The three forwards – the centre, right wing and left wing – operate as a unit called a line. The tradition of naming the threesomes who compose the hockey teams' lines of attack extends back to the beginnings of the NHL when Didier Pitre, Jack Laviolette, and Newsy Lalonde of the Montreal Canadiens formed the Flying Frenchmen line.
Current, short-lived and/or novelty lines
"The 7-8-9 Line" (La ligne 7-8-9)—Quebec Nordiques—Robbie Ftorek, Marc Tardif, Réal Cloutier, first few seasons after the Nordiques joined the NHL.
"The Two Kids & An Old Goat line"—Detroit Red Wings—Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Brett Hull, originally with Boyd Devereaux in place of Zetterberg. Third incarnation appeared in 2012 season with Justin Abdelkader, Darren Helm, and Todd Bertuzzi.
"The 700 Pound line"—Boston Bruins—Joe Thornton, Glen Murray, Mike Knuble
"The A Line"—New Jersey Devils—Patrik Elias, Jason Arnott, and Petr Sykora
"The ABC line"—Chicago Blackhawks—Tyler Arnason, Mark Bell, and Kyle Calder
"The ACE line"—Colorado Avalanche (2003–04)—Paul Kariya, Joe Sakic, and Teemu Selänne. Named after the last letter in each player's last name.
"The American Express Line"—Vancouver Canucks (2011)—David Booth, Ryan Kesler, and Chris Higgins; a reference to all line mates being American born, as well as a reference to the earlier West Coast Express line and the charge card of the same name.
"The Ash Line"—New York Islanders—Arron Asham, Alexei Yashin, Oleg Kvasha; after the common string "ash" in their last names
"The Battery Line"—New York Rangers (2010–2012)—Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Ryan Callahan. Named for the players initials, which recall the names of battery sizes: D-AA-C
"The Bay Street Bullies"—Toronto Maple Leafs—Shayne Corson, Darcy Tucker, Gary Roberts
"The Big Line"—Minnesota Wild (2000s)—Brian Rolston, Pavol Demitra, Marian Gaborik; Line consisting of the Wild's top scorers, though rarely play together, hence the "Big" line.
"The Blackhawk Down Line"—Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04)– Jeremy Roenick, Tony Amonte, Alexei Zhamnov. All three had played for the Chicago Blackhawks previously.
The BOW Line—Boston Bruins (1963)—Johnny Bucyk, Murray Oliver, and Tommy Williams
"The VCR Line"—Edmonton Oilers—Shaun Van Allen, Dan Currie, and Steven Rice
"The BOZ line"—Toronto Maple Leafs—Bill Berg, Mark Osborne, Peter Zezel
"The Brat Line"—Toronto Maple Leafs (late 1970s)—Tiger Williams, Jack Valiquette, and Pat Boutette
"The Brothers Line"—Vancouver Canucks (2000s)—Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, Anson Carter; the Sedins are the only twins picked one right after the other (Daniel went second and Henrik third in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft), and Carter is Barbadian, known as "Soul Brother."
"The Bulldog Line"—New York Rangers—Steve Vickers, Walt Tkaczuk, Bill Fairbairn
"The Burger Line"—San Jose Sharks—Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley, Patrick Marleau—an online poll conducted by Sharks play-by-play announcer Randy Hahn resulted in the nickname Jumbo Heated Patty, or The Burger Line. (Also known as the HTMLine, from the initials of their last names.) With the addition of defensemen Dan Boyle and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, also of the Sharks, The Hockey News dubbed them "Boiled Jumbo Heated Patty with Pickles."
"The Captain Line" - San Jose Sharks -- Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski - Known for the identification of current and former San Jose captains currently running the first line for the Sharks. Marleau was captain from 2003-2010, Thornton from 2011-2014, and Pavelski from 2015-Present.
"The CASH line", "The Pizza Line"—Ottawa Senators—Jason Spezza, Dany Heatley, Daniel Alfredsson; named "CASH line" for the initials of the players and the Scotiabank Place arena; also named "Pizza Line' for the fact then if the Senators scored five or more goals on home ice, everyone in attendance would win a free slice of pizza. The promotion was eventually changed to six or more goals.
"The CBGB Line"—New Jersey Devils (2012–2014)—Ryan Carter, Steve Bernier, Stephen Gionta; Carter Bernier Gionta's Brother.
