How do the best teams in the world train? Here is what some of our Olympians had to say about their NHL team practices.
When asked if they play small-area games in their NHL practices here is what the players had to say:
- Dustin Brown, “We regularly play 2v2 in a small area to work on our battling skills”
- Ryan McDonagh, “We use the small games to try and make plays quickly because you don't have a lot of time or space.”
- David Backes, “We do small area games for battling along with limiting time and space. At our level, making decisions must be done quickly.”
- Ryan Suter, “The small games work on all skills that you need to play hockey.”
- Ryan Miller, “The small area games we play help me to rely on reflexes as a goalie since your angles and landmarks have changed.”
Small-area games in practice help even NHL players stay at the top of their game