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Alex
PickupHockey All-Star
Canada
2816 Posts |
 Posted - 02/27/2008 : 15:13:17
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Poll Question:
Which is the best first line ever in individual talent, without the other two?
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Edited by - Alex on 02/27/2008 16:13:49
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Alex
PickupHockey All-Star
Canada
2816 Posts |
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Alex
PickupHockey All-Star
Canada
2816 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2008 : 15:17:41
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I voted for the Lemieux / Jagr / Francis for one reason and one reason only: once they were split up, all three moving to different teams, their production remained through the roof. The others, I just am too young to know what could have been.
Habs get number 25 this year |
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willus3
Moderator
Canada
1948 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2008 : 15:28:50
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I'd go with the production line. They'd just as soon run over you as score. And they could do both very. very well.
"I broke a mirror in my house. I'm supposed to get 7 years of bad luck but my lawyer thinks he can get me 5."
-- Steven Wright |
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Pasty7
PickupHockey Veteran
Canada
2312 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2008 : 15:31:46
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personally i think the greatest line i have ever seen was in the olympics team canada had Lemieux sakic and iginla together,,,,, the chemistry the talent the toughness it was all there it was beautiful to watch these three play together
Pasty |
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tctitans
PickupHockey Pro
Canada
931 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2008 : 15:38:56
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Kurri / Gretzky / Messier wasn't a line.
How about Robert / Perrault / Martin ...
Imagine the records if only they could have played longer... |
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willus3
Moderator
Canada
1948 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2008 : 15:48:23
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quote:
Originally posted by Alex
quote:
Originally posted by tctitans
Kurri / Gretzky / Messier wasn't a line.
How about Robert / Perrault / Martin ...
Imagine the records if only they could have played longer...
Who was the third one with Kuri and Gretzky? 
Habs get number 25 this year
It was a few people over the years. Anderson and Semenko were the most common.
"I broke a mirror in my house. I'm supposed to get 7 years of bad luck but my lawyer thinks he can get me 5."
-- Steven Wright |
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tctitans
PickupHockey Pro
Canada
931 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2008 : 15:52:27
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there was never a concrete 3rd player on Gretzky's wing. If my cobwebs serve me right however, Semenko/Tikkanen/Summanen/Macdonald were on there more than others.
Messier was the 2nd line center, centering Glenn Anderson.
heck, Coffey probably played 'wing' with Gretz more than Mess did. ;)
quote:
Originally posted by Alex
quote:
Originally posted by tctitans
Kurri / Gretzky / Messier wasn't a line.
How about Robert / Perrault / Martin ...
Imagine the records if only they could have played longer...
Who was the third one with Kuri and Gretzky?
Habs get number 25 this year
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tctitans
PickupHockey Pro
Canada
931 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2008 : 15:53:22
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I dont think Anderson played much with Gretz either...
it was always Gretz/Kurri and Mess/Anderson
quote:
Originally posted by willus3
quote:
Originally posted by Alex
quote:
Originally posted by tctitans
It was a few people over the years. Anderson and Semenko were the most common.
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Edited by - tctitans on 02/27/2008 16:05:43 |
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andyhack
PickupHockey Pro
Japan
891 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2008 : 17:04:24
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Trottier - one of the best centres of the last 40 years - tremendous both ways and so strong
Gillies - particularly when the sleeping giant was woken up, he was an awesome force
Bossy - one of the greatest scoring "phenomenoms" ever
Two of these guys made it into our top ten in the best of the last 40 years list. That is definitely something to consider here. |
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willus3
Moderator
Canada
1948 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2008 : 17:34:44
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quote:
Originally posted by tctitans
I dont think Anderson played much with Gretz either...
it was always Gretz/Kurri and Mess/Anderson
quote:
Originally posted by willus3
quote:
Originally posted by Alex
quote:
Originally posted by tctitans
It was a few people over the years. Anderson and Semenko were the most common.
I've got quite a few old games in my collection now and Anderson played with Gretz a surprising amount of time.
"I broke a mirror in my house. I'm supposed to get 7 years of bad luck but my lawyer thinks he can get me 5."
-- Steven Wright |
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andyhack
PickupHockey Pro
Japan
891 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2008 : 18:47:48
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But really noone played together on a line with Gretzky and Kurri, or with Lemieux for that matter, long enough, and consistently enough, to make a 'line" in the sense of lines like the French Connection, GAG Line, Triple Crown Line, Production Line, Kraut Line, etc. Some of these lines played together, as a line, for years and years. And the players are clearly associated with those lines.
I think anyone who is considering Lemieux or Gretzky here may want to rethink their vote for that reason. In my opinion the Lemieux line shouldn't even be on this list actually. Why is it on? And why is his line leading? In my view, it's once again the sometimes detrimental effect of what I'm going to call, "Superduperstar Syndrome".