"The CBS Line"-University of North Dakota (2015-2016)-Drake Caggiula, Brock Boeser, Nick Schmaltz; led their team to the 2016 NCAA D1 men's hockey championship
"The CCM Line"-University of Michigan Wolverines (2015–2016)-Kyle Connor, J.T. Compher, and Tyler Motte.
The "Center City Line"—Philadelphia Flyers (2008–09)—Scott Hartnell (LW), Jeff Carter (C), Joffrey Lupul (RW). Named because all of the members live in Center City (Philadelphia)- also called "Wig Line" or "Hair Line" – referring to Hartnell's hair and the resulting wig giveaway at a recent home game.
"The CPR line"—St. Louis Blues (2012–)—Adam Cracknell, Chris Porter, and Ryan Reaves (bonus: all graduates of the AHL's Peoria Rivermen)
"The Crash line"—New Jersey Devils—Mike Peluso, Bobby Holik, and Randy McKay
"CVS Line"—Hartford Whalers—Andrew Cassels, Pat Verbeek, Geoff Sanderson; Named for the first letter of each player's surname.
"The Crazy Eights Line"—Philadelphia Flyers (1992–1995)—Eric Lindros, Mark Recchi, and Brent Fedyk; wore jersey numbers 88, 8 and 18, respectively
"Czech-mate line"—New York Rangers—Jan Hlavac (LW), Radek Dvorak (RW), and Petr Nedved; all linemates are from the Czech Republic.
"Czechs-Mex line"—Edmonton Oilers—Raffi Torres, Petr Sykora and Ales Hemsky. (Named because the latter two are Czechs, and Torres is a Canadian of Hispanic descent.)
"The Dan Line"—Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97)—Dan Kordic (LW), Daniel Lacroix (C), and Scott Daniels (RW); Also known as "The Fighting Dans", obviously because they all had "Dan" involved with their name. They were a rough checking line for the Flyers in the 1996–97 season.
"The Deuces Wild Line"—Philadelphia Flyers (2005–2007)—Simon Gagne, Peter Forsberg, and Mike Knuble; so named because they wore the uniform numbers 12, 21, and 22 respectively.
"The Deuces"—Buffalo Sabres (2016)—Johan Larsson, Marcus Foligno, and Brian Gionta; so named because they wore the uniform numbers 22, 82 and 12 respectively, and because the line was the number-2 line for the team for most of that year.
"The Dice Line"—Calgary Flames—Colin Patterson, Richard Kromm, and Carey Wilson; so named because their uniform numbers were 11, 22, and 33 respectively.
"The Doghouse Line"—San Jose Sharks (2001–2002)—Patrick Marleau, Teemu Selanne, and Alexander Korolyuk; named for the fact that all three players had spent time in coach Darryl Sutter's doghouse.
"The EGG line"—New Jersey Devils—Patrik Elias, Scott Gomez, and Brian Gionta. (The Devils had great success with this line, winning the Stanley Cup with them in the 2002–03 season.)
"The ESP Line"—New Jersey Devils (2011–12)—Patrik Elias, Petr Sykora, and Zach Parise; named for each of the players' last names, but also a play on ESP, or extrasensory perception.
"The Finnish Sandwich"—Edmonton Oilers—Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, and Esa Tikkanen (Kurri and Tikkanen are Finns)
"The FLY line"—New York Rangers—Theoren Fleury, Eric Lindros, and Mike York
"FTD Line" (They always delivered)—Hartford Whalers—Ron Francis, Sylvain Turgeon, Kevin Dineen
The "G Line"-Philadelphia Flyers (2011–12)—Claude Giroux, Jaromir Jagr, Scott Hartnell
The "Ginger Line"-Philadelphia Flyers–Claude Giroux, Jakub Voráček, Wayne Simmonds, named due to Giroux's and Voracek's red hair color. The line name originates from 2012, when Scott Hartnell also played on the same line, making all forwards "gingers".
The "GAS line"—Boston Bruins (2000s)—Bill Guerin, Jason Allison, Sergei Samsonov / New York Rangers (2011)—Marian Gaborik, Artem Anisimov, Derek Stepan
The "GEM Line"—Buffalo Sabres (2014–present)—Zemgus Girgensons, Tyler Ennis, and Matt Moulson; Though all three players were with the team for portions of the 2013/14 season (Moulson was traded at the deadline in 2014 before returning in the 2014 off-season), the three were not on a line together previously.
