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Lindros knew when to call it quits

By Mark Vasto



He came into the league a 6-foot-5-inch, 245-pound man who could score goals, completely out-skate you and, if you got in his way, knock you into the cheap seats. That was Eric Lindros, at least the Lindros who entered into the league 13 years ago.

To understand what Lindros meant to hockey at the time is to understand what hockey has become. Time was you were a goon, a scorer, a skater or just one of the other people on the ice. Anyone else was a goalie. In rare cases, you would find guys who could do a bit of it all guys like Bobby Hull and Gordie Howe immediately come to mind. But during the 1980s, things started to change. Goal scorers like Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy started to dominate the highlight reels ... hockey fights didn't play as well on Sports Center as, say, a clip of Denis Savard executing a triple lutz and beating a flailing net minder.

The old school used to scoff at Gretzky and Mario Lemiux. "They could never play that style of hockey in our day," the old-timers used to say. And the guy that could Hall of Famer Mark Messier seemed to always take the back seat to his flashier teammates.

Lindros was supposed to be the guy who could step to both a Gretzky and a Howe. He certainly came into the league fighting. Drafted by the Quebec Nordiques in 1991, Lindros flat out refused to play for the team, saying he didn't want to waste his time playing for a team with owners who weren't committed to winning. Lindros held out until he was dealt to the Philadelphia Flyers for five players, a first-round draft pick and $15 million in cash.

Lindros was the league's most valuable player and won the Hart Trophy in 1995. The hype seemed to match the hockey. Then came the injuries. In all, Lindros' style of play earned him eight concussions, a collapsed lung, several injuries to his knees, shoulders and wrists, which all required surgeries and lengthy stays on the injured-reserve list (one concussion kept him out of the entire 2000-01 season).

This season Lindros announced his retirement, and he will receive Hall of Fame consideration. In his 13-year career with Philadelphia, the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers and Dallas Stars, he averaged more than a point a game, scored 372 goals and had 865 points in 760 games. He never won a Stanley Cup (but did win an Olympic gold medal for Canada in 2002). While he was in New York, he was criticized for making poor decisions on the ice. Maybe so, but at least he knew when to call it quits.



(c) 2007 King Features Synd., Inc.