The Career of Eric Lindros 

Before his concussions he was only behind Gretzky and Lemieux for PPG. Pretty insane.

The day Lindros left the Flyers - after 8 seasons and over 500 games played - he was 5th all-time in points-per-game behind Gretzky, Lemieux, Bossy, and Orr.

Lindros is one of my favorite players of all time. There was just something magical about him when you're 10 years old and you see this guy in weekly recaps (only way you could see NHL in Finland early 90's without satellite TV etc.) doing it all, scoring goals, tackling players like no other. His career as a whole could have been magnificent without those health issues and it is a shame that it went that way.

Eric has said, many times, that it was the owner (Marcel Aubut) that he had a problem with. It wasn't the city or the organization that he said he had a problem with. I think if they had the concussion protocols they have now, Lindros could have played 200 more 'healthy' games and gotten another 250-300 points. He was the best player in the league for SEVERAL seasons. He deserves to be in the HoF.

I remember when he refused to play for my Soo Greyhounds too. Lindros was much larger than most juniors at the time and could plow thru the competition easily so he never learned to skate with his head up. That proved consequential when it came to playing with men.

While his parents probably interfered too much. The Flyers organization in the 90s, especially Bobby Clarke treated their star player Eric Lindros pretty damn horrible, that whole collapsed lung episode and then you had the next season when he complained about the doctors incorrectly diagnosing a Grade 2 concussion and ripping the captaincy from him... on live TV. They had cameras in the locker room sewing the "C" on Eric Desjardins' jersey. The draft stuff is pretty interesting with hindsight too. Eric and his family being labelled as anti-french because he didn't wanna go to Quebec. He's said recently that he didn't wanna go to any team that had Marcel Aubut as their owner... which today absolutely makes sense and Eric seems to allude to Aubut's misbehaviour was common knowledge even back then. Great player but unfortunately a victim of an age where they didn't take concussions seriously and allowing players like Scott Stevens and Darius Kasparaitis headhunting big names. It's good to see Eric doing a lot of work with concussion and brain science these days, hopefully in the future it will help out the game.

Lindros was put in such a bad situation. Flyers didn't care for his health, they wanted blood for what they gave up to get 88. Really a sad story, and is a black eye on the league. Poor guy is a shell of the man he was.

thank you so much for doing this....as a kid this guy was and is still my favorite Flyer of all time...he is the reason I love the sport.

Whenever someone has an absolute passion for something and they express it with stories, explanation and personal opinion, they can interest people who have zero regard for the subject matter. I am not a hockey fan. I watch it sometimes, but have never bothered to fully understand it nor follow even part of a particular season. The Hockey Guy had me riveted. I wanted to know EVERYTHING about Lindros. Best 18 minutes and 44 seconds of my day to this point. :)

The REAL reason Lindros absolutely refused to EVER play for Quebec was because the Quebec owner hit on his Mom. True story.

Love him or hate him there was a time, back in his prime, when Lindros was arguably the most dominant player in the game.

I Loved Eric Lindros Big Time When He Played in Philadelphia Which was Why I Became a Flyers Fan in 1995!

“Like Dr. Evil made the trade” that got me hahaha

similar career like peter forsberg. both played physical style of hockey and it was one of the reasons they could not play as long as they should. their numbers were also very similar both with just over 700 games and close to 900 points.

Let's talk about Brett Hull, I need to hear his story, all the way up to the ending where he gets hammered for every stanley cup game and leads the parade at a 3.5% BAC

I love hockey because of how Lindros played. My favorite flyer

Lindros has said in interviews that he did not want to play for Marcel aubut specifically. Also don't think we pretty much ever saw his prime or full potential, Eric stated himself that "after I got hit a few times I wasn't nearly playing to the level I knew I could". I think he never reached what he could be and its sad because he was incredible. Amazing skating. Never missed on a breakaway. A beast.

I met him when he was still in junior- he was the nicest guy ever. Huge human being.

Woooooooo! Career videos! Love 'em.

Man, if that Rangers trade went through and they received either Beezer or Richter, the Avalanche might not have had need to trade for Roy, thereby possibly changing the whole course of their future.

Concussions also cost the careers of Keith Primeau, Chris Pronger, Pat Lafontaine, and Marc Savard

Growing up and just hearing the stories about lindros and how dominant he was I’ve always been really interested in him as a player. Thanks for the awesome analysis of lindros

My memory of watching Lindros play in Toronto was he was finding his top form again and was on a piling up points streak when his wrist was shattered by a viscous slash. Leaf ownership erroneously gave up on him. Lindros, off ice actions aside, is undoubtedly an NHL legendary player.