The "Greek God line"—Atlanta Thrashers—Eric Boulton, Jim Slater, and Chris Thorburn
"The Grumpy Old Men line"—Dallas Stars (2000–01)—Kirk Muller, John MacLean, and Mike Keane; the line was named for the veteran status each player had, and was a play on the film Grumpy Old Men. Between them, they had 104 years and five Stanley Cup wins.
The GST Line-Winnipeg Jets (2011–12)—Tanner Glass, Jim Slater, Chris Thorburn; the line's name comes from the last initial of each member's names (Glass, Slater, Thorburn), and is a pun on Canada's normally maligned Goods and Services Tax—the line's play has been said to be "taxing" on opponents.
The "Capital Punishment" Line—Ottawa Senators (late 1990s)—consisted of Alexei Yashin, Shawn McEachern, and Andreas Dackell, who were one of the NHL's highest scoring lines at that time.
"The Heartbreak Kids (HBK)"—Pittsburgh Penguins (2016–)—Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino, and Phil Kessel; both an acronym for Hagelin, Bonino, Kessel and a reference to former WWE wrestler Shawn Michaels' nickname, "The Heartbreak Kid". The line combined for 56 points during the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs, en route to Pittsburgh's fourth Stanley Cup title.
The "HBO Line"—New York Rangers—Ryan Hollweg (LW), Blair Betts (C), and Colton Orr (RW). Named for the three players surnames, and is a play on HBO.
"The Helicopter Line"—San Jose Sharks—Joe Pavelski, Kyle Wellwood, Torrey Mitchell. The reference to a helicopter is in opposition to an airplane, as the former has "no wings" and this line has no career left or right wings. Each person has predominately played their career as a centre.
"The Hi-Speed Line"—Philadelphia Flyers (Early 1980s) —Ray Allison, Ron Flockhart, Brian Propp
The "HMO Line"—New York Rangers (2005–06)—Ryan Hollweg, Dominic Moore, Jed Ortmeyer
"Hrkac Circus". The 1987 University of North Dakota line consisting of Tony Hrkac and his wingers. The rhyme aided pronunciation of the foreign name.
"The HuLK Line"—Boston Bruins (2010–2013)—Milan Lucic, David Krejci, and Nathan Horton
"The Ikea Line"—Vancouver Canucks (2000s)—Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, Markus Naslund. Each person is from Sweden and refers to the IKEA company originating from Sweden
"The JAM Line"—Colorado Avalanche (2000s)—Joe Sakic, Alex Tanguay, Milan Hejduk. This line got its name because of the first letter of each players first name
"KaneGB"—Chicago Blackhawks (2015—)—Patrick Kane, Artem Anisimov, and Artemi Panarin. A play on the KGB referencing Patrick Kane and the line's two Russians (Panarin and Anisimov).
The "Kid Line" / "PPG Line"—Anaheim Ducks (2006–07)—Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Dustin Penner
"The Kid Line"—St. Louis Blues (2008–2013)-David Perron, T. J. Oshie, Patrik Berglund. The line got its name because Oshie and Berglund were rookies in the 2008–09 season while Perron was only in his sophomore year.
"The Kid Line"—Ottawa Senators (2012–13)—Cory Conacher, Mika Zibanejad, Jakob Silfverberg. Named after the fact that all three players were rookies in the 2012–13 season.
"Kids and the Hall"—Edmonton Oilers—Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle, and Taylor Hall; named after the television show The Kids in the Hall, making reference to the youth of Nugent-Hopkins (19) and Eberle (22), and the last name of Taylor Hall (21). Also known as "Baby Oil".
"The KIL line"—Boston Bruins—Milan Lucic, David Krejci, Jarome Iginla This line got its name because of the first letter of each player's last name. (Krejci Iginla Lucic).
"The Killer B line"—Florida Panthers—(2014)—Sean Bergenheim, Aleksander Barkov, and Brad Boyes; all three have last names that start with the letter B.
