I was thinking about the gold medal match-up between Canada and USA at the Olympics when I wrote up this brand-new practice plan.

Both of these teams POSSESS & PROTECT the puck along the wall and down low so well, which allows them to generate terrific scoring chances from those areas.

So I put this plan together for my morning 7am crew of U15AA players and they were flying! They were moving their feet, scanning the ice, making reads, and making moves to attack off the wall.

You’ll see the best players in the world doing just that during the gold medal game tonight.

Here are some clips of their play off the wall in the Olympic tournament thus far – featuring Team USA:

And you can see the next generation of players work on the puck possession & protection in the drills below.

Drill #1: We’re focusing on the specifics of the skating – the transfer of weight into & out of the turn. Players are thinking about the 3 different steps – outside leg/inside edge, inside leg/outside edge, crossover with outside leg. We are using the ringette rings to make sure players keep their sticks on the ice and can keep their head up throughout.

Drill #2: This is a simple way to apply the drill above into a game like situation. Lots of different variations you could insert here but we kept it simple to use as a 2nd warm-up drill.

Drill #3: This drill could be started off a retrieval in the corner, off the end wall or at the hash marks. It can also be modified for forwards and defense. The 1st 2 players are forwards and finish with a shot on net. The 3rd player is a D and finishes with a pass to a net placed in the neutral zone.

Drill #4: The clips below show a few different variations of the same drill. In the first, the player has the option to pass to either outlet before attacking the net. In the 2nd & 3rd clips, the players are making a read based on which of the passers has their stick on the ice. If the receivers have their sticks in the air, the puck carrier attacks immediately. If one or both have their sticks on the ice, the player must read the situation and pass accordingly.

Feel free to pass these along to anyone who you think might benefit from the information & inspiration!

Work Hard. Dream BIG.

See It. Be It.

~ Coach Kim