Benefits of Shared Ice Practices and Small Area Competitive Games

Hi everyone,
The KGHA has made the decision to increase the number of shared ice, mid-week practices this season for competitive teams.  We want to share some of the rationale and benefits for doing so.

“The flat-out use of maximum skating in the game of hockey, it simply doesn’t happen very often. What does happen is that you have to be adjusting, changing, going forward, backward, lateral, always turning and moving toward the puck; that’s agility skating ... Practices in smaller areas generate more stops, starts, turns and, most importantly, more puck touches.”  
   
While the majority of competitive practices are still on full, non-shared ice, the primary focus of the shared ice practices is to be on skills stations and small area competitive games which are strongly encouraged by many reputable sources including Hockey Canada and USA Hockey.  

The benefits of the shared ice practices include:
- Small area competitive games not only force players into tight competitive quarters, they also encourage players to battle hard for the puck while having fun. 
- Games are designed to provide an environment to help players in their ability to make quick decisions. 
- Small area games should be done with high intensity and a quick tempo to simulate game shifts,  which provides an excellent form of conditioning in practice.  
 
There is a growing concern among ice hockey educators that, during hockey games versus hockey practice, players do not have enough time to control the puck in order to develop crucial skills while skating such as passing, receiving, puck and body protection, shooting and stickhandling which small area games help address.

Rising costs in minor hockey are an issue that deserves awareness. Shared ice practices provide twice the development (or more) for HALF the price and do not reduce the amount of time on-ice that each team receives. 
 
All good hockey skill development programs/camps/clinics use station work as the number one type of drill to improve skills. Stations provide for high-repetition & low    coach to player ratio skill development.
 
The KGHA has invested in all of its players and coaches this year with new programs and resources designed to show coaches many examples and benefits of drills run on shared ice. This includes specialty clinics (for house league teams), the Rangers Academy on Thursdays (for competitive teams), sharing of online resources, and a new online drill and practice design tool shared by all KGHA coaches (for all teams).

-  A primary focus is on individual skill development above all else. Implementing shared ice practices provides the best mechanism to do this.
- There are clear benefits for small area competitive games that are recommended for players of ALL ages and calibres. 

Please see the attached for your information.  
- 2017 OHL Gold Cup Practice with Elite 2001 year OHL draft picks (34 skaters and 4 goalies on the same practice ice).

http://www.omha.net/news_article/show/789353?referrer_id=2857526

USA Hockey small games

If you have questions on the merit of shared-ice practices focusing on skill stations and small area competitive games for KGHA players, please feel free to check out one of the Lady Sens Intermediate AA/ Midget AA shared ice practices 8:15pm Wednesdays at GRCB, or reach out to Development Coordinator Andy Bryan, Lady Sens Intermediate AA Head Coach Bernie Pimm or VP Competitive Jason Sass.