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Lindros Retirement
by Alanah McGinley on 11/08/07 at 01:58 AM ET
Comments (11)
[This post is temporarily ‘sticky’ to top of KK - updates in the comments]
From the CP via The Hockey News,
The 33-year-old Lindros, a free agent who has not played this season, is expected to announce his retirement in his hometown of London, Ont., on Thursday.
The Big E made it through 13 seasons despite eight concussions - injuries that eroded his impact later in his career. But he remains one of the most compelling impact players to skate in the NHL, and he wore Canada’s colours with distinction in earning gold and silver Olympic medals.
Bobby Clarke argues that Lindros should make it to the HHOF, but there’s likely to be a lot of debate. (updates: more articles on Lindros and his career will be added to the comments of this post)
Update 12:50pm ET: ESPN video discussing Lindros’ legacy is below.
Poll Question: Should Eric Lindros Make it into the Hall of Fame?
Filed in: NHL Talk | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: eric+lindros, hockey+hall+of+fame, retirement,
Comments
Agreed.I f Bob Clarke can put aside the personal baggage with Eric Lindros that he helped to create then everyone else should be able to as well. He may have worn the black hat for most of his career, but the kid was dominant when healthy. Too bad he was so dominant in Junior that he never learned to keep his head up. For all the flak he has taken for being soft, he still kept showing up after 8 concussions. If it weren’t for his stage parents we may have a totally different prespective on his career.
Posted by Hockey1919 from Montreal on 11/08/07 at 11:31 AM ET
I’m just going to add any Eric Lindros articles to the comments today. Here’s a couple:
(1) Philly Inquirer: “Lindros’ legacy: Another savior who didn’t save”
(2) Toronto Star: “Lindros worthy of spot in hall? Tough call”
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 11/08/07 at 12:08 PM ET
(3) CBC: “Lindros is a Hall of Famer”
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 11/08/07 at 12:42 PM ET
Lindros has been so phenomenally overrated his whole career I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised he’d be just as overrated now that he’s retired.
His Hart came in the strike-shortened year. At the best of times he was an injury-plagued player (only cracked 65 games in a season 4 times in 12 years). His last 6 seasons ranged from ‘ok’ to ‘mediocre’ to ‘downright embarassing.’
If you put Lindros in you have to put Larmer, Verbeek, Fleury, Mogilny and I can’t even think who else in. That would make me sad. It’s the Hall of Fame, not the Hall of the Allegedly Famous.
Posted by HockeyinHD on 11/08/07 at 01:41 PM ET
(4) Sports Illustrated, “Victim of Expectations”
(5) ESPN, “With Lindros, nothing was a given”
Official retirement announcement was combined with a large charitable donation. From the CP:
Eric Lindros combined the announcement of his retirement as an NHL player on Thursday with one of the largest one-time donations ever received by the London Health Sciences Foundation.
The Big E is giving $5 million to the facility. The money will support hospital programs including the Fowler Kennedy Sports Medicine Clinic where Lindros was treated during his playing career.
“I believe it’s because of this care that my career lasted as long as it did,” said Lindros.
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 11/08/07 at 05:49 PM ET
(6) The Hockey News (Brophy), “Lindros Belongs in the Hall of Fame”
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 11/08/07 at 05:57 PM ET
Lindros going into the HOF is a joke.
0 Stanley Cup and over-rated his whole career.
He does not belong.
Posted by PuckHound61 from Speckville USA on 11/08/07 at 06:01 PM ET
Lindros is not a HoFer, he’s not even close.
He played on one of the most-dominant lines in the game for a few years (The Legion of Doom), had a team around him willing to spend to win—and he still never won anything. And he never was the missing piece to anything anywhere he went.
His numbers don’t merit it. His legacy doesn’t merit it.
Lindros does not belong in the HOF.
Posted by Primis on 11/08/07 at 08:40 PM ET
Who are all these jokes that keep saying he doesnt belong in the hall of fame? from 94-2000, he was one of the 5 best players in the whole league. There are 237 players in the hall of fame. Your gonna tell me that all of them are more deserving, yeah right.
Posted by Ushvinder from surrey, bc on 03/22/08 at 12:11 AM ET
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Lindros was such a dominant player in his prime in the 1990s that I can’t see why he doesn’t belong. Clarke put it best:
“I believe he should be in,” said Clarke. “This was the first big, powerful, dominant forward with the skill, not (Wayne) Gretzky or (Mario) Lemieux, but close.”
“He won MVP, he was an All-Star, he went to the Stanley Cup final. If you eliminate the crap that circled him, he is easily a Hall of Fame hockey player,” said Clarke.
Noting Lindros’ personal baggage, Clarke said that almost every player in the HHOF came with some measure of personal baggage.
As an aside, I have to commend Clarke for putting aside the animosity he felt for Lindros and his family in Lindros’ final, painful years with the Flyers to recommend him for the HHOF.
Posted by Spector from Charlottetown, PEI, Canada on 11/08/07 at 07:19 AM ET