Successful passing between teammates is crucial in hockey. It establishes control of the game. A good pass also indicates strong team chemistry, the puck going cleanly from tape to tape and to where a player will be. Have fun next practice with the following hockey passing drill. It’s designed to help players develop chemistry, communication and confidence to shoot the puck.
The Cohesion Passing Drill addresses a number of factors critical for team success. For it to be effective, each line needs a leader to step up. The line leader  counts the number of passes while encouraging teammates to shoot when appropriate. If there’s no communication, it becomes a good “teachable moment” for coaches.
Besides crisp passing, the other emphasis of the drill is conditioning players to take the shot. Some players wait too long for a shot, while others prefer to be doing the passing. This drill forces them to take the shot without overthinking.

Setup

Split your team in half and form two lines per side, both goalies in net and one puck. The drill has the format of a scrimmage, with some twists. It should last about 20 minutes.

Cohesion Passing Drill

Before every faceoff, the coach calls out a number between one and six, indicating how many touches of the puck the team must make in the offensive zone. The final touch must be a shot on net. For example, if the coach calls out “three,” there must be two passes followed by a shot. The other team may steal the puck, as in a normal scrimmage. However, if they do, they must execute the same number of touches. If the offensive team makes more touches than the number called, they forfeit the puck. If a team scores after making more or fewer passes than the number called, the goal doesn’t count. After each shot, the other team takes possession.
Check out more drills to improve your stickhandling.
Photo credit: kevinneeld.com