For decades, young players have been developing their hockey skills and fostering creativity on the outdoor rinks across our great state. Local legends such as Phil Housley, John Mayasich and the Broten brothers still talk about how pond hockey – or “shinny” – provided the greatest platform and atmosphere to learn and work on new skills.

With today’s busy schedules and Minnesota’s unpredictable weather, it can be tough to hit the local park or pond every week. However, unstructured play should remain in every player’s schedule.

Instead of trying to “speed farm” hockey prospects to the next level with drills, structure and systems, says Terry Evavold, allow kids the time to develop through fun, unstructured play.

“It takes 180 days to get a field of corn,” says Evavold, the vice president of hockey operations at Minnesota Hockey. “You have to be patient. We try to get kids into the NHL by pushing and pushing and pushing.”

Simply put: Adults, be it coaches or parents, should be finding ways to inject creativity into the youth game, whether it’s being played inside or out. There needs to be a conscious effort to promote unstructured, free play whether at the rink or at home.

So how can we bring that pond hockey environment to the indoor rink?

Make the first/last 5-10 minutes of practice “free time.” Let the kids skate around with pucks, practice new stickhandling tricks, pass with their teammates, etc. It’s a fun way for players to start practice and get loose while getting a lot of puck touches and experimenting.

Keepaway. Or “Hongo” as Northern Minnesotans call it. Funny how such a simple game can foster so much creativity. Keepaway also forces the puck-handler to learn to protect the puck, work in tight areas and escape pressure. This can also be a very tiresome activity.

Encourage creativity during 1-on-1s, 2-on-1s, 3-on-1s and 3-on-2s. Let the forwards’ imagination take over. Let them use the space, teammates and their skill sets to find a way around the defense and create scoring chances.

Pig/monkey in the middle. Have two or more players pass and skate the puck while keeping it away from one or more other players. This activity allows players to read the defender, anticipate the play and get creative with their passing skills. Stickhandling, skating and puck protection all come into play as well.

Plan a pond hockey practice. Head to the local outdoor rink. Get a game going instead of spending the entire hour on drills and systems.

Small-area games. Small-area games provide an ideal environment to force players to be creative.  Players must read and react to the play more quickly and with less space. Small-area games do not just benefit youngsters. Even NHL teams still incorporate them into their practices. Here is a digital booklet of small-area games, compiled by USA Hockey.

Reward creativity – even if it fails. Coaches and parents shouldn’t be discouraged when players try new moves or think outside the box and fail. Kids aren’t going to one day magically perfect a move they have never practiced before.

As the national coach-in-chief for USA Hockey, Mike MacMillan sees over-structured practices all the time: “There’s a fear among coaches that if we don’t do these certain drills or do this or that, then we’re not using the ice time efficiently enough.”

That’s backwards, MacMillan says. Making practices rigid and structured can cause players to lose interest and limits the amount of time they can use their skills to really learn to play.

These tips should help kids learn and love the game.