Iceman http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?showtopic=3079&topic=3079#3079 is a link to a posting about practicing the power play.
My job in university and with a pro team was to watch the other teams systems and break them down. I saw a lot of things that are and are not effective. My team is in a big tournament right now and we have scored 7 pp goals in the last two games. Here are some of the things we practice.
An effective power play makes reads and takes what the defenders give. Either the puck or the player moves.
The rotations and options that they practice on the power play are exactly the same things they can do in 5-5 situations cycling and using the D in the attack; especially when you practice the slot set power play.
I like to practice 5-0 with no pressure at the start. Every time the player gets the puck he/she has 5 options starting with attack the net and score, followed by passing to each of the other 5 players. If they run through all of these options they have a better idea of what to do when they get the puck and the other four players know how to support. Add pressure later but start off with 5-0.
Iceman,
You can't shortcut the process and work on systems, expecting great improvements if you first don't spend time on the foundation (individual skills, tactics, team tactics); your systems will never cover up your weaknesses! As coaches, we have a tendency to rush towards the ultimate goal and not spend enough time building our foundation - I know from experience!
You are only as good as the weakest link; so identify the individual skill areas where you are weakest and work to correct them. Then tactically, do the same thing - individually and team. In your case, you say scoring is the weak aspect. What individual skills, individual tactics, and team tactics contribute to one's ability to score? I will leave this as your homework...
Remember, there are 4 principles of play on O and D:
Offense ----- Defense
Puck Control ----- Stall / Contain
Support ----- Support
Pressure ----- Pressure
Transition ----- Transition
Here are some game-based ideas to help develop the skills and tactics needed, once the foundation is in place:
Play keep-a-way. You can do a 2 v 1, 3 v 2, 4 v 3, 5 v 4, 5 v 3 and control the 'rules', including the playing parameters (forehand passes / saucer passes / indirect passes to space or off the boards, etc.) the time limit for each 'rep' and the size of the area allowed. (Smaller ice means closer support / quicker passes. It might be somewhat dependent on how many players are active too. You can use the circle outlines / crease lines / ringette lines, whole zones, etc.) After a while, you can add 'nets' on which to score - use areas of the ice / marks on the boards, pylons, etc. and play cross ice. Can you come up with any more ways to play keep-a-way... that will emphasize your goals?
Keep track of how many passes are made in a row in a defined space when playing with two teams (while having possession... 0-1-2-3-4 turnover 0-1-2 turnover 0-1-2-3, etc.) Groups compete against other groups - which group strings together the most passes is the winner. This starts to promote anitcipation and support, while working on skills and tactics.
Play British Bulldog. Everybody has pucks when they start. This helps promote heads up skills (puck control, puck protection, deception, change of pace, creativity) through traffic on an individual level. Keep track of those final 5 players who end up surviving the longest with the puck. You can also play keep-a-way in small space (continuous) in a zone; it can be every man for himself (when you steal a puck, you try to keep it for as long as you can) or with two teams in a zone or everyone starts with a puck and trues to knock pucks off the stick out of the zone while amintaining control of their puck - again, who typically keeps possession of the puck the longest? What other ways can you think of to modify British Bulldog - and emphasize your needs?
Once the requisite technical skills are there (in your mind... they can always improve!), try playing some more game-like situations.
Create activities that allow you to measure scoring and put each player into the same situation (score while under pressure). Pressure can take many forms - time, accuracy, checking, accountability (mental), etc. Do this daily and keep records of who can score under pressure! At the PeeWee age, let all players particpate. Track the goalies records too... they can compete against each other. Use your imagination...
Play lots of 1 v 1's (keep track of who scores the most!) and then graduate to 2 v 1 / 1 v 2; 2 v 2; 3 v 2 / 2 v 3; 3 v 3. These mirror what happens in a 'real game' (not just on a PP) so you should consider this a key building block when determining your practice time allotment (a large proportion of the game is 1 v 1 (45%); 2 v 1 (35 %) and 1 v 2 (10%) = 90%!) Tom has several game-like situation activities within his book / jump drive that will be of help here...
