2018 OLMs & 2017 Knights — Off-Ice Training

Rookie

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Badges

Ten to collect

My goals

Write these before week 1

Three things you want by week 12. Your words, not a coach's.

The swag locker

Finish a phase, earn the patch

Four pieces from the Lake Monsters retro-patch line, one per phase. Pick them together before week 1 — a reward invented afterwards does not pull anyone through a Tuesday in February.

The 36 sessions

Tap a session to open it

Ten XP a session, plus a point for every star you earn on quality. Finish a phase and the reward unlocks.

Personal bests

Baseline W1 · retest W6 and W12

Only the jump numbers are truly reliable at this age — a tape measure beats a stopwatch. Film the sprint from the same spot every time.

Test	What it means	Week 1	Week 6	Week 12	Change

Ultimate Hockey Challenge

Ten reps · five points each

One point for each thing you get right in the rep. Fifty is perfect. Run it at weeks 3, 6 and 12.

Rep	Correct reaction	Explosive acceleration	Clean puck control	Beat the defender	Shot on target	Total
Score					0 / 50	0 / 50
Right-hand number is your best score so far.

Program review

Read before week 1

The progression in the source plan is sound. These are the changes made to it, and the ones still left for you to make.

Shot volume is already cut here

The source plan peaked at 80 shots in a session and ran 150–200 a week on top of team ice. That is heavy repetitive load through a young shoulder, wrist and low back, usually with a stick that is slightly too heavy. Every session in this build has been capped near 40 quality shots. Stop earlier than that the moment the release gets sloppy.

The skate-day rule

Three off-ice sessions a week sit on top of Knights and OLM ice and games. On a game day or a heavy ice day, keep the deception and puck block and halve the explosive and shooting work. Total weekly load is what hurts kids, not any single session. This one is a judgement call every week, so it stays a rule rather than something baked into the plan.

Deload weeks are built in

Weeks 4 and 8 are now deload weeks and the rep counts in those six sessions are already halved. Same skills, same speed, less volume. They are flagged in red in the app so nobody quietly trains through them. Twelve weeks of rising volume with no down week is how a keen eight-year-old ends up flat or sore by week nine.

Trust the jumps, not the stopwatch

Hand-timing a 5 m sprint carries roughly two tenths of error, which is more than the real change you would see in twelve weeks at this age. Broad jump and lateral bound measure honestly with a tape. Film the sprint from the same spot if you want it to mean anything.

Asymmetry needs a number

Flag a left-right difference over about 15% on the lateral bound. Treat it as a coaching cue, not an injury verdict.

The warm-up is now in every session

The source plan had none. There is now a fixed five-minute sequence at the top of every session card: move, ankles and hips, ground work, hands, then three build-ups to nearly full speed. It is deliberately identical every time so he learns to run it himself by about week four.

Backhand runs through ten sessions

The source plan was heavily forehand-biased. Backhand now progresses the same way everything else does: stationary mechanics in session 3, off a pass in 6, inside a deception in 8, on the move in 15, protection in 17 and 26, fakes in 21, forced under pressure in 29, double points in the 33 battles, and live with no warning in 34. Finishing all ten earns the Both Sides badge.

First retest moved to week 6

Testing at week 3 measures how well he has learned the test, not adaptation. Baseline week 1, retest weeks 6 and 12. Session 9 stays as a baseline-setter rather than a comparison.

What is genuinely good

The progression is right, and most parent-run programs never get past stationary skills. Stationary, then moving, then pressure, then uncertainty is exactly the Hockey Canada pathway. The constraint-led work is current best practice. And the best line in the whole document is the standard for deception: it worked if the defender moved.

You are the defender

19 of the 36 sessions

Coaching the defender yourself is better than a teammate for this work, because a teammate cannot deliberately vary one cue at a time and you can. The only real risk is an uncalibrated adult — full height, two hands, full reach closes gaps no U9 defender ever will, and he ends up solving a problem he will never meet. These eight rules fix that.

Get down to his size

Defend from your knees, or half-kneeling, for anything inside a few metres. An adult standing up has reach he will never face from a U9 defender, so he learns to beat a problem that does not exist. On your knees your stick and arm span are roughly a peer's.

One hand on the stick

One hand only, and use a cut-down or junior stick if you have one. Two hands and full reach turns every rep into a loss, and a kid who never wins stops trying.

Aim for him winning about half

Roughly a 50-50 success rate is the sweet spot. Much higher and there is no problem to solve; much lower and it stops being fun. Adjust your speed, not his task.

