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Articles by Andrew Trimble
2026-27 NCAA D1 Mens Hockey Preview
Screenshot By Andrew Trimble | The Hockey Focus College hockey returns in October with plenty to watch before the first puck drops. Denver enters the men’s season as the defending national champion. St. Thomas begins a new chapter in the NCHC. And as players move among junior hockey, the Canadian Hockey League, and college programs, coaches face the familiar challenge of turning a roster into a team. nchchockey.com Out West, the NCHC will be fascinating.
Trimble’s Drill of the Week
Do this sequence everyday, just 5 minutes and improve your range of motion, hand speed, ability to keep the puck flat, and coordination.
Trimble’s Drill of the Week
Trimble’s Drill of the Week Some Good Stations Drills to add to your youth practices Classic stations or drills to teach balance, low center of gravity and playing with your heads up. Have fun.
Trimble’s Drill of the Week
Trimble’s Drill of the Week- 2 v 1 Timing Drill 2 v 1 Timing Drill #hockey#hockeydrills#hockeyskills#hockeytraining#icehockey#hockeycoach Lines of forwards and D’s on each side. Whistle yo – yo passing with first forward and the D. 2nd forward swings as the middle option using timing. Regroup and attack (or defend) at each end on whistle. LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE For more content- https://andrewtrimble.substack.com/ or www.scoringconcepts.com www.aihockeyadvisor.com
NHL Off Season Preview
The NHL Offseason: What’s Really Happening (And Why It Matters) Let’s be honest—once the Stanley Cup is handed out, most people think hockey just… stops. But if you’ve been around the game long enough, you know that’s not even close to true. In a lot of ways, the offseason is where everything actually starts. This is when teams make the decisions that define next season. This is when players change careers overnight.
Trimble's Drill of the Week
Trimble’s Drill of the Week Sutter Breakouts Lines within your pairs and groups positioned up near the blueline with coach and pucks. Goalies in each net. Stress Backchecking through the middle into D- Zone and Communication away from the puck Coach calls out a predetermined breakout such as – Quick Up, Reverse, D to D (behind the net), Stretch etc. Group of 5 executes the breakout. Speed and simplicity through the neutral zone. Practice good rush offense habits on the entry.
Trimble's Drill of the Week
Cross Ice Passing Warmup 4 lines in the neutral zone. Start with one puck. Passing to Side- then cross ice (middle)- then to the other side and repeat. Simple lines that require flats passes, good targets, communication, and soft hands. Where the drill gets fun and interesting is the introduction of multiple pucks. Watch video below to see the progression to multiple pucks.
2026 Olympic Hockey Recap
Here’s a complete recap of the Men’s and Women’s Ice Hockey tournaments from the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina (Feb 5–22, 2026): Latest 2026 Winter Olympics Hockey Highlights & Results Mile High Hockey Honoring Johnny Gaudreau with Olympic Gold: Hughes nets OT winner, Hellebuyck stars over Canada Today NBC Olympics Team USA vs.
Signs your league is Collapsing
If you’re involved in youth or junior hockey, a league rarely collapses overnight. There are usually warning signs long before things fall apart. Here are the most common red flags that a league may be on its last legs: Teams folding mid-season Multiple divisions combined just to survive Expansion announcements quietly disappearing A schedule full of forfeits Healthy leagues grow or at least stabilize. Persistent contraction is a major warning sign.
Trimble's Drill of the Week
Trimble’s Drill of the Week- 7 Puck Game Great fun game to finish off your practice for all ages. 7 pucks and a goalie with each group of skaters (could be 2 or 3 or 4 groups) On the whistle 1st skater tries to carry their puck, penalty shot style, in on their goalie and score. If they do, that puck is complete and out of play, onto the next puck. If they dont score (and no scoring on rebounds) they have to retrieve the same puck and pass to the next skater in line.
