Is Eric Lindros the most jacked and skilled NHL player of all time?

[Eye of Ra]

People dont realise how good Lindros actually was.

From 1992 to 2001, Lindros only had Mario and Jagr ahead of him in PPG.

Lindros had better PPG during this timeframe than players such as Sakic, Fleury, Forsberg, Sundin, Kariya, Messier, Bure, Selenne, Gretzky, Fedorov, Modano, Yzerman etc.

And Lindros brought a overall game outside of his points, Lindros was huge, strong, physical, tough, fighter, crashed the net, fast, mean, great at draws, good defensivly, awesome passer, really good shot, great technical skills. Nobody had so many strenghts as Lindros.

Eliteprospects.com - All-Time Stats and Leaders from NHL

 

[Loseipeg]

Scott stevens was just incredibly dirty

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Jagrs legs are the size of most of these guys torsos.

In the 90's when Jagr had the puck, you either had to wait until he scored, or the goalie made a save to get the puck back.

 

[Habsrule]

Little off topic but quick story.

I was once talking to an older gentleman who was the Sabres equipment manager in the 70’s. He said that all Gilbert Perreault did was work out his legs. His words were that they were like telephone poles. Perreault would get his skates sharpened once at the start of the year and that was it. His skates would lose their edge and when players would go to hit him he would just slide sideways and never fall over because he never would lose his edge.

 

[Killion]

Little off topic but quick story.

I was once talking to an older gentleman who was the Sabres equipment manager in the 70’s. He said that all Gilbert Perreault did was work out his legs. His words were that they were like telephone poles. Perreault would get his skates sharpened once at the start of the year and that was it. His skates would lose their edge and when players would go to hit him he would just slide sideways and never fall over because he never would lose his edge.

Thats interesting..... but not sure I'm buying..... once a year he got his skates sharpened?.... and he was pulling off what he did on dull blades?.... not saying its totally BS but it does sound improbable.... Perrault had that super wide bow legged stride, one of the greatest stickhandlers & playmakers of All Time, built like a tank from the waist down so sure, its possible, but..... surely he must have at least done some hand sharpening if not full machine uh?... or maybe he was a machine, early proto-type of the Six Million Dollar Man meets the Transformer's.....

The 2 long term Trainers the Sabres had consisted of Frank Christie who had originally joined the old Buffalo Bisons in 1946 & Rip Simonick who also started with the Bisons in 1964. Both hired by Imlach in 1970, Christie Retiring in 83, Simonick just recently, a few years ago I believe after 46yrs (quite young when he started). So sounds like maybe the old timer you talked to was Frank Christie?.... Ring any bells?.... How Perrault could edge like that, kick it into 6th gear on dull blades.... dunno Man.... according to Larry Robinson, Perraults stance was like 15' wide so... ok... I guess....

Rip (nickname, after Rip Van Winkle, old Buffalo Boy from Ward 1) Simonick is also full of crazy tales, stories, as he was also a sort of general "gofer" for the players.... like going for a couple of packs of smokes & about 16 cups of coffee hours before the game whenever Montreal was in town or Buffalo in Montreal, supplying the coffee & cigarettes to Guy Lafluer & Gil Perrault who liked to have a get together & gabfest, getting high on nicotine & caffeine before going out & blowing the doors off of each others teammates.... in fact, the entire Sabres team back then, had their own personalized ash trays with their numbers on them in blue & gold, professionally manufactured.... True. Rip wouldnt lie.

 

[Eisen]

I watched Lindros in junior and he was and is without any comparison the absolutely most dominating junior player I've ever seen. So, mindful that he actually was as intimidating a physical specimen as he was at 18 playing against men, he was exponentially so against teenagers in the OHL.

I think given how anomalous Lindros was physically and how exceptionally skilled he was, he needed a model or mentor at the point of transition from the OHL to the NHL in order to reset his mind to the possible dangers of believing he could likewise continue to impose his will in a hockey rink. And I don't think short of Mario Lemieux or Mark Messier being with the then kid Lindros entering his 20s on a weekly basis, that he was ever going to learn that lesson in theory. I think he knew he was an exceptional player and I suspect only an exceptional player could have reigned him in, if there was ever a chance to do so.

