My Five Favorite Drills: Practical Ideas for Your Next Hockey Practice
By Andrew Trimble | Scoring Concepts
Sometimes the hardest part of planning practice isn’t finding a drill. It’s choosing one that fits your players, teaches something useful, and makes good use of your ice time.
That’s why I created “My Five Favorites,” a new Scoring Concepts video series highlighting some of my favorite hockey drills by category. The idea is simple: give coaches a quick look at five options they can bring into their own practices.
The first videos cover full-ice breakout drills, full-ice zone entry drills, and small-area games—three areas that offer plenty of opportunities to connect individual skills with team play.
Five Favorite Full-Ice Breakout Drills
A successful breakout takes more than a defenseman making a pass. Players need to scan, communicate, time their support, and give the puck carrier useful options. This collection gives coaches ideas for working on those connections and helping players move out of their defensive zone with purpose.
Five Favorite Full-Ice Zone Entry Drills
Getting across the offensive blue line is only part of the job. What happens next? Zone entry practice can help players recognize space, support the puck, and create an opportunity before the defense gets organized. These drills offer different ways to work on attacking together.
Five Favorite Small-Area Games
Small-area games are among my favorite teaching tools because players have to stay involved. Limited time and space encourage quicker decisions, puck protection, communication, and compete. They also give coaches a chance to teach through the game while keeping players active.
Make the Drill Fit Your Team
These are my favorites, but the most important question is what your players need. Before adding any drill, decide what you want to teach. Adjust the space, numbers, pressure, or scoring rules to bring that lesson out.
A drill becomes valuable when players understand its purpose—and begin using what they learn when the game gets moving.
Watch the Series and Plan Your Next Practice
Visit the Scoring Concepts YouTube channel to watch the My Five Favorites videos. Start with breakouts, zone entries, or small-area games, and choose one idea to adapt for your next practice.
Subscribe to the channel for upcoming collections, including scoring drills and 12U-and-under station drills. Leave a comment with the category you’d like me to cover next.
For camps, clinics, lessons, and more hockey development resources, visit ScoringConcepts.com.
