Master Angling to Limit Your Opponents Time and Space While Minimizing Scoring Chances Against
Today’s hockey drill is designed to help you refine your angling ability, effectively reducing your opponents time and space while steering them into less-risky areas of the ice.
From: Original drill posted by southcoast.hockey, additional analysis and commentary by Brandon Rubeo of Quest Hockey
🎯 Hockey Skills Targeted:
Angling
📕 What You’ll Learn:
How to force opponents into low-risk areas of the ice
Ideal angling body and stick position
Optional drill variations to simulate game pressure
🧠 Why Work On Angling:
Angling is a skilled used in all three zones.
Angling reduces, or eliminates, chances against by taking away your opponent’s time and space.
Angling minimizes the quality of the chances against by directing the puck carrier into less-risky areas of the ice.
🛠️ Equipment Needed:
Two (version 1) or three (version 2) players:
Version 1: puck-carrier trying to score and a defender trying to angle their time and space away.
Version 2: puck-carrier trying to score, a defender trying to angle their time and space away, and a second forward joining along the far wall as the puck-carrier brings the puck out of the zone and prepares to attack, creating a 2-on-1.
A net, or you could designate an area of the ice as the ‘goal,’ i.e. like an endzone in football.
Optional:
Two cones or some other accessories/barriers (the coach from the original video used gloves) for players to skate around initially to create a gap.
Another accessory/barrier (the coach from the original video used a stick) for the puck-carrier to skate up above while the defender stays below.
*Full drill description, tips, and optional add-ons below the video.
VIDEO: Angling Drill to Steer Opponents Away from High-Danger Areas
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Angling Drill to Limit Opponent’s Time and Space Effectively
✍️ Hockey Angling Drill Description:
Version 1:
Have the puck-carrier skate down and quickly turn, outside-in, on the nearest cone before accelerating outside of the blue line around the stick and attack the net along the far boards to try to score.
At the same time, the defender skates to a further cone, turning inside-out, before accelerating towards the blue but staying on the defensive (or net-side) of the stick, closing the gap and trying to angle the puck-carrier towards the wall or corner.
Version 2:
Same exact drill set up as version 1 but this time add a 2nd forward lined up along the far wall who jumps into the play as the puck carrier initially exits the blue line, creating a 2-on-1.
💡 Tips For the Defender Specific to this Angling Drill:
It’s important to close the gap quickly to begin steering the puck-carrier where you want them, so adjust your skating speed accordingly.
Your body position is crucial:
❌ Too far ahead? You risk giving up the middle.
❌ Too far behind? You give up a lane to the net.
✅ Ideal: Stay square to their near hip to pressure the cutback.
Stick placement is important, but context is key:
If it is a pure 1-on-1 scenario, you most likely want to lead with your stick, attempting to go stick on puck. But, in the event you’re still establishing proper body positioning, trailing with your stick can help deter your opponent from cutting back.
If the puck carrier is a passing threat, you should adjust your stick placement accordingly to eliminate or deter the risk of them moving the puck to a teammate in a high risk area.
Have your stick trailing if there is a drop pass or high slot option.
Lead with your stick if the puck-carrier has a teammate streaking to the net or waiting on the backdoor (or far side) of the net.
🧩 Optional Changes or Add-Ons:
Could add endless variety to the initial skating maneuvers that create time and space for the puck carrier, i.e. pivots, mohawk turns, stop-and-starts, etc.
In this video, the defender stays skating forward, but you could require, or provide the option for the defender to pivot to backwards.
Could add a backchecker to version 1 or 2 to create back pressure — if I were adding a backchecker to version 2, I’d have them start 5-10 feet behind the 2nd forward.
Could add a 2nd puck for a follow up 1-on-1 (if adding to version 1) or 2-on-1 (version 2).
2nd puck could be placed and retrieved or dumped into one of the corners, another area of the ice, or a direct pass to a forward.