The Finest Lines

In the Jan. 13, 2003 issue of Sports Illustrated, senior writer Michael Farber ranks his top 10 trios in hockey history (listed below as left wing-center-right wing). If you think SI missed one of hockey's finest lines and would like to nominate one that doesn't appear here, or if you have a comment on the list, click here to sound off.

1. Ted Lindsay-Sid Abel-Gordie Howe, Red Wings, late 1940s through early '50s. The Production Line finished 1-2-3 in the league in scoring in '49-50 and had two of the top three scorers in three of the next four seasons.

2. Toe Blake-Elmer Lach-Maurice Richard, Canadiens, mid-1940s. The Punch Line, featuring the indomitable Rocket, went 1-2-3 in scoring in '44-45.

3. Esa Tikkanen-Wayne Gretzky-Jari Kurri, Oilers, mid-to-late 1980s. The Great One and Kurri, the best partnership since Bogart and Bacall, soared no matter who rode shotgun.

4. Clark Gillies-Bryan Trottier-Mike Bossy, Islanders, mid-1970s through early '80s. Perfectly constructed No. 1 line: fabulous scorer (Bossy), dominant two-way player (Trottier) and a banger (Gillies).

5. Woody Dumart-Milt Schmidt-Bobby Bauer, Bruins, late 1930s through mid-'40s. The so-called Kraut Line was the first to finish 1-2-3 in scoring, doing so in '39-40.

6. Steve Shutt-Jacques Lemaire-Guy Lafleur, Canadiens, mid-to-late 1970s. The Flower's glitz carried this unit, but Shutt buried his chances, and Lemaire did the dirty work.

7. Vladimir Krutov-Igor Larionov-Sergei Makarov, Central Red Army, 1980s. Moscow old-timers might prefer the trio of Valeri Kharlamov, Vladimir Petrov and Boris Mikhailov, but no line had a more acute understanding of hockey's geometry than the KLM.

8. Wayne Cashman-Phil Esposito-Ken Hodge, Bruins, late 1960s through mid-'70s. The line was led by Esposito, who dominated heavy traffic in the Boston Garden bandbox.

9. Rick Martin-Gilbert Perreault-René Robert, Sabres, mid-to-late 1970s. Sparked by the underappreciated Perreault, the French Connection dazzled.

10. Busher Jackson-Joe Primeau-Charlie Conacher, Maple Leafs, early to mid-1930s. Kid Line went 1-2-4 in scoring in '31-32; Jackson and Conacher won scoring titles three times in a four-year span.

Issue date: January 13, 2003

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