The Finest Lines

SI senior writer Michael Farber's top 10 trios in hockey history (left wing-center-right wing)

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- Ren� Robert, Sabres, mid-to-late 1970s. Sparked by the underappreciated Perreault, the French Connection dazzled.