Set a time limit (1 minute) and have one of your 5-man units try to score vs. three players. You can use (a) an empty net with scoring conditions; (b) shooter tutors; (c) a real goalie. If you are having trouble scoring, set the bar a little easier so your players gain confidence, then make it harder until it mirrors a game. The 5-man units should compete against each other (as should the PK'ers and goalies).
Finally, remember to include breaking out v pressure and through the NZ, just like in a game. Ultimately, you would 'play a special teams game' vs another team as the best form of practice (You play 5 v 4 for a predetermined time; then switch and defend for the same time. Play 5 v 3 / 3 v 5. Try your goalie out play - 6 v 5 / 6 v 4, etc. Game time clock and score are used; as are officials.)
The ultimate way to prepare for a game is to play a game!
Notice I haven't defined a system. Who can say "This is the best system...!"? I can't. I have tried numerous systems throughout my career; I even did my Master's on the PP; yet I have come to realize it is an impossible task. Every situation / year is different.
You can show them some video options, but by insiting on a pattern, they become predictable. Patterns limit creativity. So let your players figure it out: "move the puck away from pressure yet try to maintain supported possession long enough to get a shot from the prime scoring area" by either skating or passing it as the situation warrants. They need to have support options around the puck carrier - don't forget your goalie can support the puck! Supported puck possession is king; ultimately, they want to get the puck into the prime scoring area as often as possible and get shots / rebound chances.
Will they make mistakes? Yup. Help them learn from them. Ask them what they saw... what they 'should have done'... what they will do next time when in the same situation.
The best team I ever coached against (a Midget AAA team) was coached by Dan MacDonald (Red Deer, AB in the mid 1990's) and they didn't learn ANY systems. They learned "Principles of Play" (the 4 O & D ones I listed at the start). They skated, passed and received the puck, faked, deked and shot the puck very well - they used the 4 principles to play keep-a-way while on the PP and it worked very well. I believe Dan coached them for 3 years between 1994-1996 and they won the provincials each year; 2 silver medals and a 4th place finish at Nationals. Yeah, he never won Nationals, but all the same, for the 3 years he was in charge, his teams were pretty consistently high performing, if you ask me...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberta_Midget_Hockey_League#League_champions
Not only did I scout them, numerous others did too (coaches, scouts, etc.) and nobody could come to a consensus and say with certainty, "This is Red Deer's system" - for anything (forecheck, special teams, etc.)! They just worked on the fundamental technical skills and played smart, principled hockey... and they worked hard! I haven't seen anybody else, at any level, play such smart hockey, ever since!
This is my future goal... to get to 'this consistent level of athlete-independent play' where the coach teaches principles of play and lets the players do the rest...
Iceman tonight we will practice the power play with the Kingston rotation and attack 5-0. I want each player to get the puck and know they have 5 options which are to take a shot or to pass to any one of the other 4 players. I want a shot every 3 seconds and each player to get the puck to run through the 5 options. They do walk outs, walk in's low and from the point they shoot or else rotate into a diamond.
In this way they experience TIME PRESSURE and the experience of realizing they have many options. The supporting players have to get open and be ready to one time shoot or pass. This gives your players the template on how to rotate together to create scoring opportunities. We are in the middle of a busy tournament week and the actual games will tell if this sort of practice is effective or not.
Your job is to give them a template to work in and let them discover the options within that template. You will be playing against a box or a diamond and that box or diamond will either stress pressure or contain. Good teams will rotate from a box to a diamond if the point man gets to the middle. Your players have to read whether the defenders chase a pass or skate straight lines from the net out. If they chase passes then your middle point player can pass and then get it back with an open lane to shoot. If they skate from the net out and only give you a 2-1 two passes away from the puck then it is much harder and quick puck movement and rotation is critical if you are going to score.
Help your players to understand how to read what the defenders give you and then make the appropriate decisions with the puck.