Legion of Doom line was unbelievable, physical and offensively productive.

Can you please do the career of your friend Michael Buble, who shall remain nameless? But seriously, love your work Shannon! Thanks for keeping me sane during this isolation. Take care!

I hated Lindros in the 90's, probably because he was a Flyer. But do you know what I hated more? I hate that his career was cut short. He was a great villain for me in the 90's. I miss hating him and the rest of the Legion of Doom.

Hart trophy and most dominant physical force ever in the game. Obvious hall of famer. If he didn't have the injuries he would be the obvious GOAT power forward.

As a Flyers season ticket holder during Lindros tenure, it was a series of ups and downs. After he won the MVP in 1995, I thought we would win multiple Cups as he was the perfect transition from the Gretzky/Lemieux era. From the minute the RedWings swept us in the ‘97 Finals it slowly went downhill. People talk about the Stevens hit in 2000, but the real turning point was the Kasparitis hit in March ‘98 that gave him his first concussion. I honestly don’t think he was the same player after that. We lost in the first round in ‘98, he got the collapsed lung and missed the ‘99 playoffs. Got the concussion and missed most of ‘00 playoffs until the Stevens hit in Game 7 (Let me tell you that place was dead silent for the rest of the game). He sat out all of 00-01 as Clarke would not trade him and then he was shipped to the Rangers before 01-02 season, I love Lindros and cherish that era being at every game. But his career is a big ‘what if’ and I never felt he should have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Lindros was guest instructor at my hockey camp in either 95 or 96 in Guelph Ontario. He was awesome, he would get on one knee at center ice and ask us which Post to hit with a slap shot and he would hit it LOL

Lindros is definitely HOF material. His presence literally influenced other teams to adapt to HIM.

The most physically dominant player of his era. When he was on, he could be unstoppable. His style of play wore him down and shortened his career. His relationship with the Flyers has long been repaired. He was just named a team ambassador last week.

There was an article a couple years ago in sports illustrated on where he talked about how Crosby could end up like him

The best 18-year old hockey player I've ever seen play. No other player at his age could've made the '91 Canada Cup team and been one of their best players.

Quebec owner thought Lindros mom was hot and creeped the family out. Can’t deny that she is to be fair

Most dominant player to ever wear a Flyers jersey. Period

Lindros is the perfect player, he can set up, handle the puck great, score goals and KICK YOUR ASS!

Lindros should've won the Art Ross Trophy in 1995, PPG over Goals since we also have the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy for goals.

Always liked Lindros.

Lindros played in the clutch and grab era of the neutral zone trap and was a clear generational talent. He would be on a level with Ovechkin and Malkin if he played with today's officiating. The only blemish on his career is not winning a cup which not many teams could do during that time with Detroit, NJ and Colorado dominating during that period.

Greatest Flyers Ever! Those beginning years were unforgettable and I wouldn't trade them for the world.

One of the best Flyers of all time. Loved watching him.

Hmm. Let’s get a career video of everyone’s favorite player: Claude Lemieux. The playoff performances, the suspensions, the Cup rings, the whole nine yards.

Eric was just misunderstood

imagine lindros, sakic and sundin... :O

Lindros recently came out and admitted the reason he didn't join the nordiques was due to the ownership

My first ever favorite player in the league even though he wasn't a King. He was a beast on NHL 99 😝

as bad as the decision by Quebec to ignore Eric sounded, it got them Forsberg (ironically similar career) and other pieces which leads to 1995-96 being ready when Patrick Roy is traded to them to win, but also this is the man that makes the hall of fame a debate every year, him, Forsberg, Kariya and to a lesser extent Pavel Bure (he at least had 2 rocket richard trophies and 60+ goal seasons)

Should've put your pinky up when you said $15 million dollars! 😄

Normally I agree with you Shannon but not this time. Yes I agree that Quebec chose him even after he said he would not play there. However, who was he to dictate where he plays? He could have easily flopped. See Alexandre Daigle. He did have a solid career even though he was hampered by concussions, but I still say a player out of juniors should not dictate where to play. If that is the case, why do we have a draft?

Good one, Shannon! Eric was a polarizing player. It seemed everybody had a strong view of him either way back in the day. You can't deny that he was a force on the ice in his prime. The guy was a wrecking ball that could score and throw punches in bunches. He could pretty much single handedly take control of a game, set the tone and impose his will. It's a shame that we as fans were robbed of more healthy playing years due to concussions, but not an unfamiliar situation.

