Games to Teach the Game

Hockey is a competitive game. The best way to prepare for competition is by developing practice habits that enhance skill development and reinforce how you want your players to respond during a game. In this presentation, Jamie Rice shares 13 of his best practice games that challenge players to compete and become fully engaged to achieve desired game outcomes.

This presentation shows how game play in practice enhances both skill development and the development of competitive game habits. In addition, the video shows how specific games and game play can create desired outcomes and set the tone for more productive practices with players engaged, excited to participate and challenged.

Coach Rice starts with a short series of team warm-up games to get the competitive juices flowing, and to get players moving both offensively and defensively.

He moves on to a game called "Beaney," a 1v1, 2v2, or 3v3 game that encourages stick-on-stick defensive play and allows for significant offensive creativity. The tone for practice is clearly defined in this competitive battle game that will inspire your team to compete.

Other featured games include:

• Finn 4v3 - There is a numerical advantage in this game that's similar to a power play situation. It creates a puck possession and support focus under pressure. Because players are moving quickly from offense to defense, game play reinforces the importance of a quick transition and how it can be one of the most opportunistic moments of the game.
• Neutral Zone Backdoor - This game focuses on offensive opportunities involving defensemen, who are encouraged to become a part of the offensive attack through quick transition and jumping up in the offensive puck support. The game reinforces the typical 5v5 framework but allows players to join the play and create numerical advantages and backdoor opportunities. This will help encourage your team to get all players involved in the attack.
• Levels - Another puck support game but this one encourages more open ice opportunities and develops different angles of the attack to the net. Backdoor and quick touch puck movement is emphasized. Your players will learn how to see the offensive attack with more width.

These games will teach your players to:

• make quick decisions when passing and shooting, especially on one-touch plays
• find the open man it tight spaces to create scoring opportunities
• provide open passing lanes and a good target for the puck carrier

When you put players in an environment where they constantly compete, it raises the level of both individual and team competition. This presentation shows coaches how to use game play to bring out the best in their players and how to constantly create challenging practices that captivate the players.

119 minutes. 2014.