NHL Free Agency 2025 Moves
Mitch Marner ➝ Vegas Golden Knights Signed an 8‑year, $96 million deal in a sign‑and‑trade with Toronto. Marner was looking for a fresh start as tensions grew in Toronto NHL+8YouTube+8New York Post+8The Times of India+1The Times of India+1. Vladislav Gavrikov ➝ New York Rangers The Rangers added a “shutdown” defenseman on a 7‑year, $49 million contract (≈ $7 M AAV), filling a critical gap on their blue line New York PostSportsnet.ca.
Trimble's Drill of the Week
Trimble’s Drill of the Week- Essential Plyometrics for Hockey Players Plyometric exercises—sometimes called plyo exercises—are bodyweight exercises that include an explosive movement such as a jump. The explosiveness of plyometric workouts helps build muscle and elevate your heart rate for an effective cardio workout. Plyometric training programs are common among athletes looking to increase their athletic performance by developing greater explosive power and speed.
Recaping 2025 NHL Draft
The de-centralized 2025 NHL Draft commenced with the first round on June 27, showcasing top prospects eager to join the league. The 2nd through 7th rounds took place on June 28th, completing the re-stocking of each teams prospect pool. Here are some interesting takeaways… The 2025 NHL Draft saw a mix of Canadian and international talent, with the New York Islanders leading the pack with their selection of Matthew Schaefer, a near-consensus top overall pick.
The NCDC Expands Again
The NCDC/ USPHL has announced a further expansion slated to begin in the 2025-26 season with 4 more teams joining the league. This announcement comes a few months after the league announced the Boston Jr Bruins were re-entering the league along with Universel, CP Dynamo, and the Springfield Pics. Only a few months prior to that announcement the league acquired the Boston Jr Rangers, Seacoast Spartans, Worcester Railers, and Boston Dogs would be joining the league.
NHL Playoff Preview from the Hockey Toolkit
Andrew: Morning Trevor, the NHL regular season has concluded after a great season of events and milestones. Ovi breaking the goal record, Winnipeg winning the Presidents Trophy, and the 4 nations faceoff to name a few…. Now onto the playoffs. This year’s edition has 5 of the 7 Canadian teams involved and some great storylines in the first round.
Buyers Beware- Types of Coaches to Avoid
Its been a long season for everyone, and now players and parents will turn the page to 2025-26, looking for the ideal place for their daughter or son to develop and have a positive experience in the game of hockey. The person your youth athlete will engage with the most is the coach, and just like choosing a program, choosing a coach for your kid to play for can be a difficult decision.
EHL Regional Finals Review
In 2024-25 the Eastern Hockey League altered their playoff format to eliminate the round robin Frozen Finals format and instead create two Regional Championships, before a Frozen Finals best of three format with the two remaining teams. In doing so, they created a truly unique regional event, where teams can pack college rinks with their local fans and then feature a series, instead of round robin, championship final.
Trimble's Drill of the Week
Trimble’s Drill of the Week- Stations and Drills at a Jr skill session practice Here are some of the drills at a recent Skill Session Practice This and variations of this is the warm up. Handling the puck at high speed and performing an edge work or puck maneuver before shooting. Right/ Left shots on opposite sides- This drill works on retrieving pucks along the wall/ behind the net, keeping your feet moving and shooting a low trajectory shot opposite of the way your body is moving.
Top Statistical Regular Seasons in US Jr Hockey in 2024-25
Congratulations to these teams, organizations, players and coaches for their outstanding seasons so far in the 2024-25 regular season! In the USHL, Lincoln Stars has been setting the pace all season long, leading the way offensively (253 goals for- 1st in the league) and first team to get to 40 wins on the season- ushl.com/ht/#/team-stats In the NAHL, Lone Star and Bismarck are the only two teams left that having yet given up 100 goals against on the season.
Why Junior Hockey is Worth it, and Why we should Cancel Many Advisors...
I saw a recent post (3/18/2025) in which an “Advisory” company claimed which leagues are “Worth it” or “Not Worth it”. Clearly the post/video is click bait, designed to peak the viewers interest with a controversial title. A title where they pull you in with a thought provoking subject matter, that appeals to fans, players and parents, and then drop information that is based purely upon their opinion as an outside observer of the landscape.
