The Birth of Trio Grande
By zach weinstock
The Nile and the Amazon are virtually deadlocked for the title of longest river in the world. The Congo is estimated to be the deepest, while the Indus is said to be the most fertile. All impressive.
But one thing those rivers unequivocally cannot claim is the greatest line in hockey history as a namesake.
That honor belongs to North America's Rio Grande, proud source of the byname "Trio Grande," or Clark Gillies, Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier, the top forward troupe on the most successful team to ever compete.
There was Boss, the natural sniper who still holds the mark for most goals-per-game in the National Hockey League.
Trots, the complete two-way center who could challenge for the Art Ross Trophy and the Selke Trophy simultaneously.
And Clarkie, the prototype power forward who would probably be remembered as one of the game's greatest fighters if he wasn't so darn good at everything else.
One would think it shouldn't take a PhD master of beakers and Bunsen burners to see that these three standouts would have chemistry. But that's hindsight.
Back in 1977, believe it or not, some time passed before Islanders headmaster Al Arbour finally made the match. For nearly all of training camp, 20-year-old Bossy skated with other mates. After all, what message would it send to hand the rookie the top right wing spot without making him pay his dues?
Besides, Trottier and Gillies were already on a prosperous line - one good enough to have a name of its own, "The LILCO Line," with former first-overall draftee Billy Harris (named after the Long Island Lighting Company because they lit the lamp so often with their goal-scoring).
But the more Arbour saw of Bossy, the less he could resist skating his most gifted shooter beside his most gifted playmaker. Late in the preseason, Arbour put Trottier and Bossy together for the first time for a game in Vancouver, with big "Jethro" Gillies on left wing, and they clicked right away. In one memorable rush that first night, Trots and Boss passed the puck back and forth about 10 times. Arbour rubbed his hands together and told GM Bill Torrey, "I think we got something here."
Boss and Trots became fast friends. Mike and his wife Lucy stayed with Bryan and his wife Nickie while the Bossys shopped for a place of their own, and they soon settled in the same neighborhood. The rapport was just as strong on the ice.
Less than 10 minutes into the season opener, the Isles' new first line scored their first regular season goal – Bossy from Trottier and Gillies - and for the next eight years, they basically never stopped.
Within a month they were the talk of the NHL. Within two months they had their nickname, courtesy of the New York Times. By season's end Trots and Jethro blew out their previous career highs by margins of 28 and 24 points respectively, while Bossy was the runaway rookie of the year. A few years later they were four-time champions, and by 1997, all three were in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Ain't life Grande?