Could somebody please tell me about how trap hockey works? Ive just started really studying hockey and all of its aspects in the past few years, so was never around when the trap was really going strong, apparently by new jersey when they won the cup.
Its basically a 1-2-2 in the neutral zone. C-LW/RW-RD/LD The center forces the D to move the puck while cutting off the middle of the ice making them chose a side. The Wingers basically giving becoming defenseman for the neutral zone. Once the pass is made to one of the wingers they cut off the pass "Trapping" him and forcing a dump in. Repeat.
Its basically a 1-2-2 in the neutral zone. C-LW/RW-RD/LD The center forces the D to move the puck while cutting off the middle of the ice making them chose a side. The Wingers basically giving becoming defenseman for the neutral zone. Once the pass is made to one of the wingers they cut off the pass "Trapping" him and forcing a dump in. Repeat.
I still remember a minor hockey tournament outside of our region when I was 15 or 16, where we got shelled in one of the games by teams outside of our league. Our coach at the next practice wanted to teach us one of the variants of the trap, the left wing lock.
The main objective of the left-wing lock is to prevent an odd-man rush by always having one forward back along with the two defensemen when the opposition is breaking out. With the left wing covering or "locking up" the opposing winger on the breakout -- hence the name of the scheme -- the defensemen are free to more aggressively confront the two attacking forwards, giving the defending team a better chance of causing a quick turnover, creating an odd-man advantage and, thus, a scoring opportunity.
Even though the system is called the left-wing lock, the left winger will not always be the man hovering back near the blueline to provide defensive cover while his team attacks. For example, if Red Wings center Kris Draper and left wing Kirk Maltby enter the Flyers' offensive zone first, right wing Darren McCarty will need to be aware of this and may need to cover Maltby's normal spot high in the offensive zone. But once the initial rush is complete and if Maltby is able to return to his normal position near the blueline, McCarty can then venture deep into the offensive zone. The system requires a lot of concentration and communication among the forwards to maintain its effectiveness. http://www.hockeyplayer.com/artman/p...icle_523.shtml
We were pretty successful when we employed it... right up until the A division Championship for our league, which we lost 4-3.
"It's a basic 1-2-2 formation. The center sits at the top of the trap and pressures the puck. When the opponent decides which direction to attack, the two wings and defensemen collapse to that side of the ice, clogging most of the passing lanes."
Basically what I was trying to say but better. Its not complicated at all which is why it became popular among bad teams and crappy coaches as long the good ones.
I still remember a minor hockey tournament outside of our region when I was 15 or 16, where we got shelled in one of the games by teams outside of our league. Our coach at the next practice wanted to teach us one of the variants of the trap, the left wing lock.
The main objective of the left-wing lock is to prevent an odd-man rush by always having one forward back along with the two defensemen when the opposition is breaking out. With the left wing covering or "locking up" the opposing winger on the breakout -- hence the name of the scheme -- the defensemen are free to more aggressively confront the two attacking forwards, giving the defending team a better chance of causing a quick turnover, creating an odd-man advantage and, thus, a scoring opportunity.
Even though the system is called the left-wing lock, the left winger will not always be the man hovering back near the blueline to provide defensive cover while his team attacks. For example, if Red Wings center Kris Draper and left wing Kirk Maltby enter the Flyers' offensive zone first, right wing Darren McCarty will need to be aware of this and may need to cover Maltby's normal spot high in the offensive zone. But once the initial rush is complete and if Maltby is able to return to his normal position near the blueline, McCarty can then venture deep into the offensive zone. The system requires a lot of concentration and communication among the forwards to maintain its effectiveness. http://www.hockeyplayer.com/artman/p...icle_523.shtml
We were pretty successful when we employed it... right up until the A division Championship for our league, which we lost 4-3.
I played in a alternative high school league so there were single A teams(like us) and AAAA teams. My coach tried using both the left wing lock and the trap but it was useless. We couldn't compete with team that practiced twice a day and we were lucky to get two a week.
It's the strategy the other team employs when you lose a close game. Regardless of the circumstances. It results in a .09% deduction from the importance of the win should the collective losing fanbase agree that the trap was, in fact, employed.
Well, the basic idea is of course is defense first hockey. When the opponent is moving the puck out of their end, the breakout, you only send one man in on a passive forecheck, and line your other 4 players up in the neutral zone creating a dead zone. The simple diagram would be:
x
-------
x x
x x
-------
The basic idea is this makes it difficult for the opposing team to break out and enter your zone, instead they usually turn the puck over in the neutral zone at which point the defending team can fire it back in and resume the trap, until a clear odd-man rush or offensive zone setup could be established. What really established this as an effective strategy at the time, instead of being the "trap era", because the trap is still in place today, rather it was the "clutch & grab" era, where the refs had a very light interpretation of what a holding, hooking, and interference penalty was. If someone's trying to beat you with speed just stick your arm out and grab on. It really minimized individual skill, and with a lot of recent expansion watering down the league talent level was the worst time for it. Dallas was another top end team that utilized it a lot, and one of my pet peeves at the time was whenever playing your team and they scored first the announced would always bring the "Dallas hasn't lost the last 50 games when scoring first!" stat. May as well have just turned off the TV and called it a game.
Now, some New Jersey fans will say it wasn't boring hockey, as their team was always near the top in league scoring. While true this needs a disclaimer: it was damn boring if it was your team playing the Devils. While the Devils scored at a good clip, that's because they shut your team down and created a lot of odd man rushes for themselves. Good for the Devils because they were scoring and winning but coring chances and excitement for the opposing teams fans was pretty minimal.
