Coaching Hockey With Small-Area Games

Small-area games have been proven to increase a player’s ability to excel in tighter spaces, increase explosive speed, improve decision making, and enhance efficiency on the ice. Used with some of hockey’s most elite players, this small game methodology can now be used by coaches everywhere to develop players’ skills and put a winning team on the ice.

In Coaching Hockey With Small-Area Games, Hockey Canada skills consultant Dave Cameron shares the games and coaching tips he uses with players ranging from pros (NHL, AHL, and ECHL) to young athletes just learning to play the game.

He breaks down more than 50 small-area games covering all major aspects of play:

• Offensive skills and tactics
• Defensive skills and tactics
• Transitions
• Face-offs
• Power plays
• Penalty killing

More than just the how, you’ll learn the why. Cameron explains the skills being developed, what to focus on during the games, and how to recognize and correct common player mistakes. And each game can be modified to match the skill level of the players.

For maximum effectiveness, turn to the game finder and select the games that are most applicable based on player skill and intended developmental outcome. And to allow more time for coaching instead of planning, use the ready-made practice sessions designed for practices of different lengths and for developing specific skills.

Coaching Hockey With Small-Area Games will help you create game-like situations in practice so your players can develop the skills to play smart and with precision, speed, and confidence.

Audience

Hockey coaches and players of all age and skill levels.

Chapter 1. Benefits of Small-Area Games
Chapter 2. Designing Your Own Small-Area Games
Chapter 3. Warm-Up Games
Chapter 4. Offensive and Defensive Games
Chapter 5. Specialty Team Games
Chapter 6. Transition Games
Chapter 7. Face-Off Games
Chapter 8. How to Apply to Game-Like Situations
Chapter 9. Developing Practice Plans From Drills to Small-Area Games

Dave Cameron is the head coach and program director of Jets Hockey Development, a skating and skills coach for Manitoba Moose, and a development coach for Team Canada U17. Also a Hockey Canada skills consultant, he has more than 20 years of experience coaching players of all levels: professionals (NHL, AHL, and ECHL), college athletes, and young athletes just learning to play the game. He has helped many players achieve their goals, including being selected in the WHL Bantam Draft, making the jump to the NCAA, being selected in the NHL Entry Draft, and winning the Stanley Cup. Cameron specializes in individual skill development such as power skating, shooting, stickhandling, passing, and position-specific skills. He believes that confidence is built from practice and players can continue to get better through detailed work in specific areas.

Cameron played minor hockey in the Winnipeg area before moving on to the WHL, where he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1998 (third round, 80th overall). He returned to Winnipeg to attend the University of Manitoba, where he obtained a degree in kinesiology before starting his coaching career.

“Coaches are constantly in search of ways to replicate game conditions. Limiting time and space enhances skill development and has a positive influence on decision making. The purposeful small-area games in Coaching Hockey With Small-Area Games are motivating and beneficial, and they ensure all players are never far from the action.”
—Paul Carson, President of the Coaching Association of Canada

“I have always felt that every coach should have a bank of small-area games to use for player development at all levels. With Coaching Hockey With Small-Area Games, one of Canada’s top coaches, Dave Cameron, has put together a resource to keep practices fun, competitive, and educational.”
—Mike Johnston Sr., Vice President, General Manager, and Head Coach of Portland Winterhawks Hockey Club
 

A Good Game for Developing Passing and Stickhandling: Crash the Net
Creating Games for Younger and Older Athletes
Sample 60-Minute Practice Plan
Team Practice—Focus on Team Needs