger from Kendall Coyne Schofield requires your players to constantly work to open space to provide support and also to recover to close space on the opponent. There is a lot of information that your players need to process, requiring multiple decisions every few seconds. Don't let the small space fool you, you will need to get your players appropriate rest after each rep.
3 v 1 Keep Away to Line Rush
3 v 1 Keep Away To Line Rush With Backchecker This is a fun drill that works on passing, quick transitions, rush attack and backchecking, while only taking up about 1/3 of the ice. You can add a lot of variations to this to make it a 2 v 2 or 3 v 3. You can also change the starting location of the keep away game based on available ice.
Redwing 2v1 with Backchecker
Red Wing 2 V 1 With Backchecker from TJ Manastersky of Brock University is a high-temp drill where 8 players are going every rep (4 per side). It requires communication on both sides of the puck and works on backchecking principles, but also making plays with back pressure. The forwards really need to move the puck with speed. You can vary the starting locations of all players to create different situations.
Foxhunt Race
Foxhunt Race The foxhunt race is a great drill for all ages and works on puck pursuit, edge work and angling. You can change the starting point of the players based on their ability to make the drill tougher or easier for the "fox". This is a great drill for kids to work on some simple habits and have some fun.
Renegade Line Rush
Renegade Line Rush from TJ Manastersky is a great drill to work on transition mentality. It starts with an in-tight 3v2 and then quickly transitions into a 5v5 line rush where you can work on tracking, zone entry principles, gaining middle ice and sorting out the defensive coverage.
1v1 to 2v2 to 3v3
1v1 to 2v2 to 3v3 from Kendall Coyne Schofield uses 1/3 of the ice and packs in a ton of speed and explosiveness. It's a quick paced rush and track drill with multiple transitions from offense to defense and vice versa.
Conclusion
Conditioning can be fun when you think outside the box. If conditioning is a main goal for you to start the season, please don't waste valuable ice time. Design drills that require decisions, skills, and habits that translate directly to the game and that have a purpose. We hope you can find a few of these useful, or search from our below categories to find even more drills that have benefits far beyond just conditioning.
