3 Hockey Battle Drills to Improve Compete Level and Team Chemistry

• By Jackson Chlebowy

In hockey, competition is at the heart of success. Players need to have a competitive mindset not just for individual success but for the teams' overall performance. Players who embrace the competitive mindset push themselves to work harder than their teammates and opponents. They get to the dirty areas of the ice and win more puck battles. These players are fearless and relentless, willing to do whatever it takes to make a play. Developing and nurturing this mindset in practice with drills will translate to better performance in games when it matters most. Not only does it teach players critical skills, it can be a fun way to build team chemistry. 

Hard work outperforms skill. Foster a culture of hard work and effort, and your team will reap the benefits. The players' ability to compete will ultimately dictate the collective team's success on the ice, making it essential for coaches to integrate competitive drills and real-game scenarios into their practice plans. 

Coach Chris Laperle, an accomplished former collegiate hockey coach, offers up his insight on the small area game in his free course of the same title.

Small Area Battle Drill – Coach Chris Laperle

Coach Laperle is a decorated collegiate hockey coach, being behind the bench of 7 total championships across three different North American universities. Most recently, winning the national title with McGill University. In more recent years, he has turned his attention to youth hockey coaching and managing the Cleveland Barrons AAA hockey organization. 

Chris’s small space battle drill is simple yet extremely effective at simulating the physicality and required precision for game scenarios. Place a net in the corner a couple of stick lengths from the boards. A puck will be dumped in for two players battling for a shot on the net. Line up all of the extra players around the outside of the playing area. Allow them to pass and slap the puck if it is loose or is wrapped around the boards. 

If the puck is scored, throw in a new puck. You want the players to be tired; you want them to have to work hard, so make them earn the end of the drill. You can do this by keeping score, first to score or first to get three shots on goal wins the matchup. 

This is a fun yet intense game that forces players out of their comfort zone. For young players still developing their physical game, this drill is a great way to introduce body contact in a competitive environment. As the saying goes, practice how you want to play. If you want your team to play with more intensity, with an edge, and with urgency to win in high-pressure situations, you have to practice like it. 

Coverage/Uncoverage Drill – Coach Marc André Dumont

Coach Marc André Dumont is a seasoned and successful coach with more than 20 years of experience in the QMJHL. Coach Dumont has served as the head coach of the Val-d'Or Foreurs and Cape Breton Screaming Eagles with more than 700 games of experience. He has also served as the assistant coach for Team Canada at the 2019 World Junior Championships and the 2020 Youth Olympics. His focuses have shifted in recent years, focusing on youth player and coach development. He currently serves as a hockey development director in Quebec for a top-tier 18U AAA team. 

Coach Dumont lays out his four basic skills (Physical, technical, mental, and systematic) for hockey development in his course ‘4 Basic Skills to Enjoy the Game and to Develop as a Player with Marc André’. 

Dumont’s Uncoverage drill is a great example of drills that foster a competitive environment in practice. The drill itself is simple and can be simplified further depending on the skill level you are coaching at. The drill requires at least 4 players but can be done with up to 8 players. 

Run the drill for three rounds of this uncoverage battle between the offenseman and the defenseman. There will be three passes coming from alternating defensemen throughout the drill. If the offensive player receives the pass, their goal is to shoot or beat the defender to the net for a scoring chance. If the pass is not received, or the defenseman breaks up the pass the next round immediately begins. The drill can be made more challenging by making it 2on2 or even 3on3.

In addition to body positioning, net front battling, tight space passing, and quick shooting, this drill emphasizes the importance of effort and competition in hockey. Breaking down real game scenarios into high-intensity drills like this one helps make players aware of “the game within the game”.  It will be impossible to get open or to cover the opponent without putting forth a strong effort. 

Players need to understand that even without the puck on their sticks, hard work, grit, and determination will help make themselves more available to their teammates and more dangerous for their opponents to deal with.

Battle Royale

The Battle Royale drill is a great way to end practice to reinforce all the skills and drills you worked on throughout practice. The drill starts with every player in the center circle, along with several pucks (a few more than the number of players). On the coach's whistle, the players will battle for pucks. Let the players battle for 60-90 seconds before blowing the whistle again. The players without a puck are out of the drill. Repeat this until you are down to 2-4 players. 

Battle Royale allows players to play to their strengths in puck protection, evading pressure with the puck, and overall defensive skills. Some more physical players may choose to use their bodies to protect their puck, while the smaller, more skilled players can attempt to dangle and outmaneuver their opponents. However they choose to do it, they have to work hard.