Bjorn Kinding studied the pplay and his conclusions were that on the pplay 60% of goals originate from shots from the point, 30% from low plays where the pass only had to beat one defender and 10% from passes that beat 2 defenders.
So if your pointmen can get the shot through or make shot passes it is really effective in creating rebounds, tips, screens. Give and goes on low plays create chances and long passes to the back door that go across the ice work sometimes.
My Master's was based on Bjorn Kinding's work. He took PP stats from the 1991 World Championships in Turku Finland. There were 100 analyzed PP's - 28 goals were scored (0.78%).
The summary numbers indicate success % for the different plays:
Half Boards 4%
On the Rush 8 %
End boards 13%
Points 75%
To score 17 goals from the point, the teams only gave up puck control a total of 13 times.
To score a single goal initiated from the half boards, it needed a total of 31 losses of puck control!
Knowing that puck control is one main source of success and a team can only afford to lose the puck once or twice per PP, it will take 15 pp's to score one goal this way. In other words, if your PP is built on plays from the half boards, you shouldn't expect a better average than 6.6%!
On the PP, the plays from the points produce:
61-75% of all goals;
67% of all first class scoring chances;
76% of all second class scoring chances, and;
23% of all puck control losses.
To create a scoring chance, the player on the point has these 4 BEST options:
Shoot or pass from an area straight in front of the net (between the faceoff dots):
1. on net;
2. to create a rebound ;
3. for a tip in and;
4. on a screened goalie.
The most and best scoring chances are produced by a point play from an area straight in front of the net (between the faceoff dots). (Bjorn removed 4 questionable goals and added an unclassifiable goal to the PP category) Ultimately, point shots from between the dots were the source of 110 out of 188 scoring chances and 15 out of 28 PP goals... or 59% of all PP scoring chances and 54% of all PP goals are initiated by a point play from between the faceoff dots. The importance that the point plays in between the dots is tremendous!
So to summarize, all you have to do to achieve an effective PP is:
Collectively control the puck ... move the puck to the point ... have players screening in front of the net... and SHOOT! How simple is that?
BUT... as seen below, how much time should one worry about / actually practice the PP when compared to even strength situations... and all the potential times for TRANSITIONS to occur? You be the judge - and allocate your practice time (and coaching worry) proportionately ... errrrr I mean wisely!!!
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From an earlier, related post on transition:
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?showtopic=2978
A few quotes from Bjorn:
"In top international play, for instance the final game of the 1994 World Cup, puck possession changed from one team to the other 7.7 times per minute. There's just no time to get the whole team 100 percent into defending before there's a chance to attack again... you are constantly playing "transition hockey" "
"In 1990, I studied and analyzed the transition in 'modern' ice hockey. The study included games from the World Cup Pools A and B, the Swiss and German playoffs and the NHL. The result showed that 60 percent of all goals were scored on the transition, which means, that almost three times as many goals are scored on transition as on the power play (23 percent). But how many teams practice transition three times as much as they practice the power play?"
"If we focus on play with equal numbers of players on both sides, then 88 percent of all goals are scored on transitions... 94 percent of all first class scoring chances are created on transitions."
"...if you want to be good in the game of hockey you have to be great in the game of transition."
Good points Dean. Hockey is a game of constant transition from offense to defense to loose puck and within offense from puck carrier to puck support and on defense from checking the puck carrier to defending away from the puck. It is important to practice the skills of all of these transitions in all situations including 5-5, 5-4, 4-5, 3-4, 3-5, 4-4, 5-3.
Tom , Dean ,
I agree with what you both have posted here regarding the Power Play.
If players don't have the skills and confidence to handle the puck under pressure , it will be hard to have an effective power play.
Yes at Peewee age I guess you can give them some understanding of a basic system if you like , but to spend practice time on it if the skills are missing , you will get frustrated as a coach. Players will look good in a practice with no pressure , but in a game it gets thrown out the window.