Reflections on Operating a Youth Hockey Program
The New England Wolves have operated Jr hockey teams since 2011-12, and 16U/ 18U teams since 2015-16. Tim Kunes and I purchased the Wolves and have been operating these programs together in Laconia, NH since 2018-19. In the Fall of 2023 we came to an agreement to acquire the youth (Learn to Play to 14U) teams under the Wolves name in Laconia, and just this past weekend completed our first season.
The EHL Philadelphia Showcase
The Eastern Hockey League has become a league that puts a great deal of emphasis on holding showcases for their league that are well-organized, high quality events, that highlight their athletes to the widest audience in the most geographically advantageous areas. The 2024-25 Philadelphia Showcase was no different.
Trimble's Drill of the Week
Trimble’s Drill of the Week- Oktay 2 v 1 Forwards at the red lines (on each side) and defenseman in the middle- center ice circle. On the whistle the defenseman will back skate and then pass to the forward on the right, before getting the puck back. Then they pass to the forward on their left (and get the puck back) before the forward on their left begins to swing across the ice in support of the forward on the right.
Do Today's Players Have it Easier?
STATEMENTS OVERHEARD IN RINKS “Kids today have it so easy.” “Kids have changed… too much hand-holding these days.” According to a recent poll, 22% of teenagers log on to their favorite social media site more than 10 times a day, and more than half of adolescents log on to a social media site more than once a day.2 Seventy-five percent of teenagers now own cell phones, and 25% use them for social media, 54% use them for texting, and 24% use them for instant messaging.3 Thus, a large part of...
Its time for Change at USA Hockey
I started interacting with USA Hockey on the program management side in 2014-15, as General Manager for our New England Wolves Junior team here in Laconia, NH. In 2015-16 I hired a youth coach, and we expanded into youth hockey with the Wolves, operating 16U and 18U teams. At the conclusion of the 2017-18 season I became part owner of the Wolves. Now we have Learn to Play and 8U cross ice hockey up to EHL Junior hockey, all under the same management and logo, here in Laconia.
Why the 4 Nations Faceoff Worked so well
What a fantastic week of hockey in Montreal and Boston. The inaugural edition of the 4 nations tournament pitted Canada, USA, Finland and Sweden in a simple round robin format with top NHL stars competing for their respective countries.
Time for More Best on Best!
Just like the Olympics, Summit Series, Canada Cup, World Cup and Rendez-Vouz 87′ before it, the 4 Nations Tournament this week has been some of the most compelling and must- watch TV the hockey world has seen in some time. From Overtime victories to upsets and national pride, the 4 Nations tournament has taken a simple format that every hockey parent and player grows up with (the In- Season tournament) and reached a broad global audience.
The Benefits of Community Service with Your Hockey Program
Recently in some online Junior Hockey Discussion groups I’ve seen parents or posters be critical of Junior Hockey Programs that offer up the services of their athletes to assist with community service and volunteer projects. Calls of “The players should get a reduction in their tuition” or “its a waste of their time”… or even “it takes away from their focus on hockey”. As an owner of a Junior Hockey program, and a coach, I could not disagree with these sentiments more.
Who really were the teams that left the EHL?
A lot of claims that “the top teams left the EHL” and “the best teams left”, demonstrate the short-term memory of Jr hockey fans and observers. A simple google search shows that the historically strong Boston Jr Rangers left, yes, but within recent memory the Seacoast Spartans Jr team and the Railers Hockey Club really struggled since joining the EHL in the 2019-20 season.
4 Nations Preview with the Hockey Toolkit
Andrew– Morning Trevor… we’re right in the middle of the hockey season, and a very unique and exciting event is set to take place from Feb. 12-20 in Boston and Montreal, with teams of NHL players from Finland, Canada, Sweden and the United States competing in a best on best tournament. Rosters and schedule have been announced. Which team is the early favorite? Trevor– My Early favorite? Well it has to be those North of the border in Team Canada. Their forward group is just sublime.
