Tony,
Further to Tom's suggestion.
Play a 1 vs 1 one net game of give and go. Players are scattered around the boards and blueline.
Rule is that you must make a give and go with one of the stationary players before shooting. The defender must stay with the active player.
Reinforce that you "Identify your man" then "Stay between him and the net". I like to use the term "Net, Me, Him".
You can make it 2 vs 2 or 3 vs 3 as a progression.
Good Luck.
Tom M Paulie thanks for the suggestions. We alreayd play Tom's battle game and sometie add an element of "add a man" up to 3 by passing to a team's point man. We will try Paulie's drill.
I have use your "4 playing roles" to pretty good success with the players.
We have stuck with the 2-1-2 and use F1 F2 F3 with the F3 staying high in the offensive zone.
We have also instituted the cycle with great success. 10 yo defensmen understandably really struggle against this strategy.
After watching one of your swiss videos we have begun using the passing drill with opposing lines and player faking oncoming players or performing a skill in the middle. Wow do we get a ton of puck in that drill in a short period!
Thanks again for the site!