Player Development Resources

From drills, practice plans, video and expert information, Hockey Canada’s definitive collection of player development resources is now available to all coaches. The resources include:

• More than 1,500 drills, each including a drill diagram, video demonstration, skill description, key teaching points and a Team Canada game clip highlighting how each skill is used in a game
• Hundreds of coach skill video demonstrations
• The entire Hockey Canada Skills of Gold collection
• Hockey Canada Skills Manuals, including 32 lesson plans for each level
• TSN World Juniors drills from 2010 to 2020
• Subscription holders will also have the ability to create, customize, and share Training Plans and will receive Hockey Canada’s recommended Drills of the Week specific to their program level at the start of each week

Use promo code: HCCERT2023 for 50% off of the full subscription and subsequent yearly subscriptions are $10.00 annually.

The Hockey Canada Network app is the way for coaches to get full season plans and practice plans with a few touches. The app is the modern way to bring administrators, coaches, parents, and players together through the sharing of information. Everything can be shared for FREE. The Initiation program (U9 and below) portion of the app is completely FREE with the download.

To use the promo code go to www.hockeycanadanetwork.com/subscriptions/. This will allow you to apply HCCERT2023 to receive the subscription at 45% off. You will then receive an 8-digit access code which can be entered directly into the app.

The GTHL offers free training on the Hockey Canada Network app to all of its coaches.

Hockey Canada Drill Hub is a resource for players and coaches of all levels. It has a growing library of drill videos, diagrams and descriptions categorized by skills, age group and other criteria.  Coaches can, review video as well as create practice plans and share them with their staff, player or parents.

Shared practice ice can decrease costs and provide more opportunities for player development. Hockey Canada and the GTHL encourages all Minor Hockey Associations to take advantage of shared practice ice. The GTHL provides training sessions for any associations that would like to learn how to best use shared practice ice.

DEVELOPMENT PLAN

• An MHA or Coaching staffs can plan the sharing of ice during practices to reduce costs or give players greater opportunities to develop skills through more ice time.
• This is done through the use of stations and maximizing ice time so the players get enough ice to develop the necessary skills.
• Developing a plan is an opportunity to plan out a season and provide additional ice time at no additional cost.

SHARED ICE PRACTICES 

• One of the most common complaints heard in discussions concerning minor hockey is “there just isn’t enough ice time.” This complaint is voiced by administrators, coaches, parents and players alike. It seems, however, that when we compare the number of ice facilities that we have in Canada versus other traditional hockey playing nations it is apparent that this complaint is not necessarily valid.
• Our challenge is that we have large numbers of users and need to be much more efficient in the use of available ice. Obviously we need to become much more innovative in our approach to the whole subject of ice utilization.

SHARED ICE BEST PRACTICES

• Practice two teams together. Treat the players as one big group as in a hockey school, with 30+ kids and 6-8 coaches, the ice time can be run very efficiently.
• Invite another team to your full ice practice and vice versa, that way you get more ice time, but no extra cost. Realistically, Junior or Pro teams run practices with 23-25 players everyday, and they are a lot bigger and take up more room than minor hockey players.
• Practice together for half the practice and then utilize half ice after that. It is a great way to get full ice skating drills in if you need.
• Ice – Max – This system works by having one team come on the ice by themselves for half an hour having full ice. Then a second team comes on the ice for the second half an hour, thus sharing the ice for the second half hour. Then the first team leaves after the half hour of shared, giving the second team full ice for their second half hour. This enables two teams to utilize 1.5 hours instead of the traditional two hours, which over the course of a day or evening, means more ice is available.
• Go watch Midget AAA, Junior or Pro teams warm up before a game. The two full teams on the ice are basically doing two half ice practices. You will see lots of good drills and get some good ideas.
• Use small area games to teach skills, competitiveness and intensity.