For youth hockey players, the holidays often bring new equipment and some time away from the rink to spend with family. Before local leagues go on hold for Christmas, the Golden Knights Youth Hockey program offered a Holiday Skills Clinic for kids to stay sharp on the ice. Director of Hockey Operations Misha Donskov led the clinic and opened the program by addressing the players in the locker room, just as Gerard Gallant would address the Golden Knights.

They discussed the drills they’d go through and the right attitude to have on the ice. Donskov’s three pillars for a successful practice are listen, work hard and have fun.

Donskov and his coaches kept the players on task throughout the session.

After a light warmup, the players were broken up into five stations. The first station focused on agility and being comfortable on your skates. Players placed their sticks on the ice and practiced tight turns by going around their stick. Next, they worked on making quick passes by tracking a puck behind the net and centering it to a teammate in front of the goal. The third drill was puck possession as the players played keep-away and worked on controlling the puck. Fourth, players skated around two cones with the puck and took shots at the net from difficult angles to practice getting shots off from all over the ice. The last drill worked on controlling the puck against the boards in a 1-on-1 situation.

The hour-long session left the kids with important pointers to keep in mind when they next take the ice.