Back at the rink on Day 3. Today’s morning focus for the 15′s is puck handling, for the 16′s it’s similar but there was also a focus on skating. Both groups had single team sessions on the ice for 50 minutes.
As I mentioned above, the 15′s focused on puck handling for pretty much the entire practice. The team was split into groups and different stations set up (3). The girls rotated through the stations which were variations of moving through cones with a puck at speed. In some sessions it was fairly rigid in what they were to do, in others, they were told to express some puck handling creativity. It was nice to see the girls trying some deeks, toe-drags, and creativity. Other stations were side to side control, etc. The goalies were positioned around the stations and were taking shots. Although not a goalie expert by any means, it seems like the goalies are getting a lot of attention on the ice. They are definitely not bored!
The 16′s also worked on puck handling and shooting but unlike the 15′s, started out skating. The full ice was used and sprints to the lines, stopping on one edge, and moving again were the types of drills that were done. Lots of focus on transitioning. The puck handling portions were using cones and skating through them and shooting or passing. Really stressing moving at speed. Backward, forward, stopping and doing slap-shots were all covered.
Once again, for most spectators, these sessions aren’t as exciting as watching a game. But in my humble opinion as a development and evaluation tool, this format really seems to work. I feel confident that at the end of the week, each player will have a good idea of what they need to focus on and USAH will have a good idea of who they are looking for.
Random: There aren’t too many spectators but since I didn’t see the 15 or 16′s last year, I don’t know if that is the norm. They need to open the snack bar in the morning, or provide some coffee! The overall camp seems to be very well organized.
ESL
