5 puck possession habits to implement into your practices

Sean Clark

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Every coach preaches puck possession, right? We stress the importance of managing the puck, puck recoveries, and winning 50/50 pucks.

But how many of us actually practice puck possession?

If you want to increase your power play efficiency, or defensive zone coverage, you practice those concepts.

So how do we as coaches program practices that foster puck possession habits? Below are five key components to consider when programming your practices.

1. Start practice with a possession-based drill

To get your players in the mindset of fighting for possession, start practice with a possession-based drill. By doing so adds a competitive element, helps engage players mentally and physically from the start, and reinforces the importance of puck possession.

It’s always best to keep things simple to start practice: playing keep-away in a confined space, either 1v1, 2v2, or 3v3 forces your players to protect the puck, play with their head up, make small-area plays, recover loose pucks, and transition from offence to defence (or vice versa).