"The KLS line"—Pittsburgh Penguins—Alexei Kovalev, Robert Lang, Martin Straka
"The LAPD Line"—Los Angeles Kings (2001–02)—Jason Allison, Zigmund Palffy, Adam Deadmarsh
"The LSD Line"—Cincinnati Stingers (WHA) (1977–78)—Rich Leduc, Dennis Sobchuk, Rick Dudley. This line got its name from the first letter of each player's last name, and was clearly a play on the name of a popular recreational drug of the time
The Little White Russian line—Atlanta Thrashers (2008–2010)—Bryan Little, Todd White, and Vyacheslav Kozlov
"The Life Line"—Winnipeg Jets (1982)—Brian Mullen, Paul MacLean and Dale Hawerchuk; also Vancouver Canucks—Geoff Courtnall, Cliff Ronning and Trevor Linden
"The Lord of the Rings Line"—Toronto Maple Leafs (2006)—Alexei Ponikarovsky, Kyle Wellwood, Nik Antropov. (Frodo and the Two Towers)
"The Lucky 7's Line"—New York Islanders (2001–2003)—Shawn Bates, Michael Peca, and Mark Parrish; highly productive line. Name coined by Islanders broadcaster John Weideman because each of the linemate's uniform numbers ended in a 7 (Bates 17, Peca 27, Parrish 37).
"Mac & the U.S.S.R."—Toronto Maple Leafs (2010–2013)—Clarke MacArthur, Mikhail Grabovski, and Nikolai Kulemin. Mac is in MacArthur and U.S.S.R. as Grabovski and Kulemin are of Russian ancestry. Play on The Beatles song "Back in the U.S.S.R."
"The MAD Line"—Toronto Maple Leafs (2002–04)—Mats Sundin, Alexander Mogilny, and Darcy Tucker
"The Maginot Line"—Buffalo Sabres (2004)—J.P. Dumont, Danny Briere, Jochen Hecht; Two French Canadians and a German from the border city of Mannheim.
The "Masterton line"—Anaheim Ducks (2010–12)—Jason Blake, Saku Koivu, Teemu Selanne; each has been awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy
"The Mattress Line"—Vancouver Canucks (2003–04)—Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, and Jason King; after mattress sizes: "Two twins and a king."
"The Minnesota Line"—Philadelphia Flyers—Shjon Podein (LW), Joel Otto (C), Trent Klatt (RW); the three players are all from Minnesota and were known for their tenacious defensive play as the Flyers made the Stanley Cup Finals in 1997
"The Merlot Line"—Boston Bruins—Shawn Thornton (LW), Gregory Campbell (C), Daniel Paille (RW); Boston's 4th line, who wear a merlot-colored practice jersey and prefer not to be referred to as a "4th" line.
"Monty Babcock's Flying Circus"—Detroit Red Wings (2006–2011)—Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Holmstrom; named arose from a line naming contest on a popular hockey website.
"The Munchkin Line" -Montreal Canadiens (2009)-Mike Cammalleri, Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta. Named for the small height of the trio (not one of them topping 5'10).
"The Mutt and the Mullets/Hustle and Flow"—Chicago Blackhawks (2014–15)—Andrew Shaw, Brandon Saad, Patrick Kane. Named for Shaw's nickname of "The Mutt" and the mullets that Saad and Kane have been known to grow for the playoffs.
"The MVP line"—Tampa Bay Lightning (2001–03; 2005–08)—Martin St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier, Vaclav Prospal; stands for Marty, Vinny, and Prospal.
"The 'OMG' Line"—Phoenix Coyotes—Oleg Saprykin, Mike Zigomanis, and Georges Laraque
"The ‘OMG’ Line"—Calgary Flames—Olli Jokinen, David Moss, and Curtis Glencross; named for their names: The Olli, Moss and Glencross line
"The Option Line"—Pittsburgh Penguins (1990–91)—John Cullen, Mark Recchi, and Kevin Stevens; the line came together when all three players were in the option year of their respective contracts
"The 'Ov' line"—San Jose Sharks—Johan Garpenlov, Igor Larionov, and Sergei Makarov
"The PB&J (Peanut-Butter and Jelly) Line—Montreal Canadiens—Alexander Perezhogin, Radek Bonk, and Mike Johnson. All three players left the team in 2007 to Free Agency but they were a decent shutdown trio.
"The PB&K Line-Chicago Blackhawks, Patrick Kane, Brad Richards and Kris Versteeg
The "Peach Fuzz Line"—Boston Bruins (2008–2009)—Milan Lucic (LW), David Krejci (C), Phil Kessel (RW). So-called due to the young age of all three players (Lucic, 20; Kessel, 21; Krejci, 22).
