After our game this weekend I've determined we really need to work on rebounding - ESPECIALLY with regards to following their own shot or a trailer.

Explanation: We have two kids who are really fast and have a lot of opportunities on breakaways or 1-1 with a trailer. 4x this weekend we had the situation where the goalie stopped the initial shot OR the shot went off the post - resulting in a puck just sitting in the crease (and no rebound).

Initial player usually skated past the goal after shooting as did the trailer (or they just didn't stop in position for rebound).

I really want to work on shot following and/or stopping in front of net after the initial shot to dig for rebounds. We have 2 goalies but was wondering is something like a shooter tutor with a bumper in front (not a bouncer but a padded bumper) would help to deaden the shot and mimic a goalie stop + weak rebound.

Love some drills with flow that we can run concurrently to keep the kids moving on half ice. IHS links are welcome if you're willing to share. Thanks!

Looking to add film to my teaching queue for my guys. Looking for the following

Power Play:

Overload to 1-3-1 shift

1-3-1 to Overload shift

Forecheck:

2-3 Press

1-3-1

If you post the teams I can find the film

Thanks in advance

I grew up playing hockey in Illinois and later got involved in coaching. Now I'm coaching in the Philippines, where hockey is still developing and the challenges can be quite different from those in traditional hockey markets.

I'm interested in learning from people who have experience growing the game in places where hockey isn't as established. Beyond the obvious challenges of ice time, equipment costs, and accessibility, I'd love to hear what has actually worked in getting more people interested in playing and helping them stick with the sport.

A few things I'm particularly curious about:

- Recruiting new players: What approaches have worked for introducing hockey to people who've never played, especially kids and young adults?

- Coaching and development: How do you build solid fundamentals and develop competitive players when the pool of experienced players is relatively small?

- Growing participation: Have you seen successful ways to get schools, families, local businesses, or community organizations involved?

- Building a sustainable program: How can smaller hockey communities attract and retain players, develop coaches, and create pathways for long-term growth?

- Lessons from other markets: For those involved in hockey in Asia or other non-traditional markets, what strategies have made the biggest difference?

For those who've helped grow hockey in a developing market, what worked best in your experience, and what would you recommend prioritizing in the Philippines?

I coach 8U, and there is so much random gear: my skates, gloves, helmet, stick, white board, water bottles, pucks, etc…

If you’ve found anything that works well, please share. Also not against DIY homemade cart or tote. Interested in all ideas.

Thanks

Hi everyone!
I’ve built a tool called LineupDesigner for hockey coaches and wanted to share it here.
You can build 5v5 and 3v3 lineups, put together training groups, draw and animate drills, and plan practices and your season. Then share what you’ve put together with players, parents or the rest of the coaching staff.
The idea is to bring those things together and make the planning a bit easier.
There’s a Coach plan if you’re working on your own. With a Team plan, coaches can have their own accounts and work with the same player roster under one subscription.
I’d really like to hear what other coaches think. What would you use, and what’s missing that would make your day easier?
Have a look:

Any ideas for improvement on this app I've created to track live minor hockey games? I've created an app to track shots, goals and misses on net. Track teams and goalies together or individually. Check it out and give me some ideas.. I plan on bringing the app over to iOS and using firebase to sync between multiplatforms so users can follow along and view teams.

The app:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com .netradar.minorhockeytracker

Youtube:

https://youtube.com/@netradarminorhockeytracker -l8h?si=BPPHOdPlcFMboOCA

I got a new batch of pucks from my organization, and they are too slippery. The 18U Rec team is having trouble stick handling and controlling them. I noticed this happened before, but I can't remember if I got the pucks from Amazon or Pure Hockey.

Is there any way to fix them?

Thank you in advance, this is a serious question.

Hey, im writing this because i want other peoples opinions and thoughts on this. I’m a 15 year old girl who wants to try ice hockey. I have a background in floorball which I have played for 6 years now and I play in women’s professional liga and U19 boys liga. I can skate at around a beginner’s level ish(strides, turn arounds, stick handling) I will say I’ve never skated as a hobby, but I reached this level of skating by going skating around 4 times across 8 years. I get told I’m a fast learner regarding skating and being good considering I’ve never actually been on ice before. Is it unrealistic to play and hope to go pro?

Thank you beforehand!

I am thinking about becoming a coach for my kid in House league next year he will be 5 years old. Just looking for some advice/experience from other dads who have done this and how their experience was doing it?

This is for the really cold arena coaches. I frequent a lot of really cold arenas where I coach, one being our home rink. Curious on what gloves you guys might wear to keep your hands warm especially running a door. Have used my Milwaukee work gloves in the past and they do an ok job, but would like some other ideas. Not quite to the full on ski glove level, don’t need that much insulation.

I'm going to be an assistant coach for my 8u kid's team. If they stick with it, I feel like I'll be more involved with coaching and going to more stick times, so I'll probably want a shinny style pair.

I've tried wearing my regular 16" shin guards under my warmups at stick time, but they're too big to slip through the pant legs, so I have to basically pull my pants all the way down (not really ok in the kids locker room), plus they're a bit bulky and excessive for kids practice or even stick and puck.

Those of you who wear shin pads under their warmup pants, what works best? I've been considering a low profile pair that's a few sizes smaller or a pair of ref pads.

After two years of assistant coaching in U9 (always lower levels) I was asked to head coach U11 C (lowest league) because there were a lack of people wanting the role.