If Lindros had played for Quebec , you'd be looking at a team including: Sakic Lindros Sundin Nolan Kamensky Kovalenko Rucinsky Young Another effect (not as speculative): Before the Red Wings' Russian Five there could have been the Nordiques' Russian Five: Kamensky - Bykov - Khomutov, Gusarov - Tatarinov!!…..hahahah

Anyone else check their phone for a Facebook call? Lol

I really wish things turned out different. 97 was the Flyer's year but they just happened to run into a really great Detroit team that year. Philly is due to win another Cup soon. 45 year drought needs to end.

It's a shame that injuries wiped out his tenure in Toronto. He played terrific to begin the 2005-06 season, shouldering the bulk off the offence when Mats Sundin went down for 10 or so games to begin that season. Not sure if the Leafs would have made the playoffs still that season with a healthy Eric Lindros, but it looked as he was going to be a solid contributor had the injuries had not occured.

Worth noting Lindros started a concussion research center. He definitely had the talent though.

Lindros was great. An absolute beast. I really wish he'd have won a few cups with the Flyers.

Take the 3 best forwards of all time, Howe, Gretzky, and Lemieux. Imagine a 7 game series. Put all the players in the same era. Wide open hockey, fast and loose. Or... Clutch and grab, neutral zone trap era. Tight and physical. Now..... Pick any 1 you like of the 3 at full health at the top of their game. Goalies equal....officiating not favoring any player..... respective teams equal Lemieux would be the only player in NHL history I'd see having any chance. Lindros was too skilled, too big, too strong, and at his best, too mean for any other player to contend with. He was the 3rd highest scorer in league history per game before Injury derailed him. And he didnt play in an era of free wheeling and open spaces as the others did. He didnt play against small goalies with small pads. Lindros MADE his space physically with players draped all over him, holding on for fear life. Multiple players stacked on each and every dump in, grabbing him to slow him down. They changed the rules and made this tactic LEGAL due to HIM. Upon his retirement they reinstated obstruction interference. Back to the way it was for the other 3. It's Lindros. And it's not even a close second.

Sorry but it wasn't a "Quebec thing" it was a Marcel Aubut thing. Pierre Page made the trade to Philly but Aubut went on his own and talked to the Rangers and because the Rangers offered 20 million Aubut the snake that he is wanted that offer. The Flyers were awarded the trade because it was finalized first and it was actually investigated.

Lindros did not want to play for Marcel Aubut based on some meeting where Aubut had made comments about his family. He has said that years later. In the 1997 Finals Lindros only had one goal. It came in the last minute in Game 4 where it basically didn’t mean anything. He’s had an interesting career.

A detail that always seems to get lost is Forsberg only played 708 career NHL games where Eric played 760 so very hard to say that things would turned out much different. Forsberg gets to play with: Sundin, Sakic and Owen Nolan Lindros got: Recchi, Brind'amour and Kevin Dineen.

I attended University of Waterloo in Ontario in late 80's and early 90's, with our tearm playing against Lindros of the Oshawa Generals. Some articles came up in the University student newspaper at how obnoxious Lindros was with players of other college teams: in particular he was mocking french Canadian players. Whereas he may not have liked Aubut of the Nordiques, many players are not all that enchanted with their team owners or management, yet act professionally. Lindros showed no respect for french Canadians, and appeared to have a sense of entitlement in not being cooperative and professional, as when he (and family) refused to report and play for the Sault Ste-Marie Greyhounds (where Gretzky played) in Ontario Junior A. Although he had a good amount of talent, he only performed well for a few years; and very little in playoffs; having a big ego and being a disruptive force just like PK Subban; the case is not in favor of him getting the accolade of a Hall of Famer.

great video Shannon, you should make a video about either your favourite current or all-time players to watch, think that could be kinda interesting coming from somebody who watches all but every game they can!

Absolute great storyline recounting! 🏆Destiny is destiny amidst those dramas!

To be honest if someone picked for Buffalo didn't want to play for them I wouldn't blame them.

I actually feel pretty sorry for Lindros. Good God, what a fantastic player he was. Just a shitty combination of circumstances set about to screw him over.

Eric Lindros .. is the best skilled power forward ever to play so far

I liked Lindros. Really what was there not to like. Flyers over paid for him but it wasn't my money. The only problem he really had was playing that hard physical game. Unless you're chemically enhanced you don't last long playing that way in any sport. I'm happy he is back in the Flyers family. He belongs here.

Messier and Lundros played for Team Canada in I think it was the Canada Cup back in the 90s. I think Gretzky was either hurt or just that Messier and Lindros were on the ice at the same time. They scored a fantastic goal and so play by play man Gary Thorne said, 88 and 11 really does add up to 99.

