Every summer, there’s 1 skill that really captures my attention and becomes a key area of focus at all our skates.

Last summer that was puck protection – or more specifically, initiating contact by building a wall with your body to create separation between you and the opponent (or as I like to say you want it to be puck, you, bad guy). If you want to check last year’s post with 9 simple drills to teach initiating contact, you can find it here.

This summer, we’re focusing a lot of our time on PUCK RETRIEVALS.

We work a lot on open ice retrievals and retrievals off the wall, but today I want to focus on RIMS.

CONTROLLING RIMS:

NO ONE likes to deal with a rimmed puck, but if you’re great at it, it can be a skill that separates.

For 50 percent of the game, the puck is loose and neither team has possession. And often those loose pucks are glued along the wall. The team that can “win the walls” by making smart decisions quickly will have more possession which drives the offense.

In this super simple drill, we focus on 3 ways to control those pesky rims.

BUT 1ST…make sure your players scan/shoulder check before every puck retrieval! Not only is a blind rim retrieval dangerous, it’s a missed opportunity to make the next play quickly. In a game situation, players need to read whether to pop it, carry it or protect it based on pressure and support. We have to build those reads into all our drills so they are 2nd nature come game time.

Option 1: Stop and pop – control it and move it immediately to a teammate. Great option if you’re under hard pressure or you see an immediate opportunity to get the puck to a player in a better position than you. This could be a forward hitting teammate in low slot for a quick shot or D hitting centre moving low and slow in middle for on breakout

Option 2: Roll with it – continue in the same direction puck is going. You can carry it, or pop it out as seen here.

Option 3: Roll back – turn back in the direction puck came from. Again, pop it or carry it.

While this short clip doesn’t show the carry option, it is a critical option to master for forwards and Ds. It is critical that our Ds can wheel away from pressure quickly even if just to gain a step or two away from the fore-checker before making a pass. If they can turn it up ice and go for a skate to lead the breakout, that’s great too. Forwards who can pop off the wall quickly with a rimmed puck in the offensive zone are often rewarded with a quick strike at the net as a shooter or passer.

TWO QUICK KEYS TO SUCCESS FOR RIMS:

1. Players will always find it easier to pick up a rim on their forehand. One of the reasons they struggle on the backhand is that their top hand is glued to their hip or simply too close to their body. This makes it very hard to cushion the puck and often leads to the puck exploding off their stick. Getting that top hand out away from the body and giving yourself more space off the wall makes a massive difference in picking up a rim on the backhand side.

2. “Skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” That quote by Wayne Gretzky definitely applies to controlling a rim effectively. Instead of chasing that rim around the wall, figure out where it’s going and how you need to adjust your skating accordingly. Scanning for pressure and support is especially critical on a harder rim because you probably won’t have much time for decision making once you get to the puck.

Let’s create great habits and build hockey IQ with simpler drills like the one above done better, more often and with decision making built in. We can also start more of our drills off controlling a rim to emphasize the importance of winning the walls in dominating the possession game.

Work Hard.
Dream BIG.
Win The Walls.

~ Coach Kim

Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS
Director &. Founder, Total Female Hockey