List of ice hockey line nicknames

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 1920s when Bun Cook, Frank Boucher and Bill Cook of the New York Rangers formed the A Line (named after the A Train, which ran under Madison Square Garden).

Famous NHL lines with nicknames

• "The A Line"—New Jersey Devils (1999–2002)—Jason Arnott, Patrik Elias, and Petr Sykora; led the Devils to the Stanley Cup in 2000 and to the finals in 2001
• "The A Line/The Bread Line"—New York Rangers (1920s)—Frank Boucher, Bill Cook, and Bun Cook; a reference to "Bun" Cook's nickname
• "The Banana Line"—New York Islanders (1978–1980s)—John Tonelli, Wayne Merrick, Bob Nystrom. Named because of the yellow bibs or jerseys the players wore during practice.
• "The Battery Line"—New York Rangers (2010–present)—Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Ryan Callahan. Named for the players initials, which recall the names of battery sizes: D-AA-C
• "The Brat Line"—Toronto Maple Leafs (late 1970s)—Tiger Williams, Jack Valiquette, and Pat Boutette
• The BOW Line—Boston Bruins (1963)—Johnny Bucyk, Murray Oliver, and Tommy Williams
• The CASH Line - Ottawa Senators (mid-to-late 2000s) Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, Dany Heatley. The name was an acronym of Captain Alfredsson Spezza Heatley. Also known as the 'Capital Punishment Line' for their high scoring and the team being in the capital of Canada. It was also known as 'The Pizza Line' because a local pizza franchise would give away a free slice of pizza to a ticketstub holder from the home game if the Senators scored five goals or more, and so this trio thereby provided many slices for Ottawans. All three were named to the 2009 NHL All-Star game, a feat last achieved in 1980s with the "Triple Crown" line.
• "The Century Line"—Pittsburgh Penguins (1972–76)—Syl Apps Jr., Lowell MacDonald, and Jean Pronovost; also known as "The Bicentennial Line"; scored 100+ goals and 200+ points for 4 straight seasons
• "The Clydesdale Line"—Chicago Blackhawks (1984–1987)—Curt Fraser, Troy Murray, and Ed Olczyk; each player weighed in at or around 200 pounds. NHL players weighing in excess of 200 pounds was rare in those days.
• "The Crash Line"—New Jersey Devils (mid-1990s)—Bobby Holik, Randy McKay, and Mike Peluso: average weight of linemates was 215 pounds
• "The Crazy Eights Line"; Philadelphia Flyers (1990s) Eric Lindros, Mark Recchi, and Brent Fedyk – wore jersey numbers 88, 8 and 18, respectively
• "The Dynamite Line"—Boston Bruins (1928–33) Cooney Weiland, Dutch Gainor, and Dit Clapper
• "The Dynasty Line"—Montreal Canadiens (1970s)—Guy Lafleur, Jacques Lemaire, and Steve Shutt; also with Peter Mahovlich in place of Lemaire; bonus fact: Shutt once called the Lafleur/Mahovlich/Shutt Line the "Donut Line" (because it had no centre)
• "The Espo Line" Boston Bruins (1967–75)—Wayne Cashman, Phil Esposito, and Ken Hodge; also known as "The Nitro Line"; and "The Dogs of War Line"
• "The Fly Line"—New York Rangers (2002)—Eric Lindros, Theo Fleury, and Mike York; the Rangers top three scorers that season.
• "The Flying Frenchmen"—Montreal Canadiens (1917–19)—Didier Pitre, Jack Laviolette, and Newsy Lalonde
• "The French Connection"—Buffalo Sabres (1972–1979)—Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin, and Rene Robert; made up of three French-Canadian players
• "The GAG Line" (Goal-a-Game Line) —New York Rangers (1964–75)—Jean Ratelle, Vic Hadfield, and Rod Gilbert; later dubbed the "TAG (Two-a-Game) Line"
• "The GEM Line"—Atlanta Flames (late 1970s) —Guy Chouinard, Eric Vail, and Bob MacMillan
• "The GEM Line"—Toronto Maple Leafs (late 1980s) —Gary Leeman, Ed Olczyk, and Mark Osborne
• "The Grind Line"—Detroit Red Wings (1990s)—Kirk Maltby, Kris Draper, and Darren McCarty; also with Joey Kocur in place of McCarty
• "The HEM Line"—Toronto Maple Leafs (1960s)—Billy Harris, Gerry Ehman, and Frank Mahovlich
• "The Hound Line"—Toronto Maple Leafs (1980s)—Wendel Clark, Russ Courtnall, and Gary Leeman – all three had played for the Notre Dame Hounds
• "The HTML Line"—San Jose Sharks (2010)—Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, and Dany Heatley; a reference to the players' surnames, as well as the tech industry in the Bay Area.
• "Hull & Oates"—St. Louis Blues (1990s)—Brett Hull and Adam Oates. A play on the musical duo Hall & Oates.
• "The HUM Line"—Detroit Red Wings (1960s)—Paul Henderson, Norm Ullman, and Bruce MacGregor
• "The KHL Line"—Boston Bruins (2010–present)—Milan Lucic, David Krejci, and Nathan Horton
• "The Kid line"—Toronto Maple Leafs (1929–36)—Charlie Conacher, Joe Primeau, and Busher Jackson
• "The Kraut Line"—Boston Bruins (1936–42, 1945–47) —Milt Schmidt, Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer; all three players were born in Kitchener, Ontario, which was called Berlin before World War I, and whose citizens are mainly of German descent
