The left wing lock is a defensive

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

strategy similar to the

neutral zone trap The neutral zone trap (often referred to as simply the trap) is a defensive strategy used in ice hockey to prevent an opposing team from proceeding through the neutral zone (the area between the blue lines) and to force turnovers. Description T ...

. In the most basic form, once puck possession changes, the left wing moves back in line with the defencemen. Each defender (including the left winger) plays a zone defence and is responsible for a third of the ice each. Since there are normally only two defencemen, this tactic helps to avoid odd man rushes. With the reinforced defensive line, the centre and right wing

forecheck The forecheck is an ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a fa ...

aggressively. Often the forecheckers will try to drive the puck over to the opponent's right wing. Under coach

Scotty Bowman William Scott Bowman (born September 18, 1933) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey head coach. He holds the record for most wins in National Hockey League (NHL) history, with 1,244 wins in the regular season and 223 in the Stanley Cup ...

, the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

began using "the lock" heavily during the 1994-95 NHL season, earning the

Presidents' Trophy The Presidents' Trophy () is an award presented by the National Hockey League (NHL) to the team that finishes with the most points (i.e., best overall record) during the regular season. If two teams are tied for the most points, then the Trophy ...

for the league's best record during the regular season. The following season Detroit was even more dominant, finishing one point short of the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

record for most points in a season by a team. However, the system broke down during the playoffs each year, especially as they were frustrated by the neutral zone trap strategy employed by Jacques Lemaire's

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...

in the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals. It was not until 1997 that Detroit broke through and finally matched their regular-season success with a

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

championship. Although "the lock" was made famous by the Red Wings and has been used to great success in their

runs in the past decade, they are not credited with inventing it. The "lock" was invented in

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to work against the dominant

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teams A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interd ...

of the 1970s. A former assistant coach under Scotty Bowman, Barry Smith, was credited with seeing the left wing lock in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and bringing it back to the Red Wings.Barry Smith - Slap Shot Blog
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' The simplicity of "the lock" has made it popular at all levels of hockey and it is not uncommon to see it implemented in youth hockey.

References

;Notes * {{DEFAULTSORT:Left Wing Lock Ice hockey terminology Ice hockey strategy