Wednesday Drill of the Week: Ranger Post Up
June 7, 2013 1 Comment
A great drill that can be used as a warm up/shooting drill, and also works on NZ skill sets for forwards and defensemen. Forwards start with pucks on opposite blue lines, two D start stationary just inside the blue line. Both lines go at the same time. A forward takes off with a puck, passes to the far defenseman. Puck moves D-D, while the forward does a tight turn up ice and posts up just inside the far blue line. The puck is then moved up to the posted winger, either with a direct pass or an indirect pass. The forward receives the puck and then moves in to attack the goaltender for a shot.
Forwards need to work on quick acceleration, picking up indirect passes, and shooting with their feet moving. Defensemen need to work on their footwork, D-D communication and puck movement.
Chris,
Concerning the Ranger Post-Up warm-up drill, after the initial pass by the forwards, do you specify how you want the forward to turn tight to receive pass back from the D ? For example: a mohawk turn opening hips thereby never losing eye contact with their defensemen or a tight turn and curl where forwards often lose eye contact briefly (turning back to D) with their defensemen. Reason I ask, at high levels of hockey I have seen this tight turn in the NZ coached different ways or sometimes never specified leaving it up to the player. Interested in your response.
regards,
Karl Enroth
Camden Hills (ME) Varsity Hockey Head Coach