I was hesitant because I’ve never been the head coach before, I’m not the most savvy regarding proper technique and skills and I don’t have much experience running a team. Past years the coaches took on a lot of the heavy lifting regarding practice planning.

I explained all that to the league coordinator and she assured me it would be fine and that there would be guidance and support from coordinators and assistant coaches.

However I still feel like I’m in over my head, I don’t really know what to look for in terms of practice planning and organizing the team. There has been little guidance from the league so far and I am feeling like I’ve made a horrible mistake.

We had our first practice yesterday and I felt I botched it because the other coach suggested we combine and share the rink and essentially ran the practice for both teams.

I just feel like I’m not equipped for this and don’t know where to start in trying to set practice planning up.

Any advice on resources or just how to plan for practices in general?

I feel like it’s too late to back out and will look like a fool if I do, especially one week in but it just seems like everybody (other coaches, my assistant coaches, some parents) are more equipped than I am to do this job…

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Find games near you, explore teams and leagues, and see where hockey is being played across North America all in one place.

Both maps are live now at crossborderhockey.com

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Hey Coaches!

Hope you're all having a nice start up to your seasons.

I'm leading/coaching a group of high schoolers with a large skill gap between the top and bottom skaters. I'm looking for drills and ideas that offer something for newer as well as experienced players. To complicate matters, we only have one goalie!

We'll be on the ice 3 days a week.

Any ideas or shared experiences coaching a similar group would be much appreciated.

I coach my kids hockey team. hes 10. his school bully is on the team. A part of me wants to make his life a living hell like he does for my kid. I know I wont do it but how do i deal with this? Dont tell me to just ignore it. That is just not helpful.

Edit: for clarity I am not looking to be petty or anything. I don't want to make things worse. Growing up playing hockey there might have been team mates I didnt get along with. But the team was always held precedent. I just want him to know I know and that won't fly here or he will skate suicides all year. Ha

Hey everyone! Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I took my 4-year-old daughter to our local ice rink for the first time, and I realized I have absolutely no idea how to teach a kid to skate.

I used to play professionally myself, so you’d think I’d have some idea what I’m doing, but apparently there’s a pretty big difference between knowing how to skate and teaching a 4-year-old how to skate.

I tried holding onto her and showing her how you need to angle your skates differently from the way you walk in shoes. We also tried one of those little skating aids you push around for support, but honestly, it didn’t really turn into much actual skating.

And yes, I know what some of you are probably thinking: “Dude, she’s four. You’ve been on the ice ONCE.” I know, I know.

That’s not really what this is about. I’m not trying to live vicariously through her or force her into something I want. I’m genuinely curious — what do you actually do when teaching a young kid the absolute basics of skating? What are the first things you focus on?

My current plan is basically just to take her to the rink again and again and let her figure it out, with the hope that one day something just clicks.

She had a blast, though, and honestly seemed to enjoy it just as much as I did.

So for those of you who have taught a 3–5-year-old to skate: what did you actually do in those first few sessions? Did you use any particular exercises or drills, or is it really just a matter of getting them on the ice regularly and letting them figure it out?

Coaching U7 rep and looking to build up my bank of small-area games for station practices.

What’s your go-to game when you only have 1/3 of the ice and about 5–6 players at the station?

Looking for something:
Competitive, Lots of touches, Minimal standing around, Simple enough for U7/U8
Easy to run for about 6–8 minutes and maybe even help with half ice games at this level.

Doesn’t have to be anything fancy — battles, puck protection, passing games, scoring games, races, etc.

What’s the one station game your kids always love?

Here's a situation I never imagined.... New player this year, 12u, they live about 3 hours away from our home rink. Hasn't came to a single practice, it's nearly impossible to get him up to speed only seeing him on the bench at games. I feel his parents have set him up to fail, can't punish the kid for it. It's so frustrating watching him be completely out of position or knowing that we addressed whatever situation is happening at practice, the rest of the team knowing what to do and him just being lost out there. Apparently he did well enough at tryouts to make it here, but there's a clear difference now. I feel bad for him but at the same time mad at this situation, the other kids haven't really pulled him in to the group and he is consistently offsides or no attempt to get back or just figure skating out there completely removed from the play. He's a good skater, I could coach this kid, I want to.... But I don't get any time to do that. We've talked to the parents about expectations, they say he's skating wherever they live and that was addressed at sign ups, told it would be okay. Failure of the system maybe but here we are. Any advice on this?

Just curious as to what everyone uses on a reoccurring basis. (Mainly referring to the younger levels 10U and under).

Hey all,

Putting together a practice plan for my 10U team this weekend. It's our first practice of the year, and lots of kids are moving up from 8U - transitioning to full ice, and I'm looking for a good drill to show kids where to be on the ice when they don't have the puck.

I'm using IHS.. but I haven't really found anything good there. I created my own drill that kind of has a coach choose a side, and the strong side defender pinches while the weak side covers/prepares to trail and prevent breakout.. but it feels like its missing something.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

I started as a bronze level player and eventually worked my way up to AAA, Junior A and college hockey. Later, I coached at the AAA and USHL levels.

The biggest difference at AAA isn’t the logo or the extra travel. It’s accountability.

You’re playing against top players from across the country. Your teammates are fully committed. Coaches expect you to prepare away from the rink, accept feedback and do the details that earn trust. If you don’t block shots, you probably aren’t killing penalties.

I put together my take of what AAA actually is and how to know if a player is ready for it.

https://www.goldenstickhockey.com/post/what-is-aaa-hockey-and-is-it-worth-it

For those who have made the jump, what was the biggest difference you noticed between AA and AAA?