• "The LCB Line"—Philadelphia Flyers (1970s)—Reggie Leach, Bobby Clarke, and Bill Barber; after the initials of the players' surnames
• "The Legion of Doom"—Philadelphia Flyers (1994–97)—Eric Lindros, John LeClair and Mikael Renberg
• "The LILCO Line"—New York Islanders (1977–86)—Mike Bossy, Clark Gillies and Bryan Trottier; after Long Island Lighting Company (because they caused the goal light to go on so often); originally with Billy Harris instead of Bossy; also known as "The Trio Grande"
• "The MAD Line"—Toronto Maple Leafs (2002–04)—Mats Sundin, Alexander Mogilny, and Darcy Tucker
• "The Mafia Line"—New York Rangers (late 1970s) —Don Maloney, Phil Esposito, and Don Murdoch. Nicknamed for a "Godfather" (Esposito) with two "Don's".
• "The Mattress Line"—Vancouver Canucks (2003–04)—Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, and Jason King; after mattress sizes: "Two twins and a king."
• "The Million Dollar Line"—Chicago Blackhawks (1950s–60s)—Bobby Hull, Murray Balfour, Bill Hay
• "The MPH Line"—Chicago Black Hawks (1960s)—Pit Martin, Jim Pappin, and Dennis Hull; after the initials of the players' surnames; it also stands for "miles per hour", a unit of speed
• "The Olympic Line"—Winnipeg Jets (1992–96)—Teemu Selanne, Alexei Zhamnov, and Keith Tkachuk. Named because each member was an olympian: Selanne Finn, Tkachuk American, and Zhamnov from Russia.
• "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 Pappy Line"—Chicago Black Hawks (1958–1959)—Ed Litzenberger, Tod Sloan, Ted Lindsay From the ages of the players especially Sloan & lindsay. The top scoring line of '58–'59.
• "The Party Line"—Chicago Black Hawks (1980s)—Denis Savard, Al Secord, and Steve Larmer
• "The Pony Line"—Chicago Black Hawks (1945–48)—Max Bentley, Doug Bentley, Bill Mosienko
• "The Production Line"—Detroit Red Wings (1947–52)—Sid Abel, Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, later with Alex Delvecchio; because they were such productive scorers, also a pun that references the booming automotive industry in the Detroit area.
• "The Production Line II"—Detroit Red Wings (1960s)—Alex Delvecchio, Gordie Howe, Frank Mahovlich
• "The Punch Line"—Montreal Canadiens (1943–48)—Hector "Toe" Blake, Elmer Lach and Maurice "Rocket" Richard
• "The Russian Five"—Detroit Red Wings (1990s)—Sergei Fedorov, Igor Larionov, Vyacheslav Kozlov, Vladimir Konstantinov, and Viacheslav Fetisov; also known as the "Red Army"
• "The S Line"—Montreal Maroons (1920s)—Nels Stewart, Babe Siebert, Hooley Smith; after the common initial "S" of the players' surnames
• "The Scooter Line"—Chicago Black Hawks (1960s)—Doug Mohns, Stan Mikita, Kenny Wharram
• "The Sky Line"—Pittsburgh Penguins (1990s)—Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, and Kevin Stevens
• "The Slovak Pack"—St. Louis Blues 1999–2000—Pavol Demitra, Michal Handzus, and Lubos Bartecko
• "The Speedball Line"—Montreal Canadiens (1927–34, 1937) —Howie Morenz, Aurel Joliat, Johnny "Black Cat" Gagnon—an intelligent play on words that refers to the speed (more Morenz and Joliat) and cleverness (more Gagnon) of its members
• "The Stastny Brothers'" —Quebec Nordiques (1980s) - Peter Stastny, Anton Stastny and Marian Stastny
• "The Swedish Five" —Detroit Red Wings (2000s)- Nicklas Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall, Henrik Zetterberg, Mikael Samuelsson, and Tomas Holmstrom. All five represented the Red Wings at 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, with Kronwall, Lidstrom, and Zetterberg scoring all of Team Sweden's goals against Finland in the Gold Medal game. Also, in the final game, Lidstrom, Zetterberg, Kronwall, and Samuelsson all accounted for five points between themselves.
• "The Trio Grande Line"—New York Islanders (1970–1980s)—Clark Gillies, Bryan Trottier, and Mike Bossy
• "The Triple Crown Line"—Los Angeles Kings (1970s–80s)—Dave Taylor, Charlie Simmer and Marcel Dionne; a reference to the Kings' logo, which features a crown; this was the first line in NHL history where each player scored 100 points or more in the same season (1980–81 NHL season).
• "The Uke Line"—Boston Bruins (1957–61)—Bronco Horvath, Johnny Bucyk, Vic Stasiuk; referring to the players' Ukrainian ancestry
• "The West Coast Express"—Vancouver Canucks (2000–2006)—Markus Naslund, Brendan Morrison, and Todd Bertuzzi; reference to local commuter rail service of the same name
• "ZZ Pops" New Jersey Devils line of Zach Parise, Travis Zajac and Jamie Langenbrunner; so named for the first initial of Parise's first name, first initial of Zajac's last name, and the fact that Langenbrunner was considerably older than the other two.
• "Kids and the Hall" Edmonton Oilers line of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle, and Taylor Hall; so named because Eberle and Nugent-Hopkins are young players, and Hall for Taylor Hall's last name. And named after the television show "The Kids In The Hall".

