Small-area games have been proven to increase a player’s ability to excel in tighter spaces, increase explosive speed, improve decision making, and enhance efficiency on the ice. Used with some of hockey’s most elite players, this small game methodology can now be used by coaches everywhere to develop players’ skills and put a winning team on the ice.

In Coaching Hockey With Small-Area Games, Hockey Canada skills consultant Dave Cameron shares the games and coaching tips he uses with players ranging from pros (NHL, AHL, and ECHL) to young athletes just learning to play the game.

He breaks down more than 50 small-area games covering all major aspects of play:

• Offensive skills and tactics
• Defensive skills and tactics
• Transitions
• Face-offs
• Power plays
• Penalty killing

More than just the how, you’ll learn the why. Cameron explains the skills being developed, what to focus on during the games, and how to recognize and correct common player mistakes. And each game can be modified to match the skill level of the players.

For maximum effectiveness, turn to the game finder and select the games that are most applicable based on player skill and intended developmental outcome. And to allow more time for coaching instead of planning, use the ready-made practice sessions designed for practices of different lengths and for developing specific skills.

Coaching Hockey With Small-Area Games will help you create game-like situations in practice so your players can develop the skills to play smart and with precision, speed, and confidence.

Dave Cameron is often able to sleep soundly on interstate buses and in airport departure lounges. This wasn’t always the case. At the age of 18, he sat up for 70 hours on the train from Toronto to Vancouver. He arrived smelly and exhausted, but also having discovered that movement alone is a fix – even if temporary – for restlessness.Dave grew up in Maple, Ontario, and studied magazine journalism at Ryerson University. A freelance writer, his work has appeared in The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, The Ottawa Citizen, and Cottage Life magazine, among other publications. He also worked for a time as a weekly newspaper reporter in Kincardine, Ontario. But the stories he likes best are those found by accident. (Or those that are somehow accidental: he can, for example, tell a Techni-colourful tale about the time he got food poisoning in Nepal.)Dave has lived in Vancouver, Toronto, and Halifax, and has travelled in Europe, Asia, and Australia.

Dave Cameron's profile page

“Coaches are constantly in search of ways to replicate game conditions. Limiting time and space enhances skill development and has a positive influence on decision making. The purposeful small-area games in Coaching Hockey With Small-Area Games are motivating and beneficial, and they ensure all players are never far from the action.”
—Paul Carson, President of the Coaching Association of Canada

“I have always felt that every coach should have a bank of small-area games to use for player development at all levels. With Coaching Hockey With Small-Area Games, one of Canada’s top coaches, Dave Cameron, has put together a resource to keep practices fun, competitive, and educational.”
—Mike Johnston Sr., Vice President, General Manager, and Head Coach of Portland Winterhawks Hockey Club