Hockey's Best

It looked like the hottest trio in all hockey history. From the season's start, the Montreal Canadiens' forward line had bewildered National Hockey League goalies with its machine-gun procession of shots. When the season ended this week, the trio had rolled up a dazzling, all-time scoring record of 104 goals, giving the Canadiens the League victory (won 38, tied 4, lost 8). Individual performances by Right Wing Maurice ("The Rocket") Richard, Center Elmer ("Ski Jump") Lach and Left Wing Hector ("Toe") Blake were just as brilliant as the teamwork: Richard had zinged a record-breaking total of 50 goals; Lach had made 53 assists, four over the previous record.

Statistically, this line topped all of hockey's historic great goal-getters: the New York Rangers' Bill Cook-Frank Boucher-Bun Cook combination of the late '20s and early '30s; the Canadiens' superb Howie Morenz-Aurel Joliat-Johnny Gagnon trio in 1932-33; the Boston Bruins' famed "Kraut Line" of 1939-40 (Milt Schmidt-Bobbie Bauer-Woodrow Wilson Dumart). By any N.H.L. standard, Montreal's tricky skaters looked great.

But there could be no really fair test of how this task force compared with its famed predecessors. Wartime had cut deep into hockey competition, too, leaving stiff-join ted has-beens and rookie fumblers to stop the few skillful stars still on the ice. Hockey's best line was a war model.

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