But I think the fix was in from junior. When you look like an NHL superstar and play like the toughest skilled NHL superstar in junior without the slightest material challenge to your "reign"...and then that teenage brain confirms said potential greatness against the absolute best in the world...he really didn't have a reason not to think he couldn't impose his will because it's all he ever knew. And what he knew kept bringing him to one peak of success after another...

...until he climbed Mt. Stevens.

But yeah...Other-wordly junior hockey player was Eric Lindros.

I wholeheartedly agree, but it was Mount Kasparaitis.

 

[Howie Hodge]

The 2 long term Trainers the Sabres had consisted of Frank Christie who had originally joined the old Buffalo Bisons in 1946 & Rip Simonick who also started with the Bisons in 1964. Both hired by Imlach in 1970, Christie Retiring in 83, Simonick just recently, a few years ago I believe after 46yrs (quite young when he started). So sounds like maybe the old timer you talked to was Frank Christie?.... Ring any bells?.... How Perrault could edge like that, kick it into 6th gear on dull blades.... dunno Man.... according to Larry Robinson, Perraults stance was like 15' wide so... ok... I guess....

The Ripper is still on the job! Works alongside Dave Williams as the Sabres Equipment managers these day!

 

[Reindl87]

Are we talking about that Lindros that couldn't skate without looking at the ice/puck?

 

[GMR]

Rod "The Beak" Brind'Amour was always pretty jacked and looked like he ate a lot of beef

Raitis Ivanans also wolfed down some steers but of course neither of them came close to Lindros' skill set.

Surprisingly, Mike Richter was pretty jacked back in the day. Not many people realize how in shape you have to be to be a professional at any sport (-Darts, Baseball and the other pretend sports).

Incidentally, his wife seemed to prefer Eric Lindros. Brind'Amour may be the greatest example of a male butterface.

 

[VanIslander]

When I see pictures of prime Eric Lindros it amazes me how great of a skater he was and his speed for how big he was. There is very few NHL players I can think of that look more like football players than hockey players and Eric Lindros is definitely the most skilled out of them. It would be insane to see how more athletic he would be coming up today with the improved training and equipment...

Some thought back then that he and Scott Stevens in the '90's were built VERY DIFFERENTLY than Bobby Hull or Gordie Howe.

One of these is a WWE star who admitted to doing steroids. The other is a hockey player who of course did not admit to doing so:

Scott Stevens won his first Stanley cup after his 12th season of play, transforming himself from an offensive defenseman into a big-hit defensive defenseman. The latter half of his career is incredible, and all hats off to him to doing it. Herald him for not trying steroids!

I am a huge Caps fan. I'm glad my boys get credit for doing things the right way, despite the company they might keep.

 

[VanIslander]

Mind boggling whenever I see this pick. How freaking big are his arms?

This all before protein, creatine, HGH etc.. too. Did he do this on Whiskey and Sirloin Steaks?

Before NHL millionaires, players had jobs in the off season, and Howe was a construction worker, carrying heavy slabs, and his coworkers are on record being impressed by the weights he hefted alongside the greatest full-time workers on the sites.

If God let you have your pick for an all-time great bench-clearing brawl, and you could have all the Broadstreet Bullies and every modern player thereafter and just give me the so-called Original-Six toughest (yes, Gordie would be among them) and the best of the early NHL and - please - PRE-NHL era, as there are epic fights, scraps and viciousness back then that would make a Milan Lucic run for mommy, then... well, watch out!

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

There are probably 100 players with more skill than Lindros had. What made him stand out was the fact that he was huge and could still skate, pass and do a lot of stuff only smaller more agile players could.

lindros was a phenomenally skilled player. for all the talk of him skating with his head down, his offensive vision and understanding of the ice and playmaking skills were as good as anyone of his generation after jagr.