Can you simulate the overload PP with some type of 2-1 game down low (half boards) in tight areas under pressure , with give and goes ? Get used to the rotation . Maybe work the 2on1 down low with rotation and work in a point shot as part or the game as a progression. Get them used to handling the puck in these areas (small areas) where time and space is limited.
With ice time being limited , you can go over your structure off ice if need be , but on ice skills are a must have if you want a good P/P
Iceman, if you are having problems scoring goals on the P/P maybe work those areas tight around the net low zone, quiet zone . Let the players gain confidence handling the puck with speed and support. Good puck movement and getting open , don't stand still , read and react to situations in these confined spaces.
Tom , I see you reposted the Statistics forum. Dean maybe you could post the PP stats from above. I wasn't aware of these P/P stats.
Thanks
RK
RookieCoach
Rookie Coach, practicing 5-0 is certainly not the only thing we do to practice the power play but it is an effective way to review the options in the middle of a tournament when you don't want to get too tired practicing. The pressure is from the shot every 3 second rule and this creates if nothing else a great passing drill while moving with a purpose.
We have drills where we pass to the point and then screen, or pass and rush the point to create pressure. We also work all of the options into the same drill from the corner.
We play half ice and full ice games of 5-5 where the pk team leaves one or two players in the nzone to create odd man situations.
So far this season we have arranged 4 team play scrimmages with other teams at our level and we take turns with 12 minute 5-4, 4-5, 5-3, 3-5, 4-4 and 5-5. The team meets at the bench the first three minutes to go over the situation and then we play 9 minutes and the buzzer goes for the next situation.
So 5-0 is ONE of the many things we do to work on the power play during practices. I rotate practices between the themes of Role one-individual offensive skill (this is where we isolate small situations like a 2-1 out of the corner, in drills, games and transition games) We do the same thing when we practice Role three - individual defensive skills (drills, games, transition games focus on the dside of the puck) Role Two - Team offensive skill, was half of last nights practice that is where the group has to learn to move as ONE. Role Four - Team defensive skill also requires all to move as one. We play 'Total Hockey' where everyone starts out at the faceoff in their 'Home Position' and read 1-2-3-4-5 after that within the system we have agreed to play together. Everyone has to understand the system in all three zones on offense-defense and loose puck situations. There has to be a level of 'Clarity' so that when you score eveyone knows why and when you get scored on everyone knows why.
The game isn't just a couple of players working together but everyone on the ice working together. The individual offensive and defensive situations up to 3-3 are the building blocks for Team Play. A coach has to practice ALL of these situations because the GAME has all of these situations in it.
It isn't an either-or thing. You need to practice everything on offense-defense and loose puck situations. They need the TOOLS of individual and partner skills in order to accomplish Team Play. As Harry Neal would say 'It is no use having the tools if you have no 'Tool Box.' Skills are important but so is Game Understanding. You need it ALL and that my friends is the 'Challenge of Coaching.'
Quote by: TomMRookie Coach, practicing 5-0 is certainly not the only thing we do to practice the power play but it is an effective way to review the options in the middle of a tournament when you don't want to get too tired practicing. The pressure is from the shot every 3 second rule and this creates if nothing else a great passing drill while moving with a purpose.
We have drills where we pass to the point and then screen, or pass and rush the point to create pressure. We also work all of the options into the same drill from the corner.
We play half ice and full ice games of 5-5 where the pk team leaves one or two players in the nzone to create odd man situations.
So far this season we have arranged 4 team play scrimmages with other teams at our level and we take turns with 12 minute 5-4, 4-5, 5-3, 3-5, 4-4 and 5-5. The team meets at the bench the first three minutes to go over the situation and then we play 9 minutes and the buzzer goes for the next situation.
So 5-0 is ONE of the many things we do to work on the power play during practices. I rotate practices between the themes of Role one-individual offensive skill (this is where we isolate small situations like a 2-1 out of the corner, in drills, games and transition games) We do the same thing when we practice Role three - individual defensive skills (drills, games, transition games focus on the dside of the puck) Role Two - Team offensive skill, was half of last nights practice that is where the group has to learn to move as ONE. Role Four - Team defensive skill also requires all to move as one. We play 'Total Hockey' where everyone starts out at the faceoff in their 'Home Position' and read 1-2-3-4-5 after that within the system we have agreed to play together. Everyone has to understand the system in all three zones on offense-defense and loose puck situations. There has to be a level of 'Clarity' so that when you score eveyone knows why and when you get scored on everyone knows why.
