Imagine getting a second chance to fulfil your dream of coaching in the National Hockey League, standing behind the bench, and being able to look down and see 17, 62, 22.
No, those aren’t lottery numbers (although, I might just try them). That’s Adam Lowry, Nino Niederreiter and Mason Appleton. A line like no other in the NHL. A line that just might be the most complete in the league. Seven more points for the trio on Wednesday, in addition to setting the complete tone of the game for the Winnipeg Jets’ total domination in Edmonton.
You know, there’s been a ton of talk on this radio station about the Jets’ third line — a moniker I have taken issue with. Lowry, Niederreiter and Appleton are as much a third line as I am the Bombers’ starting quarterback.
“Third line” indicates that there are two lines better on this club. And that just isn’t the case.
There was a time and place in hockey where great lines had great nicknames — the Goal-a-Game Line, the Scooter Line, the West Coast Express, the Grind Line.
Adam Lowry, Nino Niedereitter and Mason Appleton deserve to be acknowledged as the most complete line in the game. They are “the 200-Foot Line.”
They can score, they can hit, they can check. They can be put on the ice in any situation and thrive. There is no group in the NHL like them.
And give Kevin Cheveldayoff some credit. It has been on the general manager’s watch that Adam Lowry has grown into a monster of a player, and a captain, plus trading for Niederreiter at the deadline in 2023 and reacquiring Appleton, after losing him to the Seattle Kraken in the expansion draft.
Make no mistake, coach Scott Arniel is already the envy of the National Hockey League, just because he can call on the third line, or rather, the 200-Foot Line, any time he sees fit.