When I grew up, I could never see the hype around Eric Lindros. And the value he was pu at even less. He was IMO never anything near Mario Lemieux or Wayne Gretzky. In my opinion, players like Jaromir Jagr, Teemu Selanne, Mats Sundin, Pavel Bure etc-etc was early on much-much more potential rich and they near exploded on to the scene both in the NHL and on International ice. Heck in the "Lindros Trade saga", only Peter Forsberg. ONLY Forsberg proved early on was worth that massive trade. And after 1997 I never felt he could lead to a cup despite he was still young and in his prime.

Lindros was a monster

One of the saddest stories in sports, in my opinion. Even as a Pens fan I wish it could have worked out better for him.

One of the most dominating players in NHL history at his peek. A totally monster ! 😂😂 His points per game average is 17 th best with players at least 600 games. Skillwise belongs to HHOF. Same case with Pavel Bure

Lindros had this kind of problem with the OHL draft as well. After tearing up in junior B, he was selected by the Soo Greyhounds, despite warnings that he would not play there. This time his family was worried that the long road trips would have an affect on his education. He was eventually traded to the Oshawa Generals, where it worked out for a while there. Of course, the rest is already mentioned in the video in regards of what happened in the NHL.

If I remember correctly, there was also some discussion about which offer came to Quebec first? Something about the time that was on the fax when it was printed on the fax machine. They accepted the Flyers offer then looked at the Rangers offer and said "Oops"

Also it is one of the great mysteries of my life why no teammate of Lindros went after Stevens for that hit. I remember watching that game with great anticipation of someone going after Stevens to no avail. That really pissed me off. That was the day the bullies died for me. Where were his teammates?? Really a sad day as a Flyers fan.

He had a solid NHL career but he was never the Same after that injury

Name me a player who had the skills, speed, size and ferocity of Lindros. I don't think you can. Clarke really screwed up with him and I no longer esteem Mr. Clarke (not Bobby anymore.) Such a shame, he had it all.

I'm an Isles fan, but I would never take anything away from him. He was an absolutely dominating player for years.

Watched Lindros in OHL

Kariya lafontaine and lindros absolutely devastated by concussions.

Lindros was the guy you created in NHL career mode but it ultimately shortened his career because of his psychically demanding style. The body can only take so much. Great player but definitely far too short a career. Looking at the alternate possible future outcomes from the Rangers trade perspective. Do they get Messier? Keenan? Can Vanbiesbrouck win the cup? Could we be in 2022 listening to 1940 chants?

The feud between him and Scott Stevens was worth the price of admission...was at a couple of those games in Philly when they had more than one fight per game...

I would love to see one of these on myself, Shannon. Thank you and great videos.

he kept his head down too often. which surely explains for the concussions.

Should have mentioned that also snugged the SSM Greyhounds by refusing to play there

I remember at the time that Rangers package(which also had Doug Weight in it) seemed so much better than the Flyers package. Forsberg was not expected to become as good as he did.

He was a great player for awhile, one of the best power forwards in the game but he didn't live up to his potential and lost too many games and even an entire season. Mario lost a lot of games and a season as well but he was still playing at an All-Star level when he returned, Eric didn't. I don't think he belongs in the HoF.

The biggest winner of Eric Lindros's career was Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche. Both or the '92 trade deals were awesome and offered the organization way more than even a fully healthy Lindros ever could have done. I wonder who were responsible of those two offers at '92. Who were those people who were ready to give so much for Lindros. Of course no one could know beforehand Forsberg would develop to a legend and Thibault would be something good enough to be able to trade for Roy but still. Even that Rangers trade would have probably worked aswell. A good starting goalie with Richter or Vanbiesbrouck(both Cup finalists atleast) and 3 high quality forwards. Amonte became a several time 40+ goal scorer in the horrible Blackhawks, Kovalev had some high quality seasons aswell and Nemchinov was also a good 2-3 line center.

Lindros’s problem on and off the ice was that he was previously a man among boys and didn’t adapt to being a man among men. That includes learning to play with his head up and not having his parents act like everybody has to cater to him.

Geoff Courtnall also suffered a shortened career due to concussions. Although not the level of a Lindross, he's my all time favorite player. He did everything well regardless of the style/era he was playing in.

