Those stakes are part of what forges the D-men’s bond, and the strongest connection, naturally, is often felt between the people who share the ice, shift after shift. “A lot of the time you’re playing the game with your back turned to what’s coming at you,” says Scott Stevens, a three-time Cup champion with the New Jersey Devils and current NHL Network analyst. “So you really need your partner, you need to be on the same page, you have to understand each other, you have to have each other’s back and try to help each other as much as possible to try and beat the forecheck and [avoid] getting hurt.”

Like any relationship, the dynamic of a D pair is defined by the people forming the duo. Jovanovski used to rib one of his partners, Scott Lachance, about the fact no matter which corner the puck went in, the whole world knew it was going to be Jovanovski — not Lachance — who would have to chug back and get it. “And then he left for a $10-million dollar contract to Columbus,” laughs Jovanovski. [Editor’s note: It was actually $8 million.]

When Gill played with P.K. Subban in Montreal, he filled the Lachance role, running interference and creating breathing room for Subban to take the puck and whiz out of the zone. If Gill was skating with fellow defence-first guy Josh Gorges, though, a completely different approach was required. “It was more of a partnership; we had to get the puck out together. We could defend well, but we really had to be on the same page.”

A shorthand develops between partners, who tend to stay together much longer than forward lines. Single words like “Up!” or “Over!” or “Back!” carry layers of meaning. The longer conversations happen elsewhere. “I played with Nick Boynton,” says Gill. “He was a fiery competitor and I could see he’d get too fired up and I’d try to tell him a joke or something to bring him back down.

“With P.K., he’d get so fired up and excited, I’d be like, ‘This is a big shift, let’s keep it simple on this one.’ You get to know, not just the [player’s style], but the mind behind it.”