List of ice hockey line nicknames

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.

Lines with nicknames

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Line name	Members	Team	League	Description	Date	Refs.
The Black Aces	Herb Carnegie, Ossie Carnegie, Manny McIntire	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	Steve Shutt, Pete Mahovlich (later replaced by Jacques Lemaire), Guy Lafleur	Montreal Canadiens	NHL	Named because the line comprised the core of the Canadiens' dynasty of the late 1970s.	1970s	[7]
The Espo Line	Wayne Cashman, Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge	Boston Bruins	NHL	Named after their center, Esposito.	1967–1975	[7]
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	[8][9]
The G-A-G Line	Vic Hadfield, Jean Ratelle, Rod Gilbert	New York Rangers	NHL	The name is an acronym for "Goal-A-Game", as the line averaged more than 1 goal per game for most of its seasons together.	Late 1960s-1974	[10]
The Grind Line	Kris Draper, Joe Kocur (replaced by Darren McCarty after 1998 season), Kirk Maltby	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	Named for the line's physical, grinding style of play.	late 1990s	[11][12]
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	[13]
The GTA Line	Zach Hyman, John Tavares, Mitch Marner	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	Named in reference to the fact that all three players were born in the city of Toronto or its greater metropolitan area.	2018-2021	[14][15]
The HBK Line	Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino, Phil Kessel	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	Name refers to the abbreviation of the players' last names. The line was the highest scoring line of the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs.	2016	[16][17]
The Hot Line	Bobby Hull, Ulf Nilsson, Anders Hedberg	Winnipeg Jets	WHA		1974–1978	[18][19]
The Kid Line	Busher Jackson, Joe Primeau, Charlie Conacher	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	Named because of each player's young age. Primeau was 23 when the line was formed, while Conacher and Jackson were both only 18.	1929-1936	[20]
The KLM Line	Vladimir Krutov, Igor Larionov, Sergei Makarov	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.	1981–1989	[21]
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	[22]
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	[9]
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	[23][24]
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	[8]
The Perfection Line	Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Pastrňák	Boston Bruins	NHL		2014–2022	[25][26][27]
The Pizza Line	Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson	Ottawa Senators	NHL	As part of a promotion with the team, Canadian pizza restaurant chain Pizza Pizza offered Senators fans free slices of pizza every time the team scored five or more goals in a single game. With the line's extremely prolific scoring output, the promotion was put into use far more often than the chain had anticipated.	2005-2009	[28][29]
The Pony Line	Doug Bentley, Max Bentley, Bill Mosienko	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	Named because each played stood no taller than 5 feet 9 inches (175 cm) and because of their speed on the ice.	1945-1947	[30]
The Production Line	Ted Lindsay (replaced by Frank Mahovlich in 1968), Sid Abel (replaced by Alex Delvecchio in 1952), Gordie Howe	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.	1947-1971	[9][31]
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	[9]
The S Line	Nels Stewart, Babe Siebert, Hooley Smith	Montreal Maroons	NHL	Named because each player's last name started with the letter "S".	1927–1932	[32]
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	[33][9]
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][34]
The Uke Line	Johnny Bucyk, Bronco Horvath, Vic Stasiuk	Boston Bruins	NHL	Named for their common Ukrainian heritage.	1957–1961	[35]
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	[36][37]

See also

• The Russian Five