"The Ph.D. Line"—Montreal Canadiens (2010–11)—Jeff Halpern (Princeton), Mathieu Darche (McGill), and Benoit Pouliot (school of hard knocks).
"The Plumbers"—Washington Capitals—Greg Adams, Craig Laughlin, Alan Haworth; named for their hard working efforts, and, of course, Richard Nixon's White House "plumbers"
"The Golden Triangle" line—Pittsburgh Penguins—Mario Lemieux (LW), Jaromir Jagr (RW), Ron Francis (C)
"RAV line"—Buffalo Sabres (2005–2009)—Thomas Vanek (LW), Derek Roy (C), Maxim Afinogenov (RW). Named for the initials of their surnames.
The Redemption Line—Philadelphia Flyers (2010–2011)—Daniel Briere, Scott Hartnell, Ville Leino; formed during the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs and became the most potent line in the playoffs, Briere leading the league in points and Leino tying an NHL playoff rookie record for points; so named due to Briere having missed most of the 2008–09 season and having a subpar 2009–10 season, Hartnell's disappointing 2009–10 regular season, and Leino having largely been a healthy scratch since being acquired from Detroit up until late in the first round of the playoffs. Broken up after the 2010–11 season when Leino signed with the Buffalo Sabres as a free agent.
"The RPG Line" -Anaheim Ducks-(2009–2013) Bobby Ryan, Corey Perry, and Ryan Getzlaf.
"The RPM Line"—Edmonton Oilers—Marty Reasoner (C), Fernando Pisani (RW), and Ethan Moreau (LW); after the players' surnames.
The "RPM Line"—Colorado Avalanche (2007–2009)—Ryan Smyth (LW), Paul Stastny (C), Milan Hejduk (RW).
The "RPM Line" —Vancouver Canucks (2009)—Ryan Kesler (LW), Mats Sundin (C), Pavol Demitra (RW).
The SARS line – 2004 Eastern Conference All-Star Team – Mats Sundin (C), Daniel Alfredsson (RW), Gary Roberts (LW) ; after the players' surnames (SAR) and because of the SARS outbreak in Ontario in 2004
"The Sesame Street Line"—Philadelphia Flyers (1970s)—Dave Schultz (Grouch), Orest Kindrachuk (Oscar or Ernie), Don Saleski (Big Bird)
"That 70s Line"—Los Angeles Kings (2014)—Tanner Pearson (LW), Jeff Carter (C), and Tyler Toffoli (RW), so named due to the players' sweater numbers, 70, 77 and 73 respectively, and as a reference to That '70s Show.
"That 70s Line 2.0"—Los Angeles Kings (2015–present)—Dwight King (LW), Jeff Carter (C), and Tyler Toffoli (RW), similar to the original line listed above but with King at Left Wing whose number is 74.
"The Shamrock Line"—New York Rangers (2006–07)— Brendan Shanahan (LW), Matt Cullen (C), and Ryan Callahan (RW); in reference to the strong Irish heritage held in each player, Sean Avery was used as center instead of Matt Cullen when the Rangers acquired him from the Los Angeles Kings.
"The Slovak Pack"—St. Louis Blues 1999–2000—Pavol Demitra, Michal Handzus, and Lubos Bartecko
"The Smiley Twins"—Calgary Flames (2000–2004)—Craig Conroy, and Jarome Iginla, due to the pair's constant smiling when talking in interviews
The "Smurf Line"—Montreal Canadiens—Saku Koivu (C), Valeri Bure (LW) and Oleg Petrov (RW); after their relatively small height.
"The 'SOB' Line" Washington Capitals—Alexander Semin, Alex Ovechkin, and Nicklas Backstrom.
"The 'SOB' Line"—St. Louis Blues (2012–2015)—Alexander Steen, T. J. Oshie, and David Backes
The "SOS Line"—Los Angeles Kings (2011)—Brad Richardson, Kyle Clifford, Wayne Simmonds. During LA's 2011 playoff run against the Sharks, "SOS" standing for "Save Our Season."
