What would you rather play/train on?

[furlanitalia 1]

Looking for a little feedback here for those who want to help:

If you had the choice between playing 3 on 3 on the following two sizes, which would you prefefer: shorter and wider, or longer and thinner.

What would you find more beneficial to skill development?

And if you were coaching a team, which size would you rather work with? Both provide roughly the same sq footage, but one can be used to replicate an offensive or defensive zone.

All feedback is greatly appreciated!

[junior 1]

I think it would depend on the level of skill and what kind of game you want to get out of it. For a higher skilled game, I think the longer and thinner would be better. For a faster, higher scoring game, I think the shorter and wider ice would be better. I personally prefer the shorter and wider ice.

[TBLfan 25]

45' is really small, there's really no question which is better.

[furlanitalia 1]

Now, what if it became 100 x 65? not quite proper width, but half the length?

[TBLfan 25]

That's MUCH more do-able.

Just think of the half width, how much can you really do with that?

For 3-on-3 we normally play half-ice. You basically just have to get on-sides, it's perfect with just a few feet outside the blueline so you can cross to break back into the zone with some speed. With 3-on-3 you have a ton of space in the zone, so making it slightly less wide isn't going to hurt but cutting it in half would just cram everything up, even for drills. You could probably go with 85-90' X 65' and be plenty happy with 3-on-3 or drills.

[ndlancer95 0]

I have no idea on the dimensions, but we play boards tpo boards inside of the blueline, usually 2-2 or 3-3 with the rest or team on blue lines for passing. This works great for us, and we sometimes do the same thing with the blueline to goalline

[junior 1]

I play in a 3on3 league in the winter up in New Market. The Rinks there are smaller than the standard arena size. I find the size really good for a fast paced game. I'm not sure of the dimesions, but more was taken off in the length, rather the width.

[dumbpolak9 1]

i like the mini rinks idk the dimensions but yea they are good way to learn because the game is so much quicker

[shooter27 116]

If you're looking for speed and skill development, a lot of pro and college teams play 3v3 going width wise across one of the zones during practice.

[GSH13 0]

Definitely cross ice from the blue line in. Depends on the skill level I guess, but I've always thought getting six skilled guys playing cross ice in one zone like that really put emphasis on quick tight play. Really puts some stress on having quick feet, making quick decisions, and skill with the puck.

[uclahockey707 1]

Blue line in fosho! Would rather play on something that actually resembles an actual rink (even only a portion of a real rink) rather than something super thin and long. Although, playing on that thin sheet would help players learn how to skate through traffic better and could definitely lead to better hands with the puck...maybe

[furlanitalia 1]

Feed back is greatly appreciated here guys! Aesthetically, what would give you a better first impression, a rink that was scaled down to 50-75% the size of a real rink, or like uclahockey707 said, a portion of a real rink (red line in, blue line in)?

[RecLeagueHero 0]

One of the local rinks has a small sheet of ice, it's a pain in the ass to play on. As for your aesthetic question, I think they look really stupid. It reminds me of a kiddie pool.

[Law Goalie 147]

Portion of a real rink.

Scaled down rinks are a bloody nightmare.

Even blueline-in is better than a 75% rink.

It's not just about how much surface is available, it's about general playability and how it translates to a real game.

The reason why a lot of teams practice ice-width games is because they *don't* have a segmented sheet like what furlan is planning.

Most teams are transitioning to more specialised and better structured small-area games anyway

[furlanitalia 1]

RecLeagueHero - Are you saying the small rinks (75%) look stupid, or smaller rinks in general (even blueline in) are stupid.

LawGoalie - great input. very appreciated.