Well, the basic idea is of course is defense first hockey. When the opponent is moving the puck out of their end, the breakout, you only send one man in on a passive forecheck, and line your other 4 players up in the neutral zone creating a dead zone. The simple diagram would be:
x
-------
x x
x x
-------
The basic idea is this makes it difficult for the opposing team to break out and enter your zone, instead they usually turn the puck over in the neutral zone at which point the defending team can fire it back in and resume the trap, until a clear odd-man rush or offensive zone setup could be established. What really established this as an effective strategy at the time, instead of being the "trap era", because the trap is still in place today, rather it was the "clutch & grab" era, where the refs had a very light interpretation of what a holding, hooking, and interference penalty was. If someone's trying to beat you with speed just stick your arm out and grab on. It really minimized individual skill, and with a lot of recent expansion watering down the league talent level was the worst time for it. Dallas was another top end team that utilized it a lot, and one of my pet peeves at the time was whenever playing your team and they scored first the announced would always bring the "Dallas hasn't lost the last 50 games when scoring first!" stat. May as well have just turned off the TV and called it a game.
Now, some New Jersey fans will say it wasn't boring hockey, as their team was always near the top in league scoring. While true this needs a disclaimer: it was damn boring if it was your team playing the Devils. While the Devils scored at a good clip, that's because they shut your team down and created a lot of odd man rushes for themselves. Good for the Devils because they were scoring and winning but coring chances and excitement for the opposing teams fans was pretty minimal.
Well said, before the lockout teams like Dallas and New Jersey exploited the trap.
Only reason it has a stigma is the teams that do it (ie. pretty much every team in the league) either can or cant play offense, and its the ones that cant that get harrased for it. I have seen every team play a 1-2-2 at some point. It is not that exciting but you cant do anything about it.
Playing the 1-2-2. Basically one forechecker lightly goes into the offensive zone while everyone else stays in the neutral zone cutting off passing lanes. You then bide your time and wait until a turnover, and then pounce on the opportunity. The Devils had it perfected years ago.
Playing the 1-2-2. Basically one forechecker lightly goes into the offensive zone while everyone else stays in the neutral zone cutting off passing lanes. You then bide your time and wait until a turnover, and then pounce on the opportunity. The Devils had it perfected years ago.
Yeppers. I mean, there's nothing wrong with being sensible, but it makes the game boring as wave after wave of breakout attempts fail
People are correct when they say that it can make games boring...except when it's your team and they do it well. Then it is usually a winning recipe, which is really what we all care about - well, most of us. New Jersey did it, the Stars did it, Minnesota did it...two of those teams won at least one cup with the trap. Personally, I think it gets a bad rap. The arguments against it concerning entertainment are valid, but they are only one side of the coin. I would counter with the fact that most games played with one team playing the trap are usually hotly contested, tight games. They often have a playoff feel to them when it is two very good teams. Some people villainize the trap for "ruining" hockey before the lockout, but under those rules there was no reason not to use it.
I would also like to point out that when the Stars won the Cup using their version of the trap in '99 they were 1st in goals against, 8th in goals-for, 1st with 40 wins when scoring first, they were also 1st in wins when trailing after the first, as well as 2nd in the league %-wise when giving up the first goal. The numbers say that Stars team didn't let the trap effect their scoring in too negative a fashion, but it did help keep the opposition down, especially when they were behind and needed to get back in a game.
Well, the basic idea is of course is defense first hockey. When the opponent is moving the puck out of their end, the breakout, you only send one man in on a passive forecheck, and line your other 4 players up in the neutral zone creating a dead zone. The simple diagram would be:
x
-------
x x
x x
-------
The basic idea is this makes it difficult for the opposing team to break out and enter your zone, instead they usually turn the puck over in the neutral zone at which point the defending team can fire it back in and resume the trap, until a clear odd-man rush or offensive zone setup could be established. What really established this as an effective strategy at the time, instead of being the "trap era", because the trap is still in place today, rather it was the "clutch & grab" era, where the refs had a very light interpretation of what a holding, hooking, and interference penalty was. If someone's trying to beat you with speed just stick your arm out and grab on. It really minimized individual skill, and with a lot of recent expansion watering down the league talent level was the worst time for it. Dallas was another top end team that utilized it a lot, and one of my pet peeves at the time was whenever playing your team and they scored first the announced would always bring the "Dallas hasn't lost the last 50 games when scoring first!" stat. May as well have just turned off the TV and called it a game.
Now, some New Jersey fans will say it wasn't boring hockey, as their team was always near the top in league scoring. While true this needs a disclaimer: it was damn boring if it was your team playing the Devils. While the Devils scored at a good clip, that's because they shut your team down and created a lot of odd man rushes for themselves. Good for the Devils because they were scoring and winning but coring chances and excitement for the opposing teams fans was pretty minimal.
You make excellent points. But from an organizational perspective, it's not Team A's job to make the game exciting for Team B's fans. That is like complaining about a baseball team getting shut down by the opposing team's pitching. That is precisely the point.
Its basically a 1-2-2 in the neutral zone. C-LW/RW-RD/LD The center forces the D to move the puck while cutting off the middle of the ice making them chose a side. The Wingers basically giving becoming defenseman for the neutral zone. Once the pass is made to one of the wingers they cut off the pass "Trapping" him and forcing a dump in. Repeat.
ZOMFG NJ dovals inveted da trap and caused lockout wuth it!!!!!@1@~!!
Most teams use it now and people who whine about New Jersey are hypocrites because their team most likely employs some version of the trap either full time or when defending a lead.
Most teams use it now and people who whine about New Jersey are hypocrites because their team most likely employs some version of the trap either full time or when defending a lead.
Not to mention that Montreal (who broke the trap into the league with dominance in the 70's, before the Devils even existed) are almost never mentioned despite having an ultra-talented lineup trapping.