"The Skyline"—Toronto Maple Leafs—Joe Nieuwendyk (C), Nik Antropov (RW), and Alexei Ponikarovsky (LW) (Named because of each of the players is above average height; Nieuwendyk is 6-feet-2-inches, Ponikarovsky is 6' 4" and Antropov is 6' 6")
"The Slovakian Trio"—Minnesota Wild (2000s)—Branko Radivojevic, Pavol Demitra, Marian Gaborik; all come from Slovakian descent. Used early in the 2006–2007 regular and post-season. Also: The "Super Slovaks"; "The Trencin Trio"
The "S-MAC-K Line"—Anaheim Ducks—(2007)—Teemu Selanne, Andy McDonald and Chris Kunitz.
The "STL Line"—St. Louis Blues—(2014–)—Jaden Schwartz, Vladimir Tarasenko and Jori Lehtera; proficient scoring line for the St. Louis Blues. The last name initials spell out STL, a common abbreviation for the city of St. Louis.
"The Sunrise Express"—Florida Panthers—(2008-)—Stephen Weiss, Nathan Horton, and David Booth; after the Panthers' home in Sunrise, Florida. Also referred to as "the Sunshine Express."
"The Swedish Connection"—Vancouver Canucks—Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Markus Naslund; also "The Swedish Triple"; "IKEA line"; "Torpedo Line"
"The Special K Line" – Mighty Ducks of Anaheim – (1995) – Paul Kariya, Todd Krygier and Chad Kilger
"The Speed Team"—Columbus Blue Jackets—Manny Malhotra (C), Jason Chimera (LW), Dan Fritsche (RW).
The "Steel City Line"—Pittsburgh Penguins—Ryan Malone (LW), Evgeni Malkin (C), and Petr Sykora (RW). Named because of the "Steel City" connection between Malkin and Sykora, two former Metallurg Magnitogorsk (of the Russian Super League) teammates, and Pittsburgh native Malone.
The 'SWAT' Line (SWT)—Toronto Maple Leafs (2000s)—Mats Sundin, Kyle Wellwood and Darcy Tucker. Named for their first initials.
"The Swedish Five"—Detroit Red Wings/Team Sweden Olympics 2006 (2000s)—Mikael Samuelsson (RW), Henrik Zetterberg (C), Tomas Holmstrom (LW), Niklas Kronwall (RD), and Nicklas Lidstrom (LD); all got points for team Sweden in the gold medal game. Also the first NHL line assembled with all Swedish players. Name is reminiscent of Russian Five.
The "Team USA Line"—St. Louis Blues—Keith Tkachuk (LW), Doug Weight (C), and Bill Guerin (RW); also "American Pie" line
The "Tre Kronor" Line—Washington Capitals (2015-present)—Andre Burakovsky (LW), Nicklas Backstrom (C), Marcus Johansson (RW). The Tre Kronor or "Three Crowns" are the emblem of the Sweden men's national ice hockey team. Also sometimes known as the IKEA Line (see above).
"The Triplets"—Tampa Bay Lightning (2014–present) Nikita Kucherov (RW), Tyler Johnson (C), and Ondrej Palat (LW). All three players, who were once overlooked by scouts from many NHL teams, possess similar speed, skill, chemistry, and production to become one of the proficient scoring lines in the NHL.
"Two and a Half Men"—Montreal Canadiens—Max Pacioretty (LW), David Desharnais (C), and Erik Cole (RW). Named so because of the difference in size. While Cole and Pacioretty are 6' 2" (1.88 m), Desharnais stands just 5' 7" (1.70 m) tall. Also used by the Buffalo Sabres during their 2010–2012 seasons to refer to the line of Nathan Gerbe (LW), Paul Gaustad (C), and Patrick Kaleta (RW) due to Gerbe's small size combined with the large size and gritty playing style of Gaustad and Kaleta.
"Two Blondes and a Brunette" (2B&B)—Minnesota Wild (2008–present)—Mikko Koivu (C), Antti Miettinen (RW), Andrew Brunette (LW). Named for Koivu and Miettinen's hair color and Brunette's last name.
The Two-Headed Monster—Pittsburgh Penguins—Sidney Crosby (C) paired with Evgeni Malkin (RW). Term coined by FSN Pittsburgh broadcasters Paul Steigerwald and Bob Errey.
The "United Nations Line"—Colorado Avalanche—Valeri Kamensky (Russian), Peter Forsberg (Swedish), Claude Lemieux (Canadian); also "Barrage-A-Trois"
"Vowel line"—Nashville Predators (2001–02)—Martin Erat (LW), Vladimir Orszagh (RW), Denis Arkhipov (C). Named for the first letter of each player's surname.