Famous non-NHL lines with nicknames

• "The Army Line"—HC CSKA Moscow Soviet league (1970s)—Valeri Kharlamov (LW), Boris Mikhailov (RW), Vladimir Petrov (C)
• "The Black Aces"—Quebec Aces QSHL (1940s)—Herb Carnegie, Ossie Carnegie and Manny McIntyre. Hockey's only all-Black line.
• "The Coneheads Line"—USA Hockey, 1980 Winter Olympics, "Miracle on Ice" team—Mark Pavelich, John Harrington, Buzz Schneider; after the famous Saturday Night Live sketch series Coneheads, because they played a strange or 'alien' style. All three players were from the Iron Range in Northeast Minnesota
• "The DDT Line"—Ice hockey at the 2003 World Championships, 2004 World Championships, & 2004 World Cup of Hockey (for Canada)—Kris Draper, Shane Doan, Joe Thornton; after the initials of the players' surnames
• "The KLM line"—Soviet national ice hockey team (1980s)—Vladimir Krutov, Igor Larionov, Sergei Makarov; after the initials of the players' surnames; also known as "The Green Line" because they wore green jerseys in practice.
• "Les Trois Denis"—Montreal Juniors (late 1970s) —Denis Cyr, Denis Tremblay, Denis Savard; A line that featured three players who all were named Denis, all were born on February 4, 1961, and all grew up in the same neighbourhood in Verdun, Quebec. Was dominant in the QMJHL for a couple of years.
• "The Hanson Brothers"—fictional checking line from the 1977 movie Slap Shot based on the real-life Carlson brothers.
• "The "Headache Line"—Vyacheslav Anisin, Alexander Bodunov and Yuri Lebedev. USSR 1972 Canada-USSR series
• "The Jönsson Gang"—Färjestad BK, Sweden (2000s)—Jorgen Jonsson, Peter Nordstrom, Pelle Prestberg and for a while instead of Prestberg, Hannes Hyvonen; Named after a series of films with the same name.
• "The Huey, Dewey, and Louie line"—Team Finland (1994–1995)—Ville Peltonen (LW), Saku Koivu (C) and Jere Lehtinen (RW; The lineup debuted in 1994 Winter Olympics and made an instant impact on Finnish National Team's play during the tournament. The lineup was later on used during 1995 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships, where Finland won their first ever Gold Medals. The play of the lineup gained international attraction and later on, the trio would go on and have a career in NHL with Koivu for Montreal Canadiens, Lehtinen for Dallas Stars and finally; Peltonen, gaining his spot in the NHL after a lengthy struggle, playing for San Jose Sharks, Nashville Predators and Florida Panthers.
• "The Blue-line"—Team Czech (1996)- Martin Prochazka (Right wing), Pavel Patera (Center) and Otakar Vejvoda (Left wing); The lineup played at 1996 World hockey championship in Vien, where Czech republic boosted for its first gold medal after separation from Slovakia in 1993. Blue-line substantially helped the Czech representation in beating favorited teams such as team Canada in final, team Sweden or team Finland. Otakar Vejvoda was later voted as the best left winger at the tournament, while Pavel Patera was the second best player in scoring (with 8 points) and Martin Prochazka scored the winning goal at the final against Canada just few seconds before end of the game. In the season 1994–95 all three forwards were top three scorers in Czech Extra league, while Pavel Patera was first with 75 pts, Martin Prochazka settled second place with 58 pts and Otakar Vejvoda finished season at third place with 56 pts. After world hockey championship in 1996 trio moved together to AIK Stockholm, but soon after Martin Prochazka moved to NHL, whereas Otakar Vejvoda ended his hopeful career because of health problems in 1998. That was definitive end of the Blue-line, although Martin Prochazka and Pavel Patera played together again after few years of separation, and both of them were members of Czech winning team at the Winter Olympics 1998 in Nagano. So called blue-line was named after blue jerseys of their home club HC Poldi Kladno, where all three forwards were played at the first half of 1990s.
• "The Shark Line"—Team Canada (2010)—Joe Thornton (C), Dany Heatley (RW), and Patrick Marleau (LW), all of whom played for the San Jose Sharks of the NHL (Dany Heatley was traded to the Minnesota Wild in 2011). They are known sometimes as "The Olympic Line" among San Jose fans.
• "Price Club Line", Michigan Wolverines (2003–04) T.J. Hensick, Milan Gajic and Brandon Kaleniecki (because they score in bulk)

