The Merlot Line was not the Bruins average grind line.
Back in the day, the Boston Bruins were known as the “The Big Bad Bruins”. As time went on, the league and Bruins got away from the days of “The Big Bad Bruins” and went to more of a skilled game where talent took over.
Nearly a decade ago, former coach Claude Julien put together Daniel Paille, Shawn Thornton and Gregory Campbell to make up the Bruins fourth line. They were called the “Merlot Line” after the color of their practice jerseys. Every time the trio stepped on the ice, the intensity in the game went up to another notch.
The typical fourth line in the NHL is generally a grind line that goes out and mucks it up. Usually seeing the least amount of ice time a night, most don’t see much time other than their shifts during each game.
Not the Merlot Line. They brought much more to the table than your average fourth line. They killed penalties, scored goals, weren’t afraid to drop the gloves at any time and gave up their bodies to block shots at any point. They always brought much-needed energy on a nightly basis.
Thornton was known as an old-time enforcer, which was evident with his 102 career fights with the Bruins, that would stick up for any teammate at any time.
He will never be mistaken as a point-producing forward. He registered just 35 goals and had 42 assists for 76 points in seven seasons in Boston, but any offensive production they got from him was an added bonus. In 14 years in the league, his main job was to do the dirty work along the boards and protect his teammates.
Campbell made his name with the Bruins as a penalty killer. He scored 39 goals and 52 assists in a Bruins uniform, but he was never afraid to sacrifice his body at any time to do what was needed. That was never more evident than in the 2013 playoffs.
In Game 3 against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2013 Eastern Conference Final, he blocked a shot by Penguins star forward Evgeni Malkin during a penalty kill that broke his right fibula. Amazingly, he finished the final 50 seconds of the shift on basically one leg and helped the Bruins successfully kill the penalty in a 1-1 game. That summed up Campbell and his career in Boston. A gritty forward that inspired his teammates each night, doing whatever was necessary to help his team win.
Paille was one of the NHL’s better forecheckers and was Campbell’s partner killing penalties. In the 2011 Stanley Cup Final against the Vancouver Canucks, Campbell and Pallie held the powerful Canucks to just two power-play goals in seven games.
Another of the three that was not known for his offensive game, he had 50 goals and 45 assists in 375 games for the Bruins. Acquired from the Buffalo Sabres in 2010, he did score eight of 50 goals in Boston shorthanded. What set Pallie a part from Thornton and Campbell was his ability to win puck battles along the boards and disrupt the opponent’s defensive units.
The Bruins ended a 39-year Stanley Cup drought in 2011 by beating the Canucks and then advanced to the Cup Final again two years later, only to come up short against the Chicago Blackhawks. The success the Bruins had early in the last decade had a lot to do with the Merlot Line and what they brought to each game night in and night out.