He says he’s one of the biggest hockey fans in the city.
He says he thinks Eric Lindros is “the best player in the NHL.”
And, in case anybody cares, he says he lost plenty betting on the Flyers during their dismal playoff run this year.
Joey Merlino, Passyunk Avenue coffee-shop impresario and reputed mob underboss, spoke out yesterday after two days of rumor and innuendo, fanned in large part by sports-talk radio station WIP (610-AM), about an alleged “relationship” between himself and the Flyers’ captain.
“It’s a crime,” said Merlino, who knows a little bit about that topic. “I met the guy three times in my whole life.”
What’s more, Merlino said, reports that Lindros was a friend of either of his sisters, Maria, 36, or Natalie, 19, are totally off base.
“He’s never met my sisters.”
Merlino, 33, said he was disgusted by the hype and frenzy over what he said was a non-story.
“I just want to clear the kid,” he said. “He did nothing wrong. Look, they’re gonna say and write whatever they want about me, but it’s a crime what they’re doin’ to him. . . . He makes $7 million a year. He don’t need this. . . .”
The Flyers, for their part, issued a statement saying they “will not respond to ridiculous, unfounded charges and innuendo.”
