Greatest Line Last 20 Years?

[Muuri]

Lehtinen-Koivu-Selänne.

 

[Blades of Glory]

Was that a regular line though? I barely remember the Penguins of the time, but I thought Lemieux usually played with Recchi/Tocchet and Jagr usually played on the second line with Francis?

Lemieux, Stevens, Jagr, and Coffey rarely played together at even-strength. Mark Recchi played with Lemieux and Stevens until the Flyers and Penguins literally swapped their top-line right wings. Rick Tocchet took Recchi's spot on that line, and he stayed there through the 1993 season. Jagr did not really become a fixture on Lemieux's wing until 1996. They were put together in late 1994 when Lemieux returned after missing 4 months, but it wasn't until 1996 that Lemieux managed to stay healthy enough for them to play a whole season together. Jagr sometimes played with Stevens, Lemieux, and Coffey on the powerplay in 1991, but by the time he became a consistent part of the Penguins' top PP unit, Coffey was gone.

Francis-Lemieux-Jagr was the best line of the last 20 years. I can't fathom how someone could claim any other actual three-man forward line, during this time frame, was greater.

Edit: Ah, I just read the OP. I am still tempted to say Francis-Lemieux-Jagr-Zubov-Mironov. But it's tough.

 

[SealsFan]

By line I mean the top offensive line and defensive pairing.

I think Lemieux, Stevens, Jagr with Coffey ( I'm not sure if it was Samuelsson or Murphy with Coffey on that first line, or if Coffey was on that first line ) is pretty solid.

But in 02, Detroit:

Yzerman, Fedorov ( I know he didn't always play winger but still ), Shanahan

With Chelios and Lidstrom on defense. Droool.

These would be my choices.

 

[Passchendaele]

Anybody-Lemieux-Jagr .

 

[edog37]

By line I mean the top offensive line and defensive pairing.

I think Lemieux, Stevens, Jagr with Coffey ( I'm not sure if it was Samuelsson or Murphy with Coffey on that first line, or if Coffey was on that first line ) is pretty solid.

But in 02, Detroit:

Yzerman, Fedorov ( I know he didn't always play winger but still ), Shanahan

With Chelios and Lidstrom on defense. Droool.

Murphy was paired with Coffey....

 

[YNWA14]

05-06 Sens

C - Spezza (90 pts 19 goals 67 games +23)
LW - Heatley (103 pts 50 goals 82 games +29)
RW - Alfredsson (102 pts 43 goals 77 games +29)
LD - Chara (43 pts 16 goals 71 games +17)
RD - Redden (50 pts 10 goals 65 games +35)

G - Hasek (.925 sv 2.09 gaa 5 so 43 games)

388 points total and +133 collectively

Too bad Hasek got injured at the olympics that year.

 

[Eisen]

Great forward line but the defensemen who played behind it (Jovanovski-?) weren't as strong.

Think it was Ohlund

 

[livewell68]

It has to be Lemieux- Francis - Jagr in the 1996-97 season.

Or any Lemieux - Jagr combination.

The two most offensively gifted players of the 90's (Gretzky was better in the 80's) used to skate around players like pylons.

Straka - Lang - Kovalve was pretty darn good in the 2000-01 season.

Kovalev and Straka tied for 4th in scoring with 95 Pts and Lang had over 80 Pts.

Since 1997, find me a 2nd line in the NHL that put up that kind of numbers.

The Drury - Sakic and Forsberg combination was pretty good when it lasted.

My top 10 lines from the last 20 years are

1. Lemieux - Francis - Jagr

2. Karyia - Rucchin - Selanne

3. Straka - Lang - Kovalev

4. Heattley - Speeza - Alfredson

5. Nedved - Francis - Jagr

6. Leclair - Lindros - Renberg

7. Naslund - Morrison - Bertuzzi

8. Sykora - Arnott - Elias

9. Kozlov - Savard - Kovalchuk

10. Drury - Sakic - Forsberg (1998-99)

 

[Unaffiliated]

Anybody-Lemieux-Jagr .

don't see it could possibly not be this.

 

[Fredrik_71]

Lehtinen-Koivu-Selänne.

Ahhh, the horror This line is a killer. Being swedish and having to face Finland when they dressed this line during their prime was seeing a KLM-line light. They absolutely killed us.

//Cheers

 

[Rhiessan71]

LOD for sure.

I don't consider Mario, Stevens and Jagr as a true line. That was more of a PP thing as they tried to split Lemieux and Jagr 5 on 5.
Jagr spent a lot of time on Francis' wing.