The game isn't just a couple of players working together but everyone on the ice working together. The individual offensive and defensive situations up to 3-3 are the building blocks for Team Play. A coach has to practice ALL of these situations because the GAME has all of these situations in it.
It isn't an either-or thing. You need to practice everything on offense-defense and loose puck situations. They need the TOOLS of individual and partner skills in order to accomplish Team Play. As Harry Neal would say 'It is no use having the tools if you have no 'Tool Box.' Skills are important but so is Game Understanding. You need it ALL and that my friends is the 'Challenge of Coaching.'
Well put Tom. I took RK's comment to point out the requisite need to build skills before systems; or else the coach (and players, parents) will be frustrated by the lack (or actually, inability) of performance. "You can't skate before you can crawl... stand... walk... run...!"
Time pressure is an important component when simulating the realities of a game. It harkens back to the days with Stewart Behie recording passes (good vs bad decision / turnover) with the Dinos men's team. I would love to see you start a thread explaining what Stewart did (I know you have alluded to it on here before and in conversation with me.) I think it could be Hockey's version of a "Moneyball" characteristic!
I remember Harry hosting Roger Nielson's coaching clinics back in the 1990's... he had a great wit and often talked about 'the toolbox'... or lack thereof...!
RK, Not sure what exact stats you are asking for; beyond what I posted? Do you have any specific requests pertaining to the data?
Let me know and then I will look back at Bjorn's study and see if I can provide any more clarity for you...
Dean,
Yes you are correct about my comments. If the players don't have the skills to work a power play , maybe work on individual skills , and in tight areas with pressure to build the skills and confidence needed to succeed. I have worked with coaches that want to work on the PP , but the players struggle because they lack the skill. They know what needs to be done but simply can't put it together.
Once the skills are there , what Tom posted is a great way to work on the PP. I will go over Tom's comments again for a better understanding.
Dean , about the statistics on PP from Bjorn Kindling's work. You posted earlier (10:22 pm CST Dec. 28). I was going to highlight it and post it on the statistics thread that Tom brought back. Good information on point shots etc.
I would do it but it would get messed up I'm sure.
.
I think all us coaches need an online coaching clinic of all this information . Reading ,seeing or putting together this information is the hard part. Great job as always Tom , and Dean.
Thanks
RK
Done! It is now on the Statistics thread...
RK, you are correct about players needing the skill before they can make the power play work. It is a skill and not an age requirement. I recall highly skilled summer teams I worked with that had players who are now in the NHL and the remainder played high level hockey like jr. and college. I could do all of the team play with them because they could take and make passes and carry the puck.
I have found that even with lesser skilled teams teaching them the support in the slot set power play and options high and low helps a lot in the 5-5 cycle and the D skating into the slot before shooting. So even though they may bobble the puck more they are learning how to support and move into the big ice.
In the second semester I will teach the power play to my school skills class so they experience the giving close support with two players and the other two being one timer options. We have been doing games and drills that require support all year and this will give more of a real game context that requires rotation and filling in for each other.
Tom, Your points are well taken. Yes I have also taught younger players the PP , just so they have an idea on how it works. But as you know on a power play ,parents , coaches expect results , and if not it's the coaches fault for not working on it enough. Regardless of the team skill under these situations.
Young players are like sponges , they will soak up everything you give them to do. How well they do it depends on their skill level.
As parents , coaches and , players, we all have to understand just because we work on the PP it doesn't mean they will start scoring. But as the skill, patience and confidence increases you will start to see results.
It all comes down to scoring and winning to gauge how successful your team is. The development of young players gets over looked if your team doesn't win.
