U8 - 3 Station Practice Plan #2

This game is inspired by the soccer activity with the same name. Another great warm up activity that will get players excited and ramp up the energy for practice. Players can use pucks or ringettes. In some cases it might be best to only let the advanced players use pucks. This game promotes creativity, awareness, and decision making. It also provide a game that works on their puck control and ability to handle the puck (or ringette) with their head up.

How to Play

The players line up on the goal line with a puck (or ringette) on their stick. Place 3 - 4 coaches or players in the middle (the bulldogs). On the whistle the players will try to skate from one end to the other without getting their puck (or ringette) stolen by the "bulldogs". The "bulldogs" must stay between the blue lines.

This game is the same as Corner Tires 2 vs 2 that is played in 1/4 ice station. The only difference is that this is 3 vs 3 played owithin a slightly larger area using an entire zone.

Setup

Place four tires in a rectangle so that they line up with the dots (as shown in the diagram). The coach has the pucks in the middle along the edge of the zone with the players split into two teams on each side.

Objective

Players score by hitting one of the tires in their opponents end with the puck. Shifts should last for 60 - 90 seconds.

Credit: Diagram and animation produced using Hockey Coach Vision.

This is a great warm up activity for the younger players (U12 and younger). Depending on the amount of players you can set the bouldaries for this game to be played in half ice, inside the blue line at one end, or in the neutral zone. This game will help players develop awareness while maintaining control of the puck. It will require them to have their head up and find players that are "frozen".

Setup

In this game every player will have a puck. The coach will define a boundary based on the amount of players in the game. At the start of the game you must identify 3 players or coaches to be “IT”.

How to play

• On the whistle the players will skate within the boundary while controlling the puck.
• The players (or coaches) that are “IT” try to tag as many players as they can by touching them.
• When a player is touched they must stand with one hand on their stick, feet apart, and the other hand up in the air like they are raising their hand.
• In order to get back in the game another player must attack their triangle by stickhandling through their legs or the space between their feet and stick.
• Play for about 3 minutes or until all of the players have been tagged and are standing still.

This is a basic cross ice 3 vs 3. Depending on your numbers and the age level you can do 4 vs 4 as well. Keep in mind one of the goals is to get every player engaged and a lot of puck touches.

Set Up

Place two nets cross ice facing each other with three players from each team in the playing area. In this set up the goals are moved up to the face-off dots. This allows more space behind the nets and allows for more plays and shots on net. Allow the players to play for 60 - 90 seconds then blow the whistle for a shift change.