The S Line was a line of professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

s who played together for the

Montreal Maroons The Montreal Maroons (officially the Montreal Professional Hockey Club) were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL). They played in the NHL from 1924 to 1938, winning the Stanley Cup in 1926 and 1935. They were the las ...

in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

from the late 1920s to the early 1930s. The nickname was a reference to the players' last names: centre

Nels Stewart Robert Nelson "Old Poison" Stewart (December 29, 1899 – August 21, 1957) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played for the Montreal Maroons, New York Americans and Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League. He is an Honoure ...

played with

Babe Siebert Charles Albert "Babe" Siebert (January 14, 1904 – August 25, 1939) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger and defenceman who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Maroons, New York Rangers, Boston ...

and

Hooley Smith Reginald Joseph "Hooley" Smith (January 7, 1903 – August 24, 1963) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the Ottawa Senators, Montreal Maroons, Boston Bruins and New York Americans. He won the Stanley Cup twice, with ...

on his wings. All three are in the

Hockey Hall of Fame , logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg , logo_upright = 0.5 , image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg , caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992 , map_type = , former_name = , established = 1943 , location = 30 Y ...

. The line was also sometimes called the "Three S Line", "Triple S Line", or "Big S Line".

Beginnings

Both Stewart and Siebert started their careers with the Maroons in 1925, and won the 1926 Stanley Cup with them at the end of that season. Smith started with the original

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

, and won a Stanley Cup with them in 1927, but by that time the club was in financial trouble and began selling off their stars. Smith was sold to the Maroons, where he was put on a line with Stewart and Siebert. Sportswriters immediately dubbed them the "Three S Line".

A line feared by all

From their first season together, the trio was an offensive force feared by opposing netminders and players alike. They were not only the top three scorers on the Maroons that season (Stewart with 34 points, Smith 19, and Siebert 17), but Siebert and Stewart also led the team in penalty minutes, with 119 and 106, respectively, and ranked 4th and 5th in the entire NHL. Over the next three seasons, the S line was easily the Maroons' most productive in terms of points, and the three players combined for over 200 penalty minutes every year. Stewart once stated that Siebert and Smith "did most of the digging or the puckwork. They knew I was out there waiting, and if they freed the puck, I'd do the rest."

End of the line

By the 1931–32 NHL season, the Maroons were struggling financially amid the Great Depression. It was also the first season of Stewart's career in which he did not lead his team in scoring; that statistic went to

Dave Trottier David Thomas Trottier (June 25, 1906 – November 14, 1956) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played in the 1928 Olympic Games, winning a gold medal, and played in the National Hockey League for 11 seasons. He won the Stanl ...

. The team finished the year 19-22-7 with 45 points, 6th-best of the 8 teams in the NHL at that point. At the end of the season, Stewart and Siebert were both sold to other teams for cash, and the S Line was no more. Smith stayed with the Maroons and was their captain when the team won its final Stanley Cup in 1935. All three players were posthumously inducted into the

References

{{reflist 1927–28 NHL season 1928–29 NHL season 1929–30 NHL season 1930–31 NHL season 1931–32 NHL season Montreal Maroons Nicknamed groups of ice hockey players