In small centres from our area you only get 1 hour practice a week (50 min on ice ) (non AAA). It's hard to teach everything you want as it is , let alone finding time to work the PP. It would be nice if team could share an extra practice a week for skill development.
RK
Hello Coaches,
Thank you all for responding.
Yes, I agree about crawling before walking, walking before running.....and skills before systems. Heck, I am still going to the University of T. Molloy. 
I may have to take extending courses at Kia State and Dean U. as well. 
We skate 4/5 times a week, one hour - sometimes we skate 1.5 or 2 hours ...which is nice. Skills for 45 minutes (much to the chagrin of some parents) and the final 15 is towards some type of "team play/concepts/systems".
We watch video, once-twice, every two weeks and will discuss team play during this time as well, kids love to watch themselves, but I think it is a great teaching tool.
I took all the advice and set up a couple of games at practice to work on the different aspects of our PP. It worked well, in our game we scored 3 PP goals and two posts on our only other PP. So 3-4 on the PP. What was nice about that???? We worked the puck well, supported the puck, moved to open ice, skated with their heads up...it worked helped the boys during the 5-5 as well. The coaches just reinforced some play w/without the puck.
Any more information on what coaches are working on, or have worked on - would be greatly appreciated.
I hope everyone has a safe, fun, enjoyable New Years!
ICEMAN
ICEMAN
Iceman, I think we all are trying to keep learning. Starting this site has exposed me to many good ideas from around the hockey world.
Happy New Year to you.
I am attaching a pdf diagram of the new hockey facility in Calgary where the teams in the World Junior are practicing and now the new digs of Hockey Canada. My school skills group practices there twice a week. Great facility.
Tom & Dean,
While we are on the topic of PP. After watching the first period of the CHE - FIN game , On the PP for the FIN team the bring four guys back deep with one D behind the net the othe D swings and two F's swing opposite side/. ?
What are the advantages /disadvantages of the play.?
We use a basic two player swing with two F's on the blueline for a stretch.
Great skill shown so far in this game.
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RK, I just turned on the game. Most teams in the NHL now only have one stretch man and some have none. They go up the ice together so there is always close support. Usually one player follows and they pass back to them after they cross the red line to create a change of pace and catch the defenders standing still at the blue line.
I just watched a Finnish power play and they had all 5 come back with and F swing deep into each corner, one come low across the play in front of the net and a D swing to the side away from the middle player.
They just crossed the blue line and the player in the middle took the ice behind, got a drop pass then a pass back into the middle and ripped one off the post.
Getting into the big ice (between dots), back pressure, short passes are all important parts of their game. Another pplay starting and one F started at the near blue line on the breakout and a F swung behind and picked up the puck behind the net and led the attack. 4-0 Finland.
RK
Iceman, here is a video of the Czech U20 Team practicing the power play. Almost every team at the IIHF World Junior Championships practices the power play like this. Two lines at each end. The coach can focus on the pp or the pk.
They start with a slot set and when they get the puck to the point it rotates into a 1-3-1 Diamond. The key is always giving the player with the puck oulets and taking the openings the pk gives.
I will post other teams practice as well so coaches can see other options.
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T2-4 D400 Specialty Team Practice - Czech Republic U20
Key Points:
Closest player must pressure the puck in straight lines from the net out. Skate back when the puck is passed. Stick on the ice in the passing lane. Communicate.
Description:
1. A power play and a penalty killing unit at each end of the ice.
2. The coach passes in a puck from the line or from a face off dot.
3. Controlled scrimmage where everyone stops on a whistle.
4. If the puck is frozen, a goal or it is cleared put in a new puck.
5. After about 45 seconds do the same thing from the other end while the pp and pk units switch at the
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=20120103103413658
Hello fellow coaches,
Need a little help with our Power Play. I coach a Major Pee Wee team, I just don't know the "right" or easiest PP to teach the boys.
We have some skill, enough to have two fwd sets, 4 solid Dmen. We can move it, but having trouble putting the biscuit in the basket!!
Thanks in advance,
Iceman