List_of_ice_hockey_line_nicknames

List of ice hockey line nicknames

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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]

The New York Rangers’ famous "Bread Line" that played between 1926 and 1937. It consisted of Hall of Famers Bill Cook, Bun Cook and Frank Boucher.

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[1] [1]
"The Flying Frenchmen". Ontario Heritage Trust. Retrieved January 13, 2024.

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Everson, Mark (23 October 2001). "'A' LINE NO ROAD WARRIORS". New York Post.

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"Name the Devils' line". www.espn.com. 2001. Retrieved 2024-04-19.

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"All-time best lines". The Hockey News. 7 March 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2020.

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"Grind Line", Wikipedia, 2021-01-01, retrieved 2021-06-25

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Press, KEN PETERS The Associated. "'Kid Line' Keeps Ducks Fresh". The Ledger. Retrieved 2024-03-17.

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Larionov, Igor (23 February 2015). "The Beautiful Game". The Players' Tribune. Retrieved 30 April 2020.

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"The Kraut Line". Kitchener Sports Association. Archived from the original on 2019-01-29.

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"The Lotto Line". National Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2024-01-14.

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Cooney, Kevin (January 13, 2017). "COONEY: For the Flyers' LCB line, one final night together". PhillyBurbs. Retrieved December 31, 2023.

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Fischler, Stan (16 November 2018). "Maven's Memories: Isles Take Step Forward in 1975-76". NHL.com. Retrieved 1 May 2020.

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Writers, The Hockey (2021-12-23). "Boston Bruins: The Merlot Line". The Hockey Writers. Retrieved 2024-03-18.

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"Bruins' Perfection Line is again the NHL's best and the rest of the league is trying to get in on the action". RSN. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 2021-07-21.

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Line name	Members	Team	League	Description	Date	Refs.
The A Line	Jason Arnott, Patrik Eliáš, Petr Sýkora	New Jersey Devils	NHL	Named for their top-tier status; as if to denote top line alphanumerically.	1999–2002	^[2]^[3]
The Black Aces	Herb Carnegie, Ossie Carnegie, Manny McIntire	Quebec Aces	QSHL	Named as they were the first all-black line in the Quebec Senior Hockey League.	1940s	^[4]
The Bonanza Line	Joé Juneau, Adam Oates, Dmitri Kvartalnov	Boston Bruins	NHL	Named after the western television show Bonanza.	1992–1993	^[5] ^[6]
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	^[7]^[8]
The Coneheads	Mark Pavelich, John Harrington, Buzz Schneider	United States Men's National Team		Named after a Saturday Night Live sketch entitled "Coneheads". 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.	1980	^[9]^[10]
The Dynasty Line	Guy Lafleur, Steve Shutt, Pete Mahovlich (later replaced by Jacques Lemaire)	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		1970s	^[11]
The Espo Line	Wayne Cashman, Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge	Boston Bruins	NHL	Named after their center, Esposito.	1967–1975	^[11]
The French Connection	Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin, René Robert	Buffalo Sabres	NHL	Named after the Oscar-winning 1971 film, as all three players were French-Canadian.	1972–1979	^[12]^[13]
The Grind Line	Kris Draper, Joe Kocur (replaced by Darren McCarty after 1998 season), Kirk Maltby	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		late 1990s	^[14]^[15]
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	^[16]
The HBK Line	Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino, Phil Kessel	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	Named after the first letter of the surnames of all three players (Hagelin, Bonino and Kessel). The line’s success during the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs caught the interest of WWE legend Shawn Michaels, who endorsed the use of his “HBK” moniker for the line and accepted an invitation from the Penguins to attend Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.	2016	^[17]
The Kid Line	Dustin Penner, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry	Anaheim Ducks	NHL	Named after the low ages of the three players after success in the 2008 playoffs.	2005–2007	^[6] ^[18]
The KLM Line	Vladimir Krutov, Igor Larionov, Sergei Makarov	Soviet national team		Named as an acronym of the patronyms of the three players. Together with the top defensive pairing of Slava Fetisov and Alexei Kasatonov, the five players were collectively known as "The Green Unit" because of the green jerseys they wore in practice. 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.	1980s	^[19]
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	^[20]
The Lotto Line	J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	Named after the Canadian lottery Lotto 6/49, as their numbers are 6, 40, and 9 respectively.	2019-current	^[21]
The LCB Line	Bobby Clarke, Bill Barber, Reggie Leach	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		1970s	^[22]^[23]
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	^[13]
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	^[24]^[25]
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	^[12]
The Merlot Line	Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell, Shawn Thornton	Boston Bruins	NHL	Named after the color jerseys that the fourth line wore during practice	2010–2011	^[6] ^[26]
The Perfection Line	Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Pastrňák	Boston Bruins	NHL		2014–2022	^[27]^[28]^[6]
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	^[13]^[29]
The Punch Line	Hector "Toe" Blake, Elmer Lach, Maurice "Rocket" 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	^[13]
The S Line	Nels Stewart, Babe Siebert, Hooley Smith	Montreal Maroons	NHL		1927–1932	^[30]
The Triple Crown Line	Dave Taylor, Charlie Simmer, Marcel Dionne	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	^[31]^[13]
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	^[24]^[32]
The Uke Line	Johnny Bucyk, Bronco Horvath, Vic Stasiuk	Boston Bruins	NHL	Named for their common Ukrainian heritage.	1957–1961	^[33]
The West Coast Express	Markus Näslund, Brendan Morrison, Todd Bertuzzi	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	Named as a reference to the local commuter rail service of the same name.	2000–2006	^[34]^[35]

List_of_ice_hockey_line_nicknames

List of ice hockey line nicknames

Lines with nicknames

See also

References

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