What’s in a name? Sometimes a lot.
No one, after all, has ever given a nickname to a bunch of guys who hit .225 or a team that finished in the middle of the standings. But do something special and with flair and people start calling you Magic, The Hammer or The Great One.
Hockey was once at the forefront of this naming ritual, with the tradition of stamping memorable monikers on the sport’s most productive scoring lines dating to the 1920s and the New York Ranger threesome of Bun Cook, Frank Boucher and Bill Cook, collectively known as the “A Line” after the subway line that ran under Madison Square Garden.
The names could sometimes get creative, as with the Vancouver Canucks’ “Mattress Line,” which included two twins (Daniel and Henrik Sedin) and a king (center Jason King) and the Buffalo Sabres’ “French Connection” of French-Canadians Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin and Rene Robert. Or sometimes ridiculous, as with the “Trio Grande Line” of Clark Gilles, Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy, which took the New York Islanders to four straight Stanley Cup titles.
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Which brings us to the Kings’ current top line of left wing Andrei Kuzmenko, center Anze Kopitar and right wing Adrian Kempe. It has set no records and won no Stanley Cups; in fact, it hasn’t even clinched a playoff berth, although that will happen shortly.
But since coming together a month ago, when general manager Rob Blake acquired Kuzmenko from the Philadelphia Flyers at the trade deadline, the threesome has become one of the hottest trios in the NHL ahead of the Kings' showdown with the Edmonton Oilers at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.
After getting six or more goals in a game four times in the first 60 games, the Kings did it four times in the next 13 with Kuzmenko. Scoring overall has risen nearly a goal a game and the team has lost just three times in its last 15 games, putting it on pace to open the Stanley Cup playoffs at home, where they have the best record in the Western Conference.
And that has sparked a question: what should the line be called?
“Hadn’t even thought about it,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said.
“It’s not really on the front burner,” added ...