 

[newf]

94 Rangers:

Graves
Messier
Kovalev
Leetch
Beukaboom

 

[hockeyfan05]

Its not the greatest but I think its worth an honorable mention:

Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Hull
Lidstrom-Schneider/Dandenault

Those guys really tore it up at the end of the 2002-03 season.

 

[seekritdude]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE7zfdZYcFQ

Ill vote for russian 5 as well that year. Maybe biased as I live in michigan and got to see every game that year. But for me its no contest. Im always amazed that they didnt have more points cuz almost every game it seemed like they were on another level. And of course larionov wasn't even there for the first month or whatever. Still even thinking about it seems impossible detroit didnt win that year. But thats why games arent played on paper I guess eh? lol

Also 95-96 version of course.. not sure why people would say the year after they didn't play together as often that year that I recall....

 

[tony d]

Leclair-Lindros-Renberg got my vote.

 

[LongWayDown37]

Andreychuk - Lafontaine - Molgilny was deadly circa 1993. For a while, Hawerchuk replaced Andreychuk on the wing, which I think was at the height of Molgilny's scoring. I don't know that I've seen a line that electric since.

 

[FinProspects]

Tikkanen-Gretzky-Kurri (How on earth no one has mentioned this line?)
Lehtinen-Koivu-Selänne
Kariya-Rucchin-Selänne
Renberg-Lindors-Leclair
Any of Mario´s lines
Heatley-Spezza-Alfie
Mogilny-Fedorov-Bure (u20 line)

 

[begbeee]

Bondra - Stumpel - Palffy did some damage on international scene.

 

[tarheelhockey]

1. Lemieux - Francis - Jagr

2. Karyia - Rucchin - Selanne

3. Straka - Lang - Kovalev

4. Heattley - Speeza - Alfredson

5. Nedved - Francis - Jagr

6. Leclair - Lindros - Renberg

7. Naslund - Morrison - Bertuzzi

8. Sykora - Arnott - Elias

9. Kozlov - Savard - Kovalchuk

10. Drury - Sakic - Forsberg (1998-99)

How in the world do you justify that line at #3?

 

[TrickyRicky]

Didnt the Pens put Lemieux, Jagr and Francis together on a line in the mid 90's? The best goal Ive ever seen live was Francis jumping with his back to the net and batting the puck out of the air between his legs at Maple Leaf Gardens after some tic tac toe passing between the three of them. Those three had some sick chemistry together, better then when Stevens was with Lemieux and Jagr imo.

 

[livewell68]

How in the world do you justify that line at #3?

That's my opinion.

My question to you, in the past 15 years, what second line in the NHL had all 3 players finish in the top 20 in scoring?

In fact Kovalev and Straka tied for 4th in scoring (with 95 Pts) in the NHL and Lang himself was PPG.

They were good enough to be any team's top line except for Pittsburgh that season.

What made the Penguins come undone was their defense and not the offense that season.

 

[Baemon Severson*]

Lack of mention to the "A-line" is laughable.

Especially if we're talking about defense and goalie.

Elias-Arnott-Sykora
Stevens- Rafalski/ Niedermayer-Daneyko
Brodeur

 

[God Flower]

As a Sens fan, the 2006/2007 Anaheim top line of...

Penner/Kunitz - Getzlaf - Perry - Nieds - Pronger - Giggy


...gave us fits and was a dominant 5 man line. I have a feeling that Ryan-Getzlaf-Perry-Fowler-??? will be pushing for that honor for many years to come.

 

[Long Duk Dong]

Tikkanen-Gretzky-Kurri (How on earth no one has mentioned this line?)
Lehtinen-Koivu-Selänne
Kariya-Rucchin-Selänne
Renberg-Lindors-Leclair
Any of Mario´s lines
Heatley-Spezza-Alfie
Mogilny-Fedorov-Bure (u20 line)

The OP said past 20 years.

 

[Long Duk Dong]

That's my opinion.

My question to you, in the past 15 years, what second line in the NHL had all 3 players finish in the top 20 in scoring?

In fact Kovalev and Straka tied for 4th in scoring (with 95 Pts) in the NHL and Lang himself was PPG.

They were good enough to be any team's top line except for Pittsburgh that season.

What made the Penguins come undone was their defense and not the offense that season.

Our D was God awful for most of the 90's. Kaspar, Boughner, Laukkanen, Slegr, Hans Jonsson, Rozival (before he got decent, Bobby ****ing Dollas. Them guys we had in net weren't too hot either.