I think given how anomalous Lindros was physically and how exceptionally skilled he was, he needed a model or mentor at the point of transition from the OHL to the NHL in order to reset his mind to the possible dangers of believing he could likewise continue to impose his will in a hockey rink. And I don't think short of Mario Lemieux or Mark Messier being with the then kid Lindros entering his 20s on a weekly basis, that he was ever going to learn that lesson in theory. I think he knew he was an exceptional player and I suspect only an exceptional player could have reigned him in, if there was ever a chance to do so.

lindros is such a weird case. he was such an unlikeable jerk when he was young, and just came off in the media like your worst stereotype of an entitled spoiled star athlete. but now post-career, you see him on tv or hear him talk and he's such a thoughtful, humble guy.

we might have lost a lot of great hockey to lindros thinking he was invincible and his poop didn't stink, but from what i can see he is probably a much better man for it.

but philly did try to get him some guidance. his first coach, bill dineen, hooked rookie lindros up with the best mentor he could imagine, his own son. lindros lived with kevin dineen's family, roomed with him on the road, and watched him captain the team until lindros was ready to take over.

Most jacked? Who knows. Tons of these guys are ripped to shreds. How does one quantity "Most?"

how do bodybuilding contests quantify it? the eye test, of course.

 

[ITM]

but philly did try to get him some guidance. his first coach, bill dineen, hooked rookie lindros up with the best mentor he could imagine, his own son. lindros lived with kevin dineen's family, roomed with him on the road, and watched him captain the team until lindros was ready to take over.

Oh I understand that within the typical protocol of having younger players housed with veterans to bring them along as smoothly as possible from life as a teenager in major junior to the transition to the NHL and eventually (hopefully) towards adulthood is provided across the NHL. No doubt.

Speculative as it is, what I mean in the exceptional sense for Lindros is excellence recognizing and needing excellence. I think Lindros' experience and mindset was so staunchly entrenched (given his experience in the O) that in order for him to have had real material change to his thinking, he needed that rarest of mentors who had A) Accomplished in part what he wanted to accomplish and B) Enough authority and on ice skill in order for Lindros to have no doubt that the advice and direction he was receiving wasn't something he could (metaphorically) bulldoze over.

Like it's one thing to have Kevin Dineen telling Eric Lindros while he's passing the green beans say, "Kid, big and strong as you are, you're going to get smoked one of these days if you don't change it up a bit...". It's another if you've got Mark Messier on a weekly or monthly basis reminding you while you're both stopped at a drill in practice, "Eric, you know you need to skate with your head up a little more, right?".

 

[Double]

Most NHL players are jacked, especially in this day & age. It's not always apparent through their equipment, but when you see those guys walking around in street clothes it's pretty obvious that they're built quite differently than most all of us. Keep in mind, this is the top 1% of the top 1% of hockey players walking the earth that we're talking about here. They're not normal. Far from it, in fact.

 

[El Cohiba]

People dont realise how good Lindros actually was.

From 1992 to 2001, Lindros only had Mario and Jagr ahead of him in PPG.

Lindros had better PPG during this timeframe than players such as Sakic, Fleury, Forsberg, Sundin, Kariya, Messier, Bure, Selenne, Gretzky, Fedorov, Modano, Yzerman etc.

And Lindros brought a overall game outside of his points, Lindros was huge, strong, physical, tough, fighter, crashed the net, fast, mean, great at draws, good defensivly, awesome passer, really good shot, great technical skills. Nobody had so many strenghts as Lindros.

Eliteprospects.com - All-Time Stats and Leaders from NHL

This X1000. Terrific post!

I've never understood the Lindros hate (aside from Quebec of course)--I can only speculate that these people are alluding to the twice (maybe more) concussed, neutered version we saw in New York, Toronto and Dallas where he was a perimeter player. In his prime, he was seriously the ultimate "create a player" in a video game.

For those of you 90's folks who played NHL Breakaway on Nintendo 64, there was a cheat code that