"VHS Line"—Phoenix Coyotes (2007)—Radim Vrbata (RW), Martin Hanzal (C), Fredrik Sjostrom (LW). Named for the first letter of each player's surname.
"The White Line"—Minnesota Wild (2006–07)—Brian Rolston (LW), Todd White (C), Pierre-Marc Bouchard (RW)
Atlanta Thrashers—Marian Hossa, Marc Savard, and Ilya Kovalchuk
Carolina Hurricanes—Cory Stillman, Eric Staal, and Erik Cole
Chicago Blackhawks—Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews, and Marian Hossa
Detroit Red Wings—Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Holmstrom
Florida Panthers—Valeri Bure, Viktor Kozlov, and Pavel Bure
Dallas Stars (Late 1990s)—Brett Hull, Mike Modano, and Jere Lehtinen
Dallas Stars (Late 1990s)—Jamie Langenbrunner, Joe Nieuwendyk, and Pat Verbeek
Dallas Stars (Late 1990s)—Grant Marshall, Guy Carbonneau, and Mike Keane
Dallas Stars—(Late 2000s)—Loui Eriksson, Brad Richards, and Jamie Benn
Dallas Stars—(Late 2000s)—Brenden Morrow, Mike Ribeiro, and James Neal / Steve Ott
Detroit Red Wings (1930s)—Herbie Lewis, Marty Barry, and Larry Aurie
Los Angeles Kings—Wayne Gretzky, Tomas Sandstrom, and Tony Granato
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim—Paul Kariya, Steve Rucchin, and Teemu Selanne
Montreal Canadiens—Jean Beliveau, Dickie Moore, and Bernie Geoffrion
New York Rangers—Adam Graves, Mark Messier, and Alexei Kovalev
New York Rangers—Martin Straka, Michael Nylander, and Jaromir Jagr
Pittsburgh Penguins—Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, and Ron Francis (sometimes called the Great Line)
San Jose Sharks—Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, and Devin Setoguchi
San Jose Sharks—Ryane Clowe, Logan Couture, and Dany Heatley
Tampa Bay Lightning—Martin St. Louis, Brad Richards, and Fredrik Modin
Tampa Bay Lightning—Ryan Malone, Steven Stamkos, and Martin St. Louis
Toronto Maple Leafs—(late 1970s) Lanny McDonald, Darryl Sittler, and Errol Thompson
Vancouver Canucks—Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin (the Sedin Twins, identical twin brothers). Played with Trent Klatt (2000–03);Jason King (called the "Mattress Line")(2003–04); Anson Carter (2005–06); Taylor Pyatt (2006–07); Alexandre Burrows (2008–12); Ryan Kesler (2013–14); Radim Vrbata (2014-).
Washington Capitals—Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Mike Knuble
Washington Capitals—Ulf Dahlen, Jeff Halpern, and Steve Konowalchuk
Winnipeg Jets (WHA)—Bobby Hull, Anders Hedberg, and Ulf Nilsson (sometimes called "the Hot Line")
Springfield Indians (AHL)—Joe Day, Yvon Corriveau and Dale Henry (sometimes known as the Piranhas)
Team Finland (1998, 2004, 2006)—Jere Lehtinen, Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne
HPK (Finland, 2002–03)—Antti Miettinen (LW), Tommi Santala (C) and Eero Somervuori (RW)
HPK (Finland), 2000s)—Jukka Hentunen, Niko Kapanen and Timo Parssinen (sometimes called "The Teletubby-line")
Jokerit (Finland), 1970s)—Timo Turunen, Pentti Hiiros, Timo Kyntölä ("Cap Gun line")
Team Slovakia, Dukla Trencin—Marian Hossa, Pavol Demitra, Marian Gaborik
HC CSKA Moscow, Soviet Championship League (1980s)—Alexander Mogilny (LW), Pavel Bure (RW), Sergei Fedorov (C)
Avangard Omsk, KHL—Alexander Perezhogin, Roman Cervenka, Jaromir Jagr
HV71, SHL—Johan Davidsson, Martin Thörnberg, Jukka Voutilainen. During regular season they scored a total of 604 points (247 goals and 357 assists) between the 2006/2007-season to 2010/2011-season. And at the playoffs they scored a total of 185 points (75 goals and 110 assists). Often referred to as "The Davidsson-line".
List of ice hockey line nicknames Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA
