Our team would benefit from practices, although I'm not the captain of the team. Our team is registered as a full squad but barely half of the team shows up on a game night.
I like the second tactic you're talking about. It's just tough because our wingers aren't mobile enough to go from supporting the D to break out with the center.
I find that with breaking out, like I said before, it's easy using the boards and then making a play to shoot it on net. Even with the way that the ball spins, weak shots can sometimes fool the goalie.
I find it very hard to get proper practice time in when half the team rarely shows up to games. I run a highly committed team that plays on Sundays and I doubt I could get more than 6 of our 12 players to show up for a practice.
Sounds like you're on a pretty low level team, which can be fun if you're able to put a leash on your competitive nature and focus on improvements of the team/yourself over winning games.
If you're not the captain, it's going to be tough to change the structure of a team, especially if a lot of your teammates aren't very skilled and lack hockey smarts. It's also tough as a new player on a team to try and make changes, a lot of the players won't understand or will get upset at you for what they perceive as you barking commands at them. If you have set linemates, best bet is to talk to them between shifts every time you're on the bench. Get them comfortable with talking to you about strategy, focus on telling them positive things you noticed from the last shift, then hit them with something you'd like to see change.
Based on your description of the team build and commitment level, I'm assuming you guys won't be winning a lot of games. You can greatly impact your own shifts by slowly increasing the way you communicate with your linemates, to the point where they feel comfortable with you shouting commands at them while on the court.
I mainly play 4 on 4 with no icings on a smaller rink. Floating blue line. A lot of the stuff mentioned already is great.
As mentioned, utilize the floating blue as much as possible. Running is a lot more taxing than skating, a lot of skilled players coming from the ice hockey world end up burning their legs out early trying to speed down the wing after gaining the blue line. If your teammates aren't quick and you're comfortable handling the ball, gaining the blue line and then stepping back and allowing your teammates to gain the zone is a great way to increase possession time in the offensive zone.
Subbed in (on defense) and played 5 on 5 on a large court for the first time in a long time this week and was amazed at how much space I had and how easily I could gain the line and hold onto the ball before having to make a decision. The team I played for was middle of the pack in regards to division skill, didn't use the points as much as I'd like to see, but that could be because I didn't know any names, spent the whole game shouting "Yep Yep Yep" or "Hey Yep Hey"
One thing I tend to notice with a lot of players is the amount of energy they expend trying to dangle opponents at all times, in all zones. And how much energy they expend racing to engage in 70/30 board battles (full sprint to try and pin a guy against the boards who already has control and has already identified where his options are).
The team I played for had a certain style and didn't seem to like that I'd throw the ball at the net when I felt I had no options. Not sure how your team would feel about this, but if I can't see an option as a forward and I don't hear anything from my teammates, I'm looking to hit the goalie for a rebound or get a faceoff.
You mentioned practice time, if you have time, I'd recommend wrist shots over and over and over. I have a cement wall in my basement, shoot for 20-30 minutes, practice knocking the ball down and getting the next shot off as quick as possible. A lot of players struggle with spinning/bouncing balls, practice settling it down, practice shooting while it's spinning, practice tapping it towards the net after a hop.
Use the end boards. If I'm coming in 1 on 2 and don't think I can hit the net or beat the defenders, I'll rip it 3 feet wide as hard as a I can, jump past the closest defender and tap the rebound towards the goal. If I've beat the defender cleanly, I usually end up with a couple seconds to make a move 1-on-1 with the goalie, if not, I chip it on net and hope for the best (usually a faceoff).
Take a second to look up the court when you have the ball deep in the offensive zone. If you're playing on a larger rink, one of your defenseman is probably open.
I like my forwards to stay a stick length away from their check, unless their check is known to have a good wrist shot.
Somebody already mentioned possession time is key, but you also have to know your team's strengths and weaknesses and play with them in mind. Example - I played on a 4-on-4 team with 2 shooters and 10 fillers (guys looking to play ball hockey and have fun, very little skill or hockey sense). Our game plan was incredibly simple; clog up the defensive and neutral zone, find a way to get the ball to one of the two shooters, forwards go to the net, shooter shoots, repeat. The shooters played defense on separate pairs, non-shooting d-partner would play close to the center line, used as a pass option under pressure and always ready for the shot missing the net and rebounding out for an offensive odd-numbered chance against. People bought into the system, we won a lot of games 3-2 with very little possession time.
All over the map here, but hopefully some of this works for your style of play. I always find that simplifying is best for new players on new teams regardless of individual skill level. Somebody mentioned that ball hockey has the lowest entry barrier, meaning a lot of student athletes with no hockey skill or older guys who no longer have gas tanks or wheels but can still dangle and go bar down with the best of them. The only thing you can 100% control is your own skill level/conditioning, your own hockey sense, and how well you communicate with your teammates.
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