The left wing lock is a defensive

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

strategy similar to the neutral zone trap. In the most basic form, once puck possession changes, the

left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in so ...

moves back in line with the

defencemen Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference t ...

. Each defender (including the left winger) plays a

zone defence Zone defense is a type of defense, used in team sports, which is the alternative to man-to-man defense; instead of each player guarding a corresponding player on the other team, each defensive player is given an area (a zone) to cover. A zone def ...

and is responsible for a third of the ice each. Since there are normally only two defencemen, this

tactic Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to: * Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks ** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield ** Chess tactics ** Political tacti ...

helps to avoid

odd man rush This is a list of common terms used in the sport of ice hockey along with the definitions of these terms. 0-9 A B C ...

es. With the reinforced defensive line, the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

and

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...

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

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

, 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 in the Eastern Conference, and are ...

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

President's Trophy The Presidents' Trophy (french: Trophée des présidents) is an award presented by the National Hockey League (NHL) to the team that finishes with the most points (i.e. best record) during the NHL regular season. If two teams are tied for the mo ...

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 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 Jacques Gerard Lemaire (born September 7, 1945) is a Canadian former ice hockey forward and head coach who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984. He spent his entire twelve-year National Hockey League (NHL) playing career with the Mo ...

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. The club was founded as the Kan ...

in the

1995 Stanley Cup Finals The 1995 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1994–95 season, and the culmination of the 1995 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by the Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Devils and t ...

. It was not until 1997 that Detroit broke through and finally matched their regular-season success with a

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) 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, an ...

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

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

to work against the dominant

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

teams 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 large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

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

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' 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 Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from cl ...

References

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