In ice hockey, three forwards – centre, right wing and left wing – operate as a unit called a line. The tradition of naming the lines extends back to the inaugural 1917–18 NHL season, when Didier Pitre, Jack Laviolette, and Newsy Lalonde of the Montreal Canadiens were dubbed the "Flying Frenchmen Line".[1]
| Description | Date | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Black Aces | Herb Carnegie, Ossie Carnegie, Manny McIntyre | Quebec Aces | QSHL | The first all-black line in the Quebec Senior Hockey League. | 1940s | [2] | |
| The Century Line | Syl Apps Jr., Lowell MacDonald, Jean Pronovost | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | Named by their team publicist after the line scored over 100 goals in the 1973–1974 season. | 1973–1976 | [3] [4] | |
| The Coneheads | Mark Pavelich, John Harrington, Buzz Schneider | United States Men's National Team | Part of the Miracle on Ice team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics. All three grew up playing pickup games on ponds in the Iron Range of Northeast Minnesota. They named themselves after the Saturday Night Live sketch. | 1980 | [5] [6] | ||
| The Dynasty Line | Guy Lafleur, Steve Shutt, Pete Mahovlich (later replaced by Jacques Lemaire) | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 1970s | [7] | ||
| The Espo Line | Wayne Cashman, Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge | Boston Bruins | NHL | Named after their center, Esposito. | 1967–1975 | ||
| Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin, Rene Robert | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | Named after the Oscar-winning 1971 film, as all three players were French-Canadian. | 1972–1979 | [8] [9] | ||
| The Grind Line | Kris Draper, Joe Kocur (replaced by Darren McCarty after 1998 season), Kirk Maltby | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | late 1990s | [10] | ||
| The Grumpy Old Men | Kirk Muller, John MacLean, Mike Keane | Dallas Stars | NHL | Named after a reference to the 1993 film Grumpy Old Men. When the three veterans played for the Dallas Stars in 2001, they had 105 years and five Stanley Cup wins between them. | 2001 | [11] | |
| The KLM Line | Soviet national team | The KLM Line was the top line on the dominant Soviet national teams of the 1980s. They won gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Winter Olympics. Together with the top defensive pairing of Slava Fetisov and Alexei Kasatonov, the five of them were collectively known as "The Green Unit" because of the green jerseys they wore in practice. | 1980s | [12] | |||
| The Kraut Line | Milt Schmidt, Woody Dumart, Bobby Bauer | Boston Bruins | NHL | Named for the German ancestry shared by all three, who grew up together in Kitchener, Ontario. | 1936–1947 | [13] | |
| The LCB Line | Reggie Leach, Bobby Clarke, Bill Barber | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | Named for their initials, set an NHL record for most goals by a single line (141) during the 1975–76 season. | 1974–1981 | [14] | |
| The Legion of Doom | Eric Lindros, John LeClair, Mikael Renberg | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | Named as all weighed over 220 pounds, and ranged from 6'2" to 6'4" tall. | 1994–1997 | ||
| The LILCO Line | Billy Harris, Clark Gillies, Bryan Trottier | New York Islanders | NHL | Named after the Long Island Lighting Company because they lit the lamps so often with their goal-scoring. | 1970s | [15] [16] | |
| The Mafia Line | Phil Esposito, Don Maloney, Don Murdoch | New York Rangers | NHL | Named for the "godfather" Phil Esposito and his two "dons", Don Maloney and Don Murdoch. | late 1970s | ||
| The Perfection Line | Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak | Boston Bruins | NHL | 2014–2022 | [17] [18] [19] | ||
| The Production Line | Sid Abel, Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | Named in reference to their prolific goal production as well as the automotive industry in Detroit. The line was put together by head coach Tommy Ivan in 1947. | 1947 | [20] | |
| The Punch Line | Toe Blake, Elmer Lach, Maurice Richard | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | The trio was the top line on the Montreal Canadiens from 1943 to 1948 and won two Stanley Cups. | 1943–1948 | ||
| The S Line | Nels Stewart, Babe Siebert, Hooley Smith | Montreal Maroons | NHL | 1927–1932 | [21] | ||
| The Triple Crown Line | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | Named after their achievements; in 1980–81, the trio combined for 328 points to become the first line in NHL history where each player scored 100 points or more in the same season. | 1979–1984 | [22] | ||
| The Trio Grande | Mike Bossy, Clark Gillies, Bryan Trottier | New York Islanders | NHL | The Trio Grande won four Stanley Cups with the New York Islanders in the 1980s, and all three are in the Hockey Hall of Fame. | 1980s | [23] | |
| The Uke Line | Johnny Bucyk, Bronco Horvath, Vic Stasiuk | Boston Bruins | NHL | Named for their common Ukrainian heritage. | 1957–1961 | [24] | |
| The West Coast Express | Markus Naslund, Brendan Morrison, Todd Bertuzzi | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | Named as a reference to the local commuter rail service of the same name. | 2000–2006 | [25] [26] | |
| The A Line | Patrik Elias, Petr Sykora, Jason Arnott | New Jersey Devils | NHL | Named For the Letter A in their names; The trio combined for 428 points during the 1999–2000 and 2000–01 seasons and was the best offensive line to play together on the Devils. | 1999–2002 | [27] | |
| The Crash Line | Mike Peluso, Bobby Holik, Randy McKay | New Jersey Devils | NHL | These three fourth-liners were named the Crash Line because of their size; put simply, they crashed. All three of them weighed over 200 pounds each and accomplished much more than the average fourth-liners would. Not only could they hit and fight, but the three also combined for 13 goals and 23 points in the 1995 playoffs when the Devils won their first ever Stanley Cup. | 1995-1998 | [28] | |
| The Lotto Line | Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson, JT Miller | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | So named because of the Canadian lottery Lotto 6/49 and the line's jersey numbers, Boeser wearing 6, Pettersson 40, and Miller 9. | 2019-2024 | [29] [30] | |
| The BMW Line | Nathan Bastian, Michael McLeod (ice hockey), Miles Wood | New Jersey Devils | NHL | The first letters of their last names spell the car brand; much like the car brand, they were known for their speed and big hits, being a fourth line accustomed to physical hockey. | 2021-2023 | [31] [32] | |
| That 70s Line | Tanner Pearson, Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | All three players wore numbers in the 70s (70, 77, and 73, respectively). The line's name pays homage to That 70s Show. The line played a key role in the Kings' 2014 Stanley Cup win. | 2014-2018 | [33] [34] | |
| The Pizza Line | Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, Dany Heatley | Ottawa Senators | NHL | Originally named the CASH Line (after the initials in Captain Alfredsson, Spezza, and Heatley), the line soon gained the more enduring nickname of the Pizza Line due to a promotion by Pizza Pizza where, if the Senators scored 5 goals in a home game, clients could enjoy a slice of free pizza courtesy of the brand. Due to the line's scoring prowess, Pizza Pizza was forced to change the terms of their promotion from 5 to 6 goals, and the name stuck. | 2005-2009 | [35] [36] |