Love the video. Though I wasn't watching hockey back then I wish I was. As a French Canadian, he has been discussed a lot by the media over here and defended by those who erroneously believe that he was anti French. Nothing could be further from the truth. I did watch very closely his first official in depth interview on radio Canada's most successful talk show tout le monde en parle a few years ago and absolutely loved Eric lindros. Such a good person. Yes, the mismanagement is probably a reason but it's not the only reason. In a slip of the tongue he did accidentally allude to the real reason which he tried to clean up the next day and was vigorously denied but I do suspect that there actually was a kernel of truth there and that was in fact the main reason. But the past is the past and I suspect that very few die hard nordiques fans are still bitter about this.

What a great play and even though the team treated him badly, the fans adored him and still do and the feeling is mutual. Eric has never said a cross word about the fans. That said, I often wonder how things would have played out had Eric gone to Quebec and Forsberg stayed in Philly.

I'm a little surprised the Rangers considered gambling away significant pieces of their core to join the Lindros sweepstakes considering they just come off a President Trophy season and, as it turned out, were close to winning the cup. I agree the franchise, eventually going to Colorado, would not have won the cup in 1996 but I bet the Rangers would not have won the cup in 1994 if they acquired Lindros.

Peter Forsberg NHL PPG 1994-2011 1.250 QUE/COL 1994-2004 PPG 1.278 Eric Lindros 1992-2007 NHL PPG 1.138 PHI 1992-2000 PPG 1.356 PHI/NYR PPG 1992-2002 1.312 Bobby Clarke PHI 1969-1984 PPG 1.058 1971-1980 PPG 1.190 While Bobby Clarke is considered the best player ever to don the orange and black jersey and in his nine year prime, he was arguabl7 the best player in hockey second only to the great Bobby Orr in the 1970's. Fast forward to the 1990's and in the 8-year period from 1992 to 2000, Lindros despite the injuries and concussions, was obviously a better player if you want to consider the PPG average. Yes Lindros didn't have a decent goaltender, and the defense was shaky at best, but as a player, LIndros was just a better player during his prime than even Forsberg despite Forsberg winning two Stanley Cups and Forsberg having more success in the international competitions than Lindros, which is another topic. In the NHL Lindros according to the PPG especially during his prime years in PHI had 1.356 PPG and even with the NYR still was able to maintain his PPG to 1.312. It was later in his career when the PPG average shifted downward and even then he still maintains an overall NHL PPG average of 1.138. While it's not higher than Forsberg's average, it's still higher than Clarke's, who had more help with Bernie Parent in the net, and the most feared goon squad during their time (Schultz, Kelly, Crisp, and Dupont). All I'm saying is that had Lindros been mostly healthy and had Lindros had a better goaltender and even enforcers, I'm pretty sure he would've had a much higher PPG average. As of this writing, only Gretzky, Lemieux, Bossy, Orr had higher PPG average than Lindros and even the new kid from EDM, McDavid. Once again, Clarke may be considered the best player on the Flyers, but during his time on the ice, Lindros was better in his eight years with PHI than Clarke was during his prime from 1971-1980 and especially in his career!!!

My favourite player, loved Eric but that’s heavily biased being a Philly fan.

At the time the trade probably looked ok. Forsberg was just undervalued. That is really where the trade failed, because he was included. I remember the Forsberg vs Lindros rivalry back then. Interestingly, Lindros have swedish ancestry. Here in Sweden, most ppl were Forsberg fans. I was one of the Lindros fans. But I remember them being considered equals in the 90's. Then Lindros's career just went south. Because I'm not from NA and because I was so young at the time, I never really grasped how serious it was. I just thought it was bad luck and concussion related, but hearing these stories, I really feel sorry for him. I think he really deserved better and these days I know that the league would have stepped in to protect him. There were probably players who were ordered to bang him up, the dirtier the better. That's when you know the league have lost it. And they let it go on for so long. This is supposed to be for fun. Those who try to injury other players should be disciplined severely. You can't say that they didn't know better, because there were clear signs of concussion related problems. They should have implemented the current protocols and stricter rules sooner. I have gotten the impression that Lindros was kind of rejected by the canadian hockey establishment, because of what he did at the draft, and that this was the reason why they allowed this to happen. They allowed their generational talent to be sacrificed. Had it been a "good boy" like Crosby, then I think the experts would have stepped in and fixed the issue sooner. This is really one of the darkest periods in NHL history, and there were many other victims.

Peter Forsberg >

Lindros is a legend!

I was so excited that Lindros was going to The Nords.Lindros and Sakic!!!But then things did not happen,it was like when John Elway refused to play for the Colts(nfl).My teams just cant win,but the Lindros issues coulda been a disaster in Quebec.

The most Québec thing? Love your channel Shannon, but come on. What did you mean by that?