Current, short-lived and/or novelty lines

• "The 7-8-9 Line" (La ligne 7-8-9)—Quebec Nordiques—Robbie Ftorek, Marc Tardif, Real 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 American Express Line" —Vancouver Canucks (2011-)—David Booth, Ryan Kesler, and Chris Higgins; a reference to all line mates being American born, also a reference to the earlier West Coast Express line and the charge card of the same name.
• "The AMP line"—Colorado Avalanche (2000s)—Alex Tanguay, Milan Hejduk, Peter Forsberg; after the initials of the players' given names
• "The Ash Line"—New York Islanders—Arron Asham, Alexei Yashin, Oleg Kvasha; after the common string "ash" in their last names
• "The Bay Street Bullies"—Toronto Maple Leafs—Shayne Corson, Darcy Tucker, Gary Roberts
• "The BBC line"—Carolina Hurricanes (2000s)—Bates Battaglia, Rod Brind'Amour, Erik Cole
• "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 BOZ line"—Toronto Maple Leafs—Bill Berg, Mark Osborne, Peter Zezel
• "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 black and is 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 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.
• "Czech-mate line"—New York Rangers—Jan Hlavac left wing, Radek Dvorak right wing, and Petr Nedved center.
• "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—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—Simon Gagne, Peter Forsberg, and Mike Knuble; so named because they wear the uniform numbers 12, 21, and 22 respectively.
• "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 EGG line"—New Jersey Devils—Patrik Elias, Scott Gomez, and Brian Gionta. (The Devs had great success with this line, winning the Stanley Cup with them in the 2002–03 season.)
• "The Finnish Sandwich"—Edmonton Oilers—Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, and Esa Tikkanen (Kurri and Tikkanen are Finns)
• "The FLY line"—New York Rangers—Theo 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 "GAS line"—Boston Bruins (2000s)—Bill Guerin, Jason Allison, Sergei Samsonov & New York Rangers (2011)— Marian Gaborik, Artem Anisimov, Derek Stepan
• 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 5 Stanley Cup rings.
• 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 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 center.
• "The High 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
• "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.
• The "Kid Line" / "PPG Line"—Anaheim Ducks (2006–07)—Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Dustin Penner
• "The Kid Line"-St. Louis Blues (2008–present)-David Perron, T.J. Oshie, Patrik Berglund. The line got its name because Oshie and Berglund were rookies in the 2008-09 season and Perron was only in his second year as an NHL player
• "The Kids and the Hall"-Edmonton Oilers-Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Named after the television show The Kids in the Hall as Eberle and Nugent-Hopkins are young players, and Hall for Taylor Hall's last name. Also named "Baby Oil".
• "The KLS line"—Pittsburgh Penguins—Alexei Kovalev, Robert Lang, Martin Straka
• "The LAPD Line"—Los Angeles Kings (2001–2002)— 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–present)—Bryan Little, Todd White, and Slava 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-Present)—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 Maginot Line"—Buffalo Sabres (2004)—J.P. Dumont, Danny Briere, Jochen Hecht; Two French Canadians and a German from the border city of Buffalo.
• The "Masterton line"—Anaheim Ducks (2010—present)—Jason Blake, Saku Koivu, [[Teemu Selänne

