I was listening to the Boston-Ottawa game tonight and the broadcaster
announced that Shawn McEachern was wearing  the "C" for Ottawa since
Alfredsson has been out injured. Tony Amonte and Keith Tkachuk are the
captains for Chicago and Ottawa, respectively. Is this the first time that
three collegiate linemates have served as captains in the NHL, much less at
the same time?

For those of you who haven't followed the college game for ten years, these
three were linemates at Boston University in 1990-91, when McEachern was a
junior, Amonte a sophomore, and Tkachuk a freshman. All three left BU after
that season, Amonte to the Rangers and the other two to the Olympic team
(back when college kids played in the Olympics). The line was known as the
"Commonwealth Line" because all three were Massachusetts kids - the term had
been coined the previous year when Joe Sacco had played with McEachern and
Amonte. This was the first line for a team that played in the amazing 8-7
three overtime final loss to Northern Michigan.

This certainly says a lot for the leadership developed in college hockey.