Commit on a rule, not on instinct

Decide before the rep what makes you commit, and tell him nothing. For example: commit when the puck crosses the cone, or when his shoulders turn. A fixed rule is readable, so there is something real to learn. Reacting on instinct just makes you unpredictable, which teaches nothing.

Vary one cue at a time

This is the thing a teammate cannot do for him. One session you always bite on the shoulder fake; the next you only bite on the eyes. He learns which cue is doing the work because you controlled the variable.

Do not try to win

Your job is to make him solve a problem, not to beat an eight-year-old. If you find yourself competing, stop and reset the rep.

Passive, then reactive, then live

Every defender session runs the same three stages: shadow him at half speed, then react properly but late, then compete. Start each new skill at stage one even in week eleven.

Say nothing until the rep is over

Then ask what was open. Coaching mid-rep removes the perception work, which is the entire point of phase three.

The drill videos

36 clips · about 12 minutes of footage

The sessions reuse the same movements over and over, so this is a library of movements rather than 36 session videos — film each one once and every session that uses it lights up. Twenty seconds each is plenty: one slow rep, then one at full speed. Phone on a tripod or a chair, landscape, no narration needed — the app already carries the words.

How to add them. Save each clip as the filename below, drop them into app/public/video/, then re-run node setup.mjs. The app reads which clips exist at runtime, so partial is fine — film six this week and those six go live. Anything not filmed shows as a greyed-out chip rather than a broken link. Videos are deliberately not cached for offline use: they would fill a kid's phone, and clips get watched at home rather than at the rink.

Save as	Movement	What the camera needs to see
`warmup.mp4` Warm-up	The warm-up	All five steps in order, front-on, about 45 seconds. This is the one he will watch most.
`falling-start.mp4` Starts	Falling start	Side-on. Show the lean until he has to catch himself, then the first three steps.
`starts-positions.mp4` Starts	Starts from different positions	Side-on. Split stance, half-kneeling, then lateral. Two reps of each.
`crossover-turn.mp4` Starts	Crossover sprint and turn-and-go	Three-quarter angle so the crossover step is visible.
`bound-sprint.mp4` Starts	Bound into sprint	Side-on, wide enough to catch the bound and the first strides without panning.
`reaction-start.mp4` Starts	Reaction start	Include the person giving the cue in frame - ball drop, colour call, red light green light.
`chase-race.mp4` Starts	Chase race	From behind both runners so the gap is readable.
`skater-bound.mp4` Jumps	Skater bound	Front-on. Emphasise the stick landing and the hold.
`pogo.mp4` Jumps	Pogo hops	Side-on. Show stiff ankles and quiet contact.
`broad-jump.mp4` Jumps	Standing broad jump	Side-on with the tape visible. Show the landing being held, not stumbled.
`sl-hop.mp4` Jumps	Single-leg hop, hold and balance	Front-on. The hold matters more than the distance.
`brake-reaccel.mp4` Change of direction	Brake and re-accelerate	Side-on. The stop is the point, not the sprint.
`sprint-cut.mp4` Change of direction	Sprint and cut	Three-quarter angle. Show the outside foot planting.
`stop-lateral.mp4` Change of direction	Stop into lateral burst	Front-on so both directions are visible.
`transition-footwork.mp4` Change of direction	Sprint, lateral and backpedal transitions	Front-on, full body in frame.
`mirror.mp4` Change of direction	Mirror drill	Both players in frame the whole time.
`handles.mp4` Puck control	Stickhandling: narrow, wide, around the body	Overhead or high angle on the puck. Hands in frame.
`eyes-up-handles.mp4` Puck control	Eyes-up stickhandling	Include the person giving finger signals, so the point is obvious.
`puck-and-ball.mp4` Puck control	Puck and tennis ball	High angle. Show a failed rep too - it is meant to be hard.
`lateral-puck.mp4` Puck control	Moving the puck sideways before the shot	From the net looking back, so the angle change is visible.
`shoulder-fake.mp4` Deception	Shoulder fake	From the defender's eye line. That is the only view that shows whether it works.
`eye-fake.mp4` Deception	Eyes and head fake	Close, from the defender's eye line.
`shot-fake-escape.mp4` Deception	Shot fake into lateral escape	Three-quarter angle so the fake and the escape both read.
`speed-change.mp4` Deception	Speed change: fast, hesitate, explode	Side-on, wide. The pause is the whole drill.
`puck-protect.mp4` Deception	Puck protection and escape	With a defender. Show the body staying between the stick and the puck.
`gate-attack.mp4` Deception	Gate attack	Behind the attacker, both gates in frame.
`box-escape.mp4` Deception	Box escape	High and wide enough to see all four sides of the box.
`wrist-shot.mp4` Shooting	Wrist shot mechanics	Side-on, slow. Weight transfer and follow-through.
`quick-release.mp4` Shooting	Quick release	Side-on. Film one slow rep, then one at full speed.
`shoot-off-pass.mp4` Shooting	Shooting off a pass	Wide enough to include the passer.
`across-body.mp4` Shooting	Across-body shot	From behind the shooter toward the net.
`shoot-in-motion.mp4` Shooting	Shooting in motion	Track from the side. Feet must still be moving at release.
`backhand.mp4` Shooting	Backhand mechanics	Side-on, slow. Puck starting behind the back foot.
`backhand-pass.mp4` Shooting	Backhand off a pass	Include the passer.
`backhand-protect.mp4` Shooting	Backhand protection	With a defender pressuring from that side.
`testing.mp4` Testing	How to run the tests	Show the exact setup: 5m marks, tape for the jumps, where the camera sits. Film this once and reuse it every test week.

