Trapping teams typically want to guide the puck-carrier to one side of the ice or the other near his blue line, taking away his time and space. These teams tend to be a little bigger and slower, so it really is a good strategy for them. Having said that, the trap is very hard to play against for a team like ours, which features a lot of quick skaters who like to move the puck. This is the area of the ice where an attacking team picks up speed. So the trapping team clogs the area up and slows the opposition down.
Teams can set up in the trap in both the defensive end and the neutral zone.
Both traps look the same, but the one in the neutral zone is closer together and happens a lot faster. The trapping team's defensemen are also on each side of the ice, between the forwards, waiting for the play to develop. If you can imagine that, four lanes across the ice are now occupied, which doesn't leave much room to move the puck and gain speed. When the opposition steps out from behind the net with the puck, the lone forward steers the puck-carrier toward the boards, taking away the middle of the ice. Eventually, the second forward on this side and the first forward close him off and cause a turnover.