Go to any profile of Jean Ratelle, you will find the GAG line - any profile of Gord Howe, you will find the Production Line - any profile of Milt Schmidt, you will find the Kraut Line... Go to Lemieux and you more often than not do not find any mention of this Lemieux-Jagr-Francis line.
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Edited by - andyhack on 02/27/2008 18:49:46 |
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99pickles
PickupHockey Pro
Canada
671 Posts |
Posted - 03/03/2008 : 01:48:05
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| The Punch Line does it for me. Production Line a close 2nd. |
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PuckNuts
PickupHockey Veteran
Canada
2414 Posts |
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SuperSakic
Rookie
Canada
192 Posts |
Posted - 03/03/2008 : 07:09:33
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Some notable lines that I really like to watch were:
Sakic, Forsberg, Hejduk
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Lindros, Leclair, Renberg
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Axey
PickupHockey Pro
Canada
877 Posts |
Posted - 03/03/2008 : 10:43:15
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how about ... kovalev plekanec kostitsyn ? joking of course but i think maurice blake lach myself |
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MarkhamMax
Rookie
Canada
102 Posts |
Posted - 03/03/2008 : 10:56:08
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I go with the line:" Is that a hockey stick in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"
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99pickles
PickupHockey Pro
Canada
671 Posts |
Posted - 03/03/2008 : 16:31:53
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quote:
Originally posted by MarkhamMax
I go with the line:" Is that a hockey stick in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"
That's what I thought this topic was about originally before I read it.
And in that vein: "We couldn't win at home and we were losing on the road...my failure was that I couldn't think of anywhere else to play" - Harry Neale |
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n/a
deleted
4809 Posts |
Posted - 03/04/2008 : 04:35:34
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Can't vote for the old guys, since they were before my time - so I think the easy vote for me was Bossy, Trottier, Gilles. Awesome firepower, great individual talent, Gilles being the weakest talent on the line . . . not too shabby.
It's funny how many of the great talents of the game were on lines which had two greats with some hack . . . I agree with a previous poster, Lemieux and Gretzky lines shouldn't be on this poll.
"Take off, eh?" - Bob and Doug |
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PainTrain
PickupHockey Veteran
Canada
1393 Posts |
Posted - 03/04/2008 : 14:14:05
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| The Punch line- Maruice Richard, Elmer Lach and Toe Blake. |
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andyhack
PickupHockey Pro
Japan
891 Posts |
Posted - 03/04/2008 : 19:48:14
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quote:
Originally posted by Alex
quote:
Originally posted by slozo
It's funny how many of the great talents of the game were on lines which had two greats with some hack . . . I agree with a previous poster, Lemieux and Gretzky lines shouldn't be on this poll.
"Take off, eh?" - Bob and Doug
Why not??
I think I was the "previous poster".
My point was that Gretzky and Lemieux never really had a "line" with the same two players for the length of time of some of these other lines. I mean, there really were some wonderful lines that played together for very significant periods of times. Do Wayne and Mario have to be in on the answer to everything? There are lines which played so long together that when you think of the legacy of one of the players on the line you automatically think of the line he played on and the other TWO playerS. When you think of Dionne's legacy for example, you can't help but think of the line with Simmer and Taylor, and the cool name (Triple Crown Line) given to them. When you think of Trottier, you think of Gillies and Bossy. Those THREE players are intertwined historically.
Gretzky and Kurri are intertwined historically, yes, but there is really no left winger who played long enough with them to really say that they ever formed a line in the sense of these other famous lines. Same with Mario. The line with Jagr and Francis certainly looks great on paper, but in reality they didn't play together long enough as a line to be considered in the same light as these other famous lines.
This is actually a key theme of mine on this site. There is far more to the history of hockey than Gretzky and Lemieux! There are tremendous lines in the history of hockey - very talented lines with cool names. And yet the young guys on this site appear to have succumbed to Superduperstar Syndrome, resulting in a "Forget the rest of the history of hockey - Wayne or Mario gotta be in on the answer to this" way of thinking. Oh well, what can you do? But it's too bad |
Edited by - andyhack on 03/04/2008 19:50:49 |
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n/a
deleted
4809 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2008 : 06:09:55
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Well said, Andyhack - this was exactly the point I agreed with.
And don't get me wrong - I grew up eating breakfast cereal with Gretzky on it, I played road hockey imagining I was Gretzky as a young lad, my most valuable hockey card was #99's. He was awesome to behold, and Kurri was perhaps the greatest European forward ever. But a line is 3 people, not two.
To me, deciding what the greatest line was rests on several points: First, they had to have been a cohesive unit, with a clear identity. Second, rate how dominant they were AS A THREESOME. Third, I look at the weakest link and rate the lines according to them. The reason I do the weakest link thing, is that is the integral part of a line - as opposed to a "duo" . . . otherwise options such as Hull/Oates or Gretzky/Kurri would be up there because of the outstanding greatness of the two.
"Take off, eh?" - Bob and Doug |
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Best Line in History 