The warm-up

5 minutes · every session · never skipped

Identical every time, on purpose — he should be running it himself without being told by about week four.

Move Easy skips, side shuffles and a backward jog. 60 seconds.
Ankles and hips Ankle rocks 10/side, leg swings 10/side forward and sideways, hip openers 5/side.
Ground Walking lunge 5/side, inchworm x4, squat-to-stand x5.
Hands 30 seconds narrow stickhandling, 30 seconds wide. Eyes up.
Build up Three 10m accelerations at 60%, 80%, then 95%. The last one is nearly full speed.

The roadmap

Four phases

FoundationWeeks 1–3

Acceleration mechanics, puck control, shooting mechanics, basic deception

VelocityWeeks 4–6

Perform established skills faster; manipulate shot angle; add pressure

PerceptionWeeks 7–9

Read visual information and defender cues; choose solutions

TransferWeeks 10–12

Reaction to acceleration to deception to shot, in hockey-like sequences

Weekly rhythm. Monday is acceleration and power, then shooting. Wednesday is deception and perception, then puck control. Friday is lateral power, then release and transfer.
Duration. 35–45 minutes, with 30–60 seconds of recovery between maximal sprints and jumps.
Equipment. Stick, 50–100 pucks, shooting pad or tiles, net or backstop, 6–10 cones, 2–3 tennis balls, tape or chalk, phone camera, optional light band.

On the swag. The four rewards come from the OLM retro-patch capsule, so they are on-brand by default: hats, tops, bottoms and layers, accessories. Two rules from the brand guide worth keeping if you order these. The patch is always sewn on textiles — printed application is only allowed on hard goods like the water bottle. And the OLM patch is a merchandise mark only: never on jerseys, helmets or game-day equipment, where the circular crest is the sole approved identifier. Any item can be swapped, including for something that is not swag at all — pick Something else in the locker.

What the team board stores. These are minors, so the server holds the least it can: a display name, a team code, and four numbers — sessions, XP, best run and badge count. No date of birth, no email, no phone, no free text. Goals, personal bests, Ultimate Challenge scores and the swag locker never leave the child's own phone. The board is only reachable with the team code, so it is not something a stranger can browse to, and ranking is on work done, never on a physical test score — no sprint times or jump distances are shared between kids. If a player leaves, delete their row and everything about them is gone.

Coaching rules

Non-negotiable

Never turn explosive work into conditioning. Stop a set when speed clearly drops.
Technique before load. At age eight, strength work is bodyweight, coordination, balance and controlled foundational movement.
Progress puck skills: stationary, then moving, then opponent and pressure.
Deception is successful when it changes the defender's behaviour.
Ask questions after reps instead of constantly supplying the answer.
Keep live games small. Less space creates more touches, decisions, direction changes and accelerations.
Shooting evolves from mechanics to movement to quick release to angle change to deception to random game-like situations.
Preserve fun. Finish many sessions with a race, a score challenge or a live game.
Formal testing is occasional. Daily training should not feel like an evaluation.
If pain, unusual fatigue, limping or loss of normal movement appears, stop and reassess rather than pushing through.

Evidence base. Hockey Canada’s U9 model prioritises technical skill development, fundamental movement skills and age-appropriate small-area play. Its puck-control pathway moves from stationary skill to movement and then to beating an opponent; its shooting pathway progresses toward movement, quick release, angle changes, fakes and shots off passes. NSCA long-term athletic development guidance supports safe progression of physical literacy, motor skills and foundational strength in youth. This is a coaching framework, not medical advice — if pain or limping appears, stop and reassess.