Ultimately, Wyshynski, a noted Devils fan, comes to the conclusion that " yeah, bottom line: Eric Lindros is a Hall of Famer." Read his take. It's very well said, and it is surely going to be the hot topic when it comes to the induction next year. Will he or won't he? Should he or shouldn't he?
It's no secret that Eric Lindros' time in Philadelphia can best be described as unfulfilled promise. He came here as the savior of the franchise, the savior of hockey. The next Great One. And in the beginning, he looked every bit the part. Lindros revived a dormant Flyers franchise, become a dominant force — steamrolling the opposition with a frightening array of power and skill — won the Hart Trophy, led Philadelphia to the Stanley Cup Finals … and looked prime to, as he so emotionally put it, "do it." (1:45 in)
Of course, his penchant for skating with his head down did him in, forcing a series of concussions that limited his time on the ice, and the Flyers, unfortunately, did not do it. Lindros and his parents got into a rift with then GM Bobby Clarke, and the Eric Lindros era that began with so much promise and hope ended sourly. After the hit by Scott Stevens in game 7 of the 2000 Eastern Conference finals, Lindros was never, ever again the same. He was a shell of his former self.
But during his prime years in Philadelphia, Eric Lindros was one of the most intimidating, dangerous players in hockey. Without question, in those years, he was one of, hell, arguably the best player in the league. He was big. He was strong. He could hit, he could skate, he could fight, he score, he could pass and he won face-offs with the best of them. Other than his fatal flaw (skating with his head down), Lindros had no other weakness. He could simply do it all on skates. He revived the Flyers in Philadelphia, reinvented what a superstar looked like in the sport. He turned John LeClair into a 50-goal scorer. He transformed the Flyers into the class of the Eastern Conference.
Simply put, Eric Lindros was amazing.
He is far and away the best hockey player I've ever seen don the Orange and Black. His prime was cut short to injury, and he left with bitterness. But Eric Lindros was not only a great player, he was a phenomenon. Perhaps that won't get him the Hall of Fame, but I tend to agree with Puck Daddy on this one. Eric Lindros is a Hall of Famer.
This will argued either way till we're all pushing up weeds. He's got 922 points in 813 total NHL games played, of those points 396 goals scored. Oh these numbers none of the given benchmarks were reached that are in the category of automatic pass into the hall. 1000 games played, 1000 points, 500 goals or more, 1000 assists or more, no Stanley cups. So then we go to awards won/international tournaments won. He did win the Canada Cup, Olympic Silver & Gold medals, and a couple of other tournaments. Then he did win the Hart Trophy and Lester Pearson Award.....
ReplyDeleteThese thins help in the overall ratings but alot of people who do the voting will just keep him in that "Bubble" category of players who are almost there and stay on the ballots but may never get those final votes to get over the top. He is the Don Mattingly of the NHL like this. You will get cases from people going both ways on this for a long ass time.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the injuries hurt his case big time. But he was a once-in-a-generation guy when at his peak. Wouldn't be shocked if he didn't get in, but I think we can all say you'd rather have had Lindros at his best than Luc Robitaille
ReplyDeleteFuck yeah i'd rather have him than Madam Luc who didn't do dick in his short stay here. Eric did more in his 3 years here than Madam Luc did. They should put a side note on Madam Luc's plaque saying "300 of his 600 goals happened due to having the best player in the history of the world hoking him up with butter passes that you or me could have put in". I still remember Eric's last big concussion with us. It was this fucks nuts named Jason Doig who layed him out by the bench. I said to myself aw fuck he's done for real now. The fucked up part was that i didn't remember seeing anyone step up for him and throw down with Doig who was 2 bit scrub in the league.
ReplyDelete"He is the Don Mattingly of the NHL..."
ReplyDelete-Nicely put!