Below are a few on-ice drills that help in developing skills for a good game.
Czech Race:
For this drill, the players line up on the red line as shown in the figure. When the whistle is blown, two players standing opposite to each other race towards the puck. Whoever reaches the puck first shoots while the other one then back-checks. When the next whistle is blown, the next two players rush the other way.
The Escape Race:
This is fun drill that entices competition and can be done half-ice. This one works on full-speed swift skating, backward and forward and on power turns and pivots.
When the whistle is sounded, the first player from each end skates down the route as shown in the figure. Full power turns to be done around each of the four curves, the players are then supposed to pivot backwards across the circle’s lower quarter. The players then rush towards the puck and whoever reaches it first shoots and the other one back-checks.
Hockey Conditioning Drill:
This drill is short, has explosive surges of speed and offers a perfect Rest-to-work ratio of 3:1 which is great for hockey players.
It comprises of four groups who are facing each other. As soon as one group finishes, the other goes in. When all 4 groups are done, it is group 1’s turn again and so on. This is how the drill goes:
Rush to the red line and come back; do 5 push-ups
Rush to the blue line and come back; do 5 push-ups
Rush to the red line, come back; rush to the blue line, come back; do 5 push-ups
Rush to the blue line, red line, blue line, come back; do 5 push-ups
Rush to the red line, come back; rush to the blue line, come back; do 5 push-ups
Rush to the blue line and come back; do 5 push-ups
Rush to the red line and come back; do 5 push-ups
A variation in this drill can be doing sit-ups in place of push-ups, going down on the knees at every stop, adding pucks etc.
One on One Over-Speeding Drill:
This works on pivots, skating and gap control and a bunch of other skills. The option 2 of this drill shows a re-grouping drill along with a diagrammatic explanation.
Option 1:
When the whistle is sounded, with respect to the diagram, F makes a pass to D. F then skates about the ice and gets a return pass. D then follows up on the ice while F skates across the circle in the middle and goes one on one with D.
Option 2:
F skates about the circle in the center, F makes a pass to D and then goes to the boards. D ends the gap in the neutral zone by making a board pass. F then turns about for a one on one.