Cross Ice

Guiding Philosophy
Mite Hockey should provide the fundamental skills necessary to excel in the sport of hockey. The focus should be on skating, puck handling, passing, shooting, basic positioning, hockey rules and most importantly---FUN!

Traditional “full ice” hockey games allow only 20-30 seconds of puck handling per game. Full ice hockey games, although entertaining, do not provide the best training for beginning hockey players. To provide the hockey fundamentals that children need, Mite hockey will adhere to a “Cross Ice” format.

Cross Ice Hockey
Cross Ice Hockey is designed to maximize the development of the skills necessary to allow continued improvement in the traditional game of ice hockey. The cross ice hockey game is played across the width in one zone, 4-on -4, 3-on-3 or 2-on-2, depending on the number of skaters. We may organize some 3-on-2 situations to allow the kids a chance to figure out on their own how best to use the extra attacker to their advantage. There is no stoppage of play and no checking. This game encourages quick footwork, slick stick handling and, most importantly of all, quick thinking!

SECYH Cross Ice Format
The first half of the season (up until January) will focus on practices. We will have 2-3 practices/week (1 night during the week and 1 practice on Saturday and/or Sunday). Mites will learn the basics with a mix of drills and scrimmages, in the cross ice format. During this half of the season no games will be conducted with other hockey programs.

During the second half of the season (January – March), a mix of both home and away games will be conducted with other hockey programs. The target is ~1/week on the weekend starting in early January). We anticipate the majority of these to be cross ice format however a few full ice games may be scheduled. To close the season, we are targeting participation in a tournament, similar to last year (format – TBD).