Build a line - what line would you have loved to seen in the NHL?

[Talisman]

I would've liked to see if Peter Forsberg-Markus Naslund-Niklas Sundstrom could replicate the success and chemistry they had in their junior years with MODO.
In the 1993 WJC, as a line they had 69 points in 7 games.
Forsberg- 7-7-24-31
Naslund-7-13-11-24
Sundstrom-7-10-4-14

i wish that same thing could have happened to bure-fedorov-mogilny line!!

 

[Talisman]

Bure-Fedorov-Mogilny!!

 

[brachyrynchos]

i wish that same thing could have happened to bure-fedorov-mogilny line!!

Such chemistry and synergy. Would've been a joy to see them together in the NHL after how they played together at the World Juniors. It's like they just knew where each other was going to be.

 

[brachyrynchos]

Holik-Reichel-Jagr was another great World Juniors line. In 1990 they carried Czechoslovakia to a bronze medal. Holik finished with 6 goals and 5 assists, Jagr finished second overall in the tourney, 5 goals 13 assists, while linemate Robert Reichel was top scorer, 11 goals and 10 assists. Would've been pretty cool to see how they'd do together professionally, each had a good career on different levels, and all 3 pretty much had their best years in the NHL with fellow countrymen.

 

[Dingo]

This line is built out of both, novelty, and based on style of play. But, a line I would have loved to have seen - all at their very best - is my rendition of a "CRAZY 8's" Line:

LW - Alexander Ovechkin / C - Eric Lindros / RW - Cam Neely

All three players wore "8" in their uniforms. In this case, we'll give Neely #18 instead of #8.
All three were big, strong, mean, and absolute nightmares to defend in their primes.

Sure, there could be "better" lines, more skilled lines, faster lines, more balanced lines... but my goodness, as a fan, this line would be worth the price of admission.

What line would you like to see if you could create any line in NHL history, using all players at their very best?

love your line, and, Eric being my fourth pick, you have two of my top four.

Ovechkin-Forsberg-Howe

that is my all time favorite line. Nearly as mean as your line, but more responsible and probably more balanced!

 

[YEM]

laine-lindros-lafleur
goulet-gretzky-gartner
courtnall-crosby-ciccarelli
malkin-messier-mogilny
giroux-gilmour-gilbert
recchi-ratelle-richard

 

[decma]

Before his premature retirement Lafleur approached coach Jacques Lemaire about putting him on a line with Mats Naslund and Guy Carbonneau. I would've liked to see how that would've worked.

Thank you for posting this. I did not know that.

As I recall, Naslund generally played with Mondou and Tremblay around that time (at least in 82/83 and 83/84 - by 84/85 he might have been on a line with Bobby Smith).
Had the Gainey-Carbonneau-Nilan line yet become a regular combination?
And who was Lafleur typically playing with at that time?

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Neely - Lindros - Lucic

good luck....

or 2 way possession mastery where you'll never touch the puck:

Marchand - Bergeron - Hossa

 

[Iron Mike Sharpe]

Markus Naslund - Peter Forsberg - Tomas Sandstrom
toughest Swedish line to play against

John Tonelli - Bobby Clarke - Claude Lemieux
two-way playoff clutch line

Michel Goulet - Mario Lemieux - Guy Lafleur
French Connection - Lafleur to carry the puck and set up Lemieux, Goulet for the digging and backchecking

Theo Fleury - Marcel Dionne - Stan Smyl
sparkplug line - sneak in, bang some bodies, bang in goals

Craig Ramsay - Anze Kopitar - Jere Lehtinen
shut 'em down and score

Kent Nilsson - Pierre Larouche - Andrei Kovalev
the magic line - appearing & disappearing at will

Alex Ovechkin - Nikita Kucherov - Sergei Makarov
ultimate Russian line

 

[YippieKaey]

Gartner-Mcdavid-Bure
Coffey-Karlsson

It would have to be called the Supersonic 5. They would be able to go so fast that whenever they didn't score they would skate faster than the universe and jump back in time and score everytime which means that technically they would win every game by Infinity-0.

However their nemesis would be Zdeno Chara, so slow that their timewarp trick does not work and so big that even at infinite speeds they would not be able to skate around his pokecheck.

#science

 

[crobro]

Gretzky LAFLEUR Perrault

 

[Overrated]

Calgary should have rebuilt the green line for the 90-91 season. It would have been a very cheap for them. Krutov would be basically for free. The other three would be traded for some random players.

 

[Sam Pollock]

Lindsay - Gretzky - Bossy

 

[Harry Waters]

Ovechkin-Forsberg-Bure
If I think about what I would like to watch when attending games, that would be it. Would be a nightmare to defend against on many levels. And I'm pretty sure Forsberg would get 100 Assists in every era on that line.

Also:
Barnaby-T. Wilson-Tucker
Just for the outrage. I think even as a fan of the team they're on I would be annoyed out of my mind by them. And who cares about positions if there is a scrum at the end of every shift.

 

[alko]

Marian Hossa - Peter Stastny - Ziggy Palffy
Chara - Visnovsky

And also combo Peter Stastny - Jozef Golonka.

 

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

Clark-Gretzky-Nystrom

(I think Nystrom was supposed to have been good defensively, right?)

In truth I have a hard time thinking of a more effective line than we already saw in Tikkanen-Gretzky-Kurri

 

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

For something completely different, how about

Holmstrom-Esposito-Kerr

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

kevin stevens - cliff ronning - theo fleury

 

[frisco]

Perreault-Crosby-Jagr

My Best-Carey

 

[silkyjohnson50]

I’d love to see a top 2-way/defensive line play against top offensive lines.

Some combination of Clark, Gainey, Bergeron, Carbonneau, Fedorov, Datsyuk, etc

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

I’d love to see a top 2-way/defensive line play against top offensive lines.

Some combination of Clark, Gainey, Bergeron, Carbonneau, Fedorov, Datsyuk, etc

tikkanen kesler burrows, can you imagine?

 

[Staniowski]

Perreault-Crosby-Jagr

My Best-Carey

Gawd!....that would be a scary line.

 

[Staniowski]

Marian Hossa - Peter Stastny - Ziggy Palffy
Chara - Visnovsky

And also combo Peter Stastny - Jozef Golonka.

What's the oldest video that exists of Golonka?

 

[Plural]

Lehtinen - Sakic - Tikkanen all in their primes would have been a fun line to see. Sakic could play his offensive game to the max with two stud defensive wingers.

 

[Davenport]

The Peterborough Petes had a trio I would have liked to have seen together in the NHL: Andre Lacroix between Danny Grant and Mickey Redmond. Had Lacroix been paired with players of that calibre in the NHL, his numbers would have been similar to his stats in the OHA, AHL and the WHA.