DCHP-1 Online
kitty-bar-the-door Slang 
adj. or attrib. in sports, a strongly defensive style of play, often adopted by a team already ahead in goals.
- 1963 It is generally agreed, however, that defensively the kitty-bar-the-door Ottawa Senator brigade was in a class all alone.
- 1966 Thus there came to the fore Ottawa's kitty-bar-the-door system, an invention of the late Art Ross. . . .
- 1963 It is generally agreed, however, that defensively the kitty-bar-the-door Ottawa Senator brigade was in a class all alone.