Jetting in Luxury

“A capacity crowd wedged itself into Le Colisée in Quebec, full of curiosity . . .”

“Not bad at all, I’ve seen the kid play. I think he can help us,” smiled defenseman Bob Woytowich as he gestured toward the stocky, blond-haired left wing who was signing a player-coach pact with the Winnipeg Jets. Bobby Hull, the object of Woytowich’s affection, had scribbled his Robert Marvin Hull on a World Hockey Association contract that day which provided a long term salary totaling $3 million.

In inking Hull, Jet owner Ben Hatskin, former Canadian pro football star and the corrugated box magnate of Canada, rocketed the WHA to a flying pre-season start. But it took a November 8, 1972 ruling by Judge A. Leon Higginbotham in Philadelphia to liberate “Golden Jet” Hull from legal and non-playing bondage. Higginbotham’s decision blocked National Hockey League clubs from enjoining their former players and released Hull from a seat in the stands and onto the ice in Quebec City for his first appearance in what was the Jets’ fifteenth game of the inaugural season.

Winnipeg, in its first 14 Hull-less games, scrambled to a 7-6-1 record with a solid offense led by center Chris Bordeleau and right wing Norm Beaudin. Naturally, in his initial game Coach Hull inserted left wing Hull on his top line with Bordeleau and Beaudin; thus creating the “Luxury Line.”

However, the first ice action for the new trio was less than luxurious. It was positively nerve wracking. A capacity crowd wedged itself into Le Colisée in Quebec, full of curiosity, but fully expectant, as all hockey fans were, of a fairy tale script in which the Jets would wallop the Nordiques and Hull would terrorize goalie Serge Aubry with goal after goal. Instead, Hull went scoreless and Bordeleau and Beaudin compounded Bobby’s rustiness by imposing pass after pass upon him. A twenty year old, up from the junior Shawinigan Bruins, heightened the show. Right wing Yves Bergeron, following in Ed Westfall’s and Bryan Watson’s NHL footsteps, applied the aggravating shadow act to Hull and checked his every move. Quebec spoiled the script and triumphed 3-2, but not before Bobby managed 19 long shots on the Nordique net despite his layoff from game action.

Hull, Bordeleau, and Beaudin soon settled into machine-like precision as the center and right wing retarded their inclinations to set up Hull at the cost of their own opportunities. The Golden Jet bagged two goals in this third WHA game, Bordeleau and Beaudin spun back to their own free wheeling style, and the point avalanche was on. The “Luxury Line” became so productive that it virtually carried the Jets through a 10 game winning streak in February, all but icing last year’s Western Division crown. Each Winnipeg triumph during the streak reminded one of the preceding win: Jets win 5-1; two goals for Hull; Bordeleau and Beaudin one each.

The greatness of Hull as a Chicago Black Hawk is well documented, but where did his linemates originate from? The center, Bordeleau, appeared from the Montreal Canadiens’ endless supply of swift forwards. Chris received a brief trial–as a left wing substitute for injured John Ferguson in 1969-70–with the Flying Frenchmen, only to find himself a 20 goal St. Louis Blues scorer shortly thereafter. The following winter he played with the Chicago Black Hawks and the familiar face skating on his left flank belonged to Bobby Hull. So combining Bordeleau and Hull with the line was by no means accidental.

Beaudin? A long time minor leaguer with outstanding credentials, Norm ranks with WHAers whose abilities leave observers wondering how they were overlooked by the NHL. Beaudin did receive brief trials with St. Louis and Minnesota, but his top season came in Memphis of the Central League (39 goals) and Cleveland (37, 27, and 33 goals) in the American Hockey League.

The three “Luxury Line” members gathered in Winnipeg and put in one of the most devastating point production seasons any of the great forward lines in hockey history has ever enjoyed.

Some of the outstanding lines never matched the point total of the “Luxury Line”, although, to be fair, they played in days of more defensive hockey. It has been three or four decades since the Toronto Maple Leafs’ “Kid Line” of Charlie Conacher, Joe Primeau, and Busher Jackson, and the Boston Bruin “Kraut Line” of Milt Schmidt, Woody Dumart, and Bobby Bauer were striking fear in the hearts of goaltenders. Who could forget Detroit’s Gordie Howe, Sid Abel, and Ted Lindsay and then Gordie’s second generation with Alex Delvecchio and Frank Mahovlich? Gordie’s third generation line begins tonight with his son Mark and probably Gordon Labossiere. Another all-time great line was led by Rocket Richard of the Canadiens who skated with Elmer Lach and Toe Blake with Rocket later combining on a second top line with his brother Henri and left wing Dickie Moore. But none of these great combinations ever scored as many points in one season as the “Luxury Line.”

The top production line in hockey history belongs to the 1970-71 Boston Bruins with Phil Esposito (152 points), Ken Hodge (105 points), and Wayne Cashman (79 points) totaling 336 points. In so doing the trio set the mark for most goals, contributing 140 in a year.

Jean Ratelle, Rod Gilbert, and Vic Hadfield set a New York Ranger club record in 1971-72 with 312 points including 139 goals. Howe, Mahovlich, and Delvecchio tallied 114 markers for the Red Wings in 1968-69, also a team high.

Enter the pulsating, pulverizing performance by Winnipeg’s “Luxury Line” with a total of 307 points. Each member of the line cracked the century mark. Never before in major league hockey history had that happened. Bobby Hull finished last season with 51 goals and 52 assists; Norm Beaudin with 38 and 65; Chris Bordeleau with 47 and 54.

The line’s 136 goals was four short of the 140 set by Esposito, Hodge, and Cashman. It’s safe to assume that had the Golden Jet not missed 14 games at the start of the season, their threesome would have been good for another 10 to 12 scores since Hull averaged four goals every five games played.

Likewise the Luxury Line’s total of 307 points, while 29 short of Esposito, Hodge, and Cashman, would have been far greater with Number 9 in action from game one.

The Hull-Bordeleau-Beaudin combination enters 1973-74 with a full season ahead and a year of familiarity behind. They should enjoy some luxurious jetting.