I am also coaching a group of 01's. Same observations as Tony89. These games are new to the kids and they get very concerned that they don't fully understand what to do. I tell them not to worry, that these are new and we will learn them together. Like RookieCoach says, break the games down and don't try for perfection in the entire drill. At first you may have to stop the game early, rather than let everyone become frustrated.
Our team has learned the 3v0, 3v1, 3v2 Attack,Defend,Rest (full ice) transition and they really like it. They have spontaneously huddled up to craft their own attack. And they complain when we stop it when it is time to move on to something else.
I understand the challenges, because these games are foreign to players, coaches and parents.
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Very true; so when I use the game for the first time the only focus is for the players and asstistant coaches to catch on to the flow of the game. Once they have how to play the game then I start adding rules, regroups, dump ins, even and uneven situations etc It is also good to name the game so they can play it with only a quick review and maybe a demo by the players who remember the flow.
The game is your Template to teach all kinds of skills, team play concepts etc.
I ran the 2 on 2 with passive support with the 99s tonight and added a d to d pass and regroup in the neutral zone.
We also played the 5-3 full ice last two backcheckers in the neutral zone.
It went well and we worked on stretch passes to the neutral zone players.