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Drills that will pay off during power-plays

This is an excerpt from Hockey Plays and Strategies by Ryan Walter & Mike Johnston.

Power-Play Face-Offs

It is very important to win or tie up and get possession on power-play draws. If the other team clears the puck, it generally takes the players 20 seconds to get set up again. This is both frustrating and tiring for the power-play unit. Described here are three ways to get possession and set up. Players and coaches should also try to recognize what the penalty-killing unit is trying to do if they win the draw—by doing so you may be able to regain possession even though the draw was lost.

Traditional Alignment

When C wins or ties up on the draw, both wingers move in to push the puck back to the Ds. On lost draws, RW shoots through to the corner and puts pressure on the opposing D. LW takes away the D-to-D penalty-kill clear or assists RW in the corner. C reacts to apply pressure and support RW and LW (figure 11.30). Although you would like to win all draws because it is so critical to get possession on the power play, you may want to tell the center to tie up his opponent and allow the wingers to help out. The odds of getting possession are better.

Double Up Outside

In this setup, two forwards are on one side, in order to provide an extra player to try to get puck possession. RW and LW line up along the boards. On a draw where the puck is loose, RW screens and LW pulls the puck back to D1. D2 always lines up in a position that blocks the lane for the opposing center to shoot the puck down the ice immediately off the draw. In this example, if the opposing center was a left shot, then D2 would need to play back a step (figure 11.31). On lost draws, LW shoots through to the corner and ties up the opposing defenseman. RW comes in to get the loose puck.

Double Up Inside

In this setup, two forwards are now on the inside, with D1 on the boards and D2 back on the blue line (figure 11.32). On a draw where the puck is loose, RW and LW move in to get the puck back to D2. RW initially lines up in a position that blocks the lane for the opposing center to shoot the puck down the ice immediately off the draw. In this example, if the opposing center was a left shot, then RW would need to play back a step. On lost draws, RW shoots through to the corner and ties up the opposing defenseman. LW comes in to get the loose puck. There are times off this draw where LW will be open at the net when the puck is loose in the face-off circle. If RW gets the puck when it is loose in the circle, he can make a quick play to LW.

This is an excerpt from Hockey Plays and Strategies.

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