List of ice hockey line nicknames

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.

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".

Lines with nicknames

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

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
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
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
The Dynasty Line	Guy Lafleur, Steve Shutt, Pete Mahovlich (later replaced by Jacques Lemaire)	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		1970s
The Espo Line	Wayne Cashman, Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge	Boston Bruins	NHL	Named after their center, Esposito.	1967–1975
The French Connection	Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin, René Robert	Buffalo Sabres	NHL	All three players were French-Canadian. Named after the Oscar-winning 1971 film.	1972–1979
The Grind Line	Kris Draper, Joe Kocur (replaced by Darren McCarty after 1998 season), Kirk Maltby	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		late 1990s
The Grumpy Old Men	Kirk Muller, John MacLean, Mike Keane	Dallas Stars	NHL	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
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.	1980s
The Kraut Line	Milt Schmidt, Woody Dumart, Bobby Bauer	Boston Bruins	NHL	Nicknamed for the German ancestry shared by all three, who grew up together in Kitchener, Ontario.	1936–1947
The LCB Line	Bobby Clarke, Bill Barber, Reggie Leach	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		1970s
The Legion of Doom	Eric Lindros, John LeClair, Mikael Renberg	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL	Each weighed over 220 pounds and the linemates 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
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 Pastrňák	Boston Bruins	NHL		2014–2022
The Production Line	Sid Abel, Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	A line put together by head coach Tommy Ivan in 1947, the name referenced their prolific goal production as well as the automotive industry in their city.	1947
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
The S Line	Nels Stewart, Babe Siebert, Hooley Smith	Montreal Maroons	NHL		1927–1932
The Triple Crown Line	Dave Taylor, Charlie Simmer, Marcel Dionne	Los Angeles Kings	NHL	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
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
The Uke Line	Johnny Bucyk, Bronco Horvath, Vic Stasiuk	Boston Bruins	NHL	The line was named for their common Ukrainian heritage.	1957–1961
The West Coast Express	Markus Näslund, Brendan Morrison, Todd Bertuzzi	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	The name was a reference to the local commuter rail service of the same name.	2000–2006

See also

• The Russian Five