I understand your sentiment. I coach 2013 birth years. Rather then get super in depth with the details I use a 5-4 small area game and draw corners of the box on the ice with an ice marker to use reference points. I’ll give the defenders one coaching queue, like, “focus on protecting the middle of the box.” This way they have an objective to focus on without worrying too much about position. On the power play side I encourage eyes up hockey where they should find the open player 2-3 times before they can attempt a score. I hope this helps! At the younger ages I let them play games and allow them to fail so I can coach the mistake and give them another opportunity to implement what I taught them.
