Ottawa Senators® Hockey Programs offers skill development practice sessions for minor hockey associations and individual teams, led by our most advanced on-ice instructors. Sessions will be designed by our Head of Hockey Development, in consultation with coaches, to provide the highest possible impact to supplement each team or associations’ regular practice routines.

We are pleased to provide the following choices for specific skill development options to be selected by an association or its coaches for team sessions, association clinics, individual registration-based clinics, or individual registration-based subscription series.

  • The Secret to Winning Puck Battles
    • Develop skills required to obtain and maintain possession of the puck.
    • Angling an opponent off the puck.
    • Quick feet and starts to beat opponents to puck.
    • Skating techniques focusing on agility and balance used to win puck battles.
    • Using active stick and body position to regain puck possession.
    • Lift checks and other techniques effective to winning puck battles.
  • Dominant Defending (Two-parts recommended, or a single-session high-level review with less repetitions and instruction)Part 1
    • Develop backwards skating including quick starts, crossunders, and lateral mobility.
    • Backwards starts & stops.
    • Pivots and transition skating.
    • Develop skills to be an efficient and powerful backwards skater.
    • Proper use of inside and outside edges along with body mechanics for backwards stride.
    • Puck carries and backwards puck handling. Part 2
    • Review of Part 1
    • Keep-ins, quick release shots, first passes, shooting and passing in motion.
    • Increase players decision making ability and making plays under pressure.
    • Puck carries and backwards puck handling (Repeated).
    • Review importance of angling, active stick, safe and skilled puck retrievals, gap control, positioning, and taking away passing lanes.
    • Game-like drills to put the practice into play immediately.
  • Efficient & Powerful Skating
    • A complete build-up of the proper forwards skating stride, starting with identification and activation of the muscle groups used to trigger a quick start and the subsequent powerful push and glide needed for optimal skating.
    • This session will most closely resemble a typical power skating clinic, with an even greater focus on the biomechanics behind skating stride.
    • Backwards skating stride.
    • Carrying the puck while maintaining a focus on skating technique at all times.
    • Skating skills taught will be reinforced during games and races to maximize player enjoyment.  
  • Shoot to score
    • Develops the skill to put the puck in the back of the net.
    • Develop the mechanics to improve shot accuracy, quickness and power.
    • Proper hand placement, knee bend, weight transfer and follow through.Forehand & backhand shots.
    • Game-like drills and small area games to teach the importance of and how to score in tight, track rebounds, tips & deflections.
    • Introduce, teach and review proper techniques for slap shots & one timers (age appropriate)
  • Complete Skill Development
    • A “soup to nuts” session with a more broad focus that allows players (and accompanying team coaches on the ice) to learn the key instructional points from our instructors for up to five of the following skills:
      • Skating (individual selections): Quick starts, starts & stops, quick feet/lateral crossovers, tight turns, forward stride, backwards starts & stride, edge control / balance, crossovers, crossunders, transitions, pivots.
      • Shooting (individual selections): Forehand, backhand, FH and BH flip (quick-elevation), one-timers, wraparounds, rebounds, deflections.
      • Passing (includes all): Forehand & backhand stationary passing, saucer-passing (age appropriate).
      • Puck control (individual selections): Stationary and in-motion basic puck control techniques, open-ice carries, control in tight spaces (side to side, tight turns), and advanced stickhandling maneuvers (age-appropriate).
  • Precision Passing
    • Teach individual skills for giving and receiving crisp (flat) and accurate forehand and backhand passes.
    • Techniques to create space to get the puck to and from teammates including give & go’s, area/space passes, bank passes, and saucer passes (age appropriate).
    • Teach about the importance of proper support and getting open to receive passes with the use of small area games.
  • Ultra-speed
    • Develop the ability to make plays at high speeds and react quickly in tight areas.
    • Improve player’s ability to perform multiple skills involving skates and hands simultaneously.
    • Enhance decision making by forcing players to make plays under pressure in tight areas.
    • Improve balance, agility, quickness.
    • Explosive crossovers with high crossover to stride ratio and shifty skating techniques.
    • Higher repetitions with less instruction – focus is on repeating movements rather than being coaches on “how” to perform each movement.
  • Extreme stickhandling
    • Develops and improves stickhandling methods.
    • Techniques performed stationary and in-motion including one and two hand carries, change of pace and direction, fakes, and dekes.
    • Puck control and handling through turns, crossovers, pivots and straight away speed.
    • Introduce and learn many current dekes used by elite-level players.
    • Use of block practice and random practice methodologies to increase puck skills.
  • Edges
    • Develop an advance understanding of the use of both their inside and outside edges and how they work together to become efficient skaters.
    • Improve power, balance, and agility incorporating work on full stride extension/recovery, pivots, crossovers, crossunders, tight turns, backwards skating, stops and starts.
    • Players will be challenged outside their comfort level to develop the range they can successfully maneuver on their skates.
    • 100% Skating-only focus

Other details:

  • Sessions can be customized to incorporate team coaching staff in the execution and instruction or run entirely by professional Ottawa Senators Hockey Programs instructors.

Session costs may vary depending on ice requirements and staffing requests.

To obtain a quote or reserve ice times for the season, please call us at 613.599.0222 or email [email protected] for more information.

Refund Policy: Read our Refund & Cancellation Policy.

CoachThem is the official practice planning and drill design software of the Ottawa Senators Hockey Programs.