Teemu Selanne]]; each has been awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

• "The Mattress line"—Vancouver Canucks—Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, and Jason King; the Sedins are twin brothers, so together the line was 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–present)—Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Holmstrom; named arose from a line naming contest on a popular hockey website.
• "The MVP line"—Tampa Bay Lightning (2006)—Martin St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier, Vaclav Prospal; stands for Marty, Vinny, and Prospal, also Martin St. Louis won the Hart memorial trophy as league MVP in 2004 and Vincent Lecavalier was nominated for the Lester B. Pearson award in 2007.
• "The 'OMG' Line"—Phoenix Coyotes—Oleg Saprykin, Mike Zigomanis, and Georges Laraque
• "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 Ph.D. Line"—Montreal Canadiens (2010-2011)—Jeff Halpern (Princeton), Mathieu Darche (McGill), and Benoit Pouliot (school of hard knocks).
• "The Pizza Line" - Ottawa Senators Line - Jason Spezza, Dany Heatley, Daniel Alfredsson; named for the fact then if the Senators scored 5 or more goals on home ice, everyone in attendance would win a free slice of pizza.
• "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)—Danny 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 RPM Line"—Edmonton Oilers—Marty Reasoner (C), Fernando Pisani (RW), and Ethan Moreau (LW); after the players' surnames.
• 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)
• "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 "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 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 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 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 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)
• The "ZZ Pops" line New Jersey Devils (2007–present) – Zach Parise (LW), Travis Zajac (C), and Jamie Langenbrunner (RW) (Named because of the two young "Z"'s and Langenbrunner, being the seasoned veteran, is the "Pop". This is a play on the rock group ZZ Top
• "The Blackhawk Down Line" Philadelphia Flyers – Jeremy Roenick, Tony Amonte, Alexei Zhamnov (all three are former Chicago Blackhawks)
• 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 "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 Sýkora, two former Metallurg Magnitogorsk (of the Russian Super League) teammates, and Pittsburgh native Malone.
• The "RPM Line"—Colorado Avalanche (2007–2009)—Ryan Smyth (LW), Paul Stastny (C), Milan Hejduk (RW).
• The "Peach Fuzz Line"—Boston Bruins (2008–present)—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 "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 Scott Hartnell's hair & the resulting wig giveaway at a recent home game.
• The "RPM Line" —Vancouver Canucks (2009)—Ryan Kesler (LW), Mats Sundin (C), Pavol Demitra (RW).
• The 'SWAT' Line (SWT)—Toronto Maple Leafs (2000s)—Mats Sundin, Kyle Wellwood and Darcy Tucker. Named for their first initials.
• "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 RPG Line" -Anaheim Ducks-(2009–present) Bobby Ryan, Corey Perry, and Ryan Getzlaf.
• "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 JET Line" - Carolina Hurricanes (2010–2011) - Rookie Jeff Skinner, Erik Cole, and Tuomo Ruutu. Named by Hurricanes TV play-by-play announcer John Forslund and the Caniacs after their first initials and their speed on the ice.

Famous forward combinations without acknowledged nicknames

• Carolina Hurricanes--Cory Stillman, Eric Staal, and Erik Cole
• Chicago Blackhawks--Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews, and Patrick Kane
• Detroit Red Wings--Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk (the "Euro twins")
• 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
• Tampa Bay Lightning—(2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs), Steven Stamkos, Vincent Lecavalier, and Martin St. Louis
• Toronto Maple Leafs—Lanny McDonald, Darryl Sittler, and Errol Thompson
• Vancouver Canucks-Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin (the Sedin Twins, identical twin brothers), and Alexandre Burrows
• Washington Capitals—Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Mike Knuble
• 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

Notes

See also: List of ice hockey nicknames

References

• Legends of Hockey