Need to Know Facts about the EHL
A lot of misleading information exists in the Junior Hockey Landscape. Some Leagues position themselves as something they are not, and other leagues do not get the recognition they deserve. Here are some interesting FACTS about the Eastern Hockey League (EHL)… Just like other US & Canadian Tier II Leagues, the EHL has Hundreds of Alumni at all levels of Professional Hockey– The NHL, AHL, ECHL, SPHL, and European Pro.
Its not all perfect at the Tier II Level.... Unexpected Experiences with "Free" Junior Hockey.
Every kid (and sometimes parents) are chasing the dream of playing at the highest level and on the biggest stage. Its the nature of competitive athletics. Push yourself to be the best you can be and fulfill the goals you set out for yourself. Oftentimes these days, in Junior Hockey’s crowded marketplace, unanticipated consequences come from playing at the Tier II level. Travel issues, housing issues, the process of being cut, and much more, are common and significant problems for young athletes.
Trimble's Drill of the Week
Trimble’s Drill of the Week- 2 v2 Backcheck Game 2 lines on each blueline (near dots) on each side of ice. Nets at the blueline facing the Neutral Zone. Pucks on each side. On the whistle starts the drill which begins as a 2 on 0, but quickly evolves into a 2 v 2. After a play made on the net, the next 2 on 0 begins on the whistle, and the previous 2 on 0 backchecks after “touching up” at the attacking blueline. Sequence continues whether it is a goal or not, simply by the whistle.
Trimble's Drill of the Week
Trimble’s Drill of the Week- Defenseman 1 – Timer Drill Drill to be used in a small group, station or split ice. Pucks in the middle – Line behind the pucks Defenseman will pop out from the line and pass the puck back to the 2nd person in line. They will pop out to their forehand or 1-timer side only, rather than the opposite side After passing back to player 2, the 2nd player will give a flat 1-timer pass back to the shooter who will bring it to the net.
Boston Dogs win First NCDC Game
Congratulations to the Boston Dogs on their first NCDC win of the 2024-25 season. On Wednesday December 4, 2024, the Dogs (aka Jr Terriers) , defeated Thunder HC 3-1 in an NCDC matchup.
NCAA/CHL Ruling already having an impact on JR Hockey
The NCAA Ruling to allow CHL players into NCAA is already having a significant impact on the landscape of Jr hockey. Most impacted seems to be the BCHL, where a significant number of standout player have left their respective teams to join teams in Major Junior, as their NCAA eligibility is no longer affected by participation in Major Junior Hockey.
Trimble's Drill of the Week
Trimble’s Drill of the Week- Puck Battles At least 3 times a week with my Junior team I carve out 2 minutes and we partner up and compete for the puck in small areas. This is a great way to add some resistance and puck battles or 1 on 1 battles to your practices and can really build up a fundamental skill over the course of the season. Stress using your body to gain possession of the puck, stick on stick and much more.
The Benefits of Playing College Hockey
The 2024-25 NCAA Hockey season is officially underway! Here are some links to early season results at the Division 1 level- DI Men’s Ice Hockey Rankings – USCHO.com | NCAA.com and at the NCAA Division III Level- DIII Men’s Ice Hockey Rankings – PairWise | NCAA.com Players in college use this pathway, continued participation in Hockey, to prepare them for college life.
USPHL Premier vs EHL Premier
The USPHL Premier was founded in 2012 under the premise of creating a “Super League” from remnants of the Eastern Junior Hockey League. It operated as the top division in the USPHL until 2017 when the NCDC was formed when a handful of USPHL Premier owners and Eastern Hockey League teams bound together to create their new self-labeled “Tier II” division. It now exists firmly as the leagues 2nd division, and the largest Junior Hockey league in North America, with over 60 teams from coast to coast.
Buyer Beware... Jr team Roster Additions
So your Jr team started off with low roster numbers… this is common for many teams in the USPHL and NA3HL. What do you (as a coach) do? One pool of players I would avoid relying on is poaching players from your youth program. Why avoid poaching U18 or U16 players within your program? Here’s why… Information will circulate about how much, if any, these youth players are playing and it will undermine both the players and parents on your current roster.
Trimble's Drill of the Week
Trimble’s Drill of the Week- 2 v2 Continous 2 v2 Continous Forwards at the Hash Marks/ Goalies in the nets/ Extra Defenseman at the boards 1 whistle to start the drill then the drill will continue without whistles. Forwards start the 2 v2 versus defenseman out of one end. Play continues 2v 2 in the zone. Once play crossed the red line- new set of Ds will come out and be ready to take the next rush going to the opposite end of the ice. 2 v2 is now happening in the zone below the top of the circles.
Trimble's Drill of the Week
Trimble’s Drill of the Week- Rebound/ Redirect Stations Developing Goal Scoring and a Shooters Mentality Use this drill in a station or with a small group Position a rebound, bench or pad at the top of the crease and pucks both behind the player facing the net and behind the net Goalie in net and shooter without a puck facing the net 2nd person in line will create a rebound off the rebound which the player will have to reacte to, pick up the puck quickly and make a play on the net After the...
Trimble's Drill of the Week
Trimble’s Drills of the Week- 2 Small Area Games for the U8 or Mite Levels U8 Gretzky Game At the younger levels passing and playing with your head up is always an issue. Put in constraints, such as this game, to improve awareness, passing and give-n- go scenarios. 3 v3 with Player 1 behind the opponents net. That area behind the net is a Safe Zone (no one else can go there), and to score you must pass to Player 1 first before shooting.
What is the Point of Junior Hockey?
According to USA Hockey’s own definition of Junior Hockey on their website and in their regulatory info, Junior Hockey is “The principal purpose of this development program is to prepare the athlete for career advancement either in a collegiate program or a professional opportunity.
Who's Better? The EHL Or The NCDC... Comparing The Leagues Through Data And Advancements
The recent announcement of the Boston Jr Rangers and the Railers Junior Hockey club departing the Eastern Hockey League for the NCDC and USPHL, sent shock waves across the Junior Hockey scene on the East Coast. With this article we will take a look at a comparison between the two leagues, to try to objectively evaluate some of the strengths and weaknesses of the leagues to see really… who’s better.
The Case for Leaving USA Hockey
Why did so many Junior teams leave USA Hockey? Why do Leagues Form outside of the approval of USA Hockey? What has USA Hockey done to make the landscape more confusing than ever? This story could be an entire book, but today I will try to shed some light on the reasons why many Junior leagues in the United States have left to become their own self-defining entity and thrown off the shackles that their governing body has tried to restrain them with.
Trimble's Drill of the Week
Drill of the Week – Brule Long 1 v 1 Race Fun Drill to finish a conditioning skate or practice 4 lines in each of the corners- 4 Cones or Tires at the Top of circles- 2 Pucks at Blueline On the Whistle players will skate Full Speed in a Race for the puck positioned at the blueline closest to them.
Lessons From Coaching Learn to Play/Learn to Skate
Lessons From Coaching Learn to Play/ Learn to Skate For most of the years between 2014- 2020, I coached (with tremendous help from my New England Wolves Jr teams and staff) the Learn to Skate and Learn to Play programs out of the Merrill Fay Arena in Laconia. These were fun, exciting times, being the first coach to interact with eager young skaters stepping onto the ice for the first time attempting to learn this new skill.
What is the best kind of Off- Ice running you can do for Hockey? Hills- Distance- Sprints...
With the New England Wolves we’ve had many international athletes join our program since inception in the 2011-12 season. Players from all over the globe, also have a wide array of opinions and training methods that are used in their native countries. Learning and speaking with these athletes provides a ton of insight into how they think about off- ice training and how it has helped as they translate their cardiovascular conditioning to the ice.
Trimble's Drill of the Week
Trimble’s Drill of the Week – 3 Off-Ice Drills to Improve Balance, Coordination, and Athleticism Drill #1- The Skier You can do this with skates on synthetic ice or sneakers without ice. Lots of series of variations (once or twice stickhandling, moving the puck with your body or against it), but the central purpose of the drill is not only balance and coordination, but developing the ability to have your lower body move independently of your upper body.
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