Training Camp Chronicles with Mitch Giguere: Part Four

This is it — Mitch Giguere returns with the Part 4 of the 2023 Training Camp Drills series, directly from the professional league. 

A big thank you to each of you who shared videos with me through social media, contributing to the creation of this 4-part series. I’m excited to share them all with you!

We have 10 hockey drills that are sure to capture your interest. Let’s dig into this final one together! 

 

*All Drills and this Plan are found in our FREE Marketplace. Never Draw a Drill ever again!

 

1.  Training Camp 2023 - Activation Skating
 

Yes, in 2024, we’re still using full ice to do some footwork, which will be emphasized in drills later in practice or during the week. You’ll see in this one and the next drill that there are so many variations that you can do.

 

2.  Training Camp 2023 - Activation Skating Part 2

Another look for activation when you have the time to do so, and the right people.

 

3. Training Camp 2023 - Agility and Overspeed from the Wall Corner



 

Escaping from the corner or the battles while you don’t want to use an entire team. This is a little overspeed in the corner, attacking mentality. You can always modify some of the movement down in the corner.
 

 

4.  Training Camp 2023 - Attacking the Net from the Corner
 

 

Based on the first drill, you can tweak it by adding a stickhandling station from the corner. The biggest thing is to make sure you have heads up. A lot of time, players will do it heads down, staying away from the game situation.

 

5. Training Camp 2023 - Getting Away from Corner
 

 

Another look but with token pressure from a coach.

 

6. Training Camp 2023 - Backcheck and Angling
 

 

How much time do you spend weekly on angling, and how many great drills do you have? I think everyone is in the same boat; not a lot. With this one, we touch two things: stealing the puck from behind and angling. The angling can look like surfing from D2. It’s a perfect drill to work on when you have some free time with the players, before or after practice, or when you split forward and defenseman.

 

7. Training Camp 2023 - Punch Turn Blue Line
 

 

A pretty straightforward drill with great information. Watch the video and you’ll understand it all. You only have to use it to show your players.

 

8. Training Camp 2023 - Retrieval BGL and Attacking Net
 

 

I love this drill because it’s related to board work. Sometimes, catching a hard rim and trying to attack right away can be difficult. With the token pressure, you add some game situations into a simple drill.

 

9. Training Camp 2023 - Stickhandling Small Area 
 

 

In this drill, try to challenge not only your players but also your goalie. Reading and reacting are crucial here. It’s a great 1v1 that you can finish your practice with.

 

 

10. Training Camp 2023 - Skating and Skills on Entries 
 

 

We can call it the Sid the Kid drill as well. I start a lot of my individual sessions with this kind of drill over speed (2 crosses over each side). In this one, emphasis is on building up speed through the neutral zone and attacking the defender on the blue line.
 

Thanks everyone and make sure to check out each of these drills in the CoachThem Marketplace or on CoachThem YouTube! Let's create hockey drills together! 

 

 

May 23, 2024

Blog by CoachThem Contributor, Mitch Giguere (Edited by Kelsey Dold)

Mitch Giguere, ChPC, an assistant coach with the Wheeling Nailers in the ECHL, affiliated with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Mitch has his High Performance 2 from Hockey Canada, Advanced Coaching Diploma from the Canadian Sport Institute and is finishing his Learning Accelerator at the Canadian Sport Institute. You can follow his popular video breakdown on Social Media for more excellent hockey content.

 

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