Small-area board battles

Setup

1. Full equipment for everyone: certified helmet with full cage, mouthguard, neck guard, gloves, elbow and shoulder pads, pants and shin guards.
2. Mark a box in each corner with cones, roughly from the goal line to the top of the faceoff circle. Up to four stations run at once.
3. At each station, a coach or passer stands just outside the box with pucks. Players wait in pairs at the top of the box.
4. Contact rules for this drill: angling, leaning, stick-on-stick and rubbing out along the boards from the side. No body checking, nothing from behind, nothing to the head, and no contact on a player who is facing the boards.

How it runs

1. The coach rims a puck into the corner. Both players race for it.
2. The first player there protects the puck along the boards: low, wide base, body between the opponent and the puck.
3. The second player comes in on an angle from the side, plays stick on stick and tries to pin the puck or lift the opponent's stick.
4. The player who wins the puck spins off the wall and passes it out to the coach to finish the rep.
5. Reps last 10–15 seconds, or end on the whistle. Swap roles, then rest. Hard work, short reps and plenty of water.

Coaching points

• Arrive under control. Slow your feet a stride before contact so you can stay on your skates and keep your head up.
• Protect the puck with your body: knees bent, back straight, puck on the far side, free hand off the stick to hold your space.
• Approach on an angle, shoulder to shoulder from the side. If the other player turns to face the boards, stop and play the stick only.
• Win the stick first: lift or press down on the opponent's stick, then take the puck.
• Head up and away from the boards when you are the one being pressured. Never turn your back to an incoming player near the boards.
• Win it and move it: the battle is only won when the puck reaches a teammate.

Common mistakes

• Skating into the corner at full speed and losing balance at contact.
• Standing tall with straight legs and being moved off the puck.
• Reaching in with the stick from behind instead of getting body position from the side.
• Winning the puck and then turning back into pressure instead of moving it out.