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Where have all the great lines gone?
Sporting News, The, Jan 22, 2001 by Chris Stevenson
Buffalo's French Connection: Richard Martin-Gilbert Perreault-Rene Robert. Led the Sabres to the Stanley Cup finals in 1975.
Montreal's Guy Lafleur-Jacques Lemaire-Steve Shutt. They won 18 Stanley Cups among them.
Boston's Ken Hodge-Phil Esposito-Wayne Cashman. A prelude to the Flyers' powerful Legion of Doom. Chicago's MPH Line:
Mikita-Jim Pappin-Dennis Hull. A quick line to complement the Golden Jet.
1980s L.A.'s Triple Crown Line: Dave Taylor-Marcel Dionne-Charlie Simmer. Each member had more than 100 points in 1980-81.
The Islanders' Mike Bossy-Bryan Trottier-Clark Gillies. Set the standard for the complete line.
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The Oilers' Jarl Kurri-Wayne Gretzky-Dave Semenko. Two scalpels and a sledgehammer.
1990s The Legion of Doom: the Flyers' John LeClair-Eric Undros-Mikael Renberg. No line has ever been tougher around the net.
--Paul Grant and Chris Stevenson
A crowning achievement
When he got the call to join the Kings 22 years ago, Charlie Simmer had two things on his mind. And neither was the possibility of becoming a member of one of the most prolific lines in NHL history.
Simmer was playing in 1978-79 for Springfield (Mass.) of the American Hockey League, the Kings' top farm club, when he was called up for games in Detroit and Boston.
"I guess the first thing I thought of was it would be a short drive from Boston to Springfield when they sent me back down at the end of that trip," says Simmer, now the TV analyst for the Coyotes.
The second thing on his mind, as he got ready to play the Red Wings at the Olympia, was where he would sit on the bench, an age-old question for players not expecting a lot of ice time.
He put the question to Kings coach Bob Berry.
"I'm going to put you with Marcel and Dave," said Berry, struck by one of those momentary lapses of reason that turn out to be a stroke of genius.
True to his word, Berry put Simmer with Marcel Dionne and Dave Taylor that night. Dionne produced four goals as the Kings beat the Wings, 7-3, on January 13,1979. The Kings then went to Boston and beat the Bruins.
Simmer had an assist on Dionne's last goal, but he expected the inevitable call from Berry after the Boston game.
Sure enough, it came.
"We're going to send you back to Springfield," Berry said.
"Yeah, I know that," Simmer said.
"I want you to go back and get some clothes," Berry said.
The Triple Crown line was born. Simmer finished the season with 48 points in 38 games.
The line made history in 1980-81 when it became the first with all three members cracking 100 points. Dionne led the way that season with 58 goals and 77 assists for 135 points, followed by Taylor (47-65-112) and Simmer (56-49-105).
"We were put together almost by accident," Simmer says. "It was one of the stranger things. What it came down to was they had run out of options. I was the last left winger on a two-way contract.
"The thing that made us so successful was our unselfishness. There were no selfish plays. It was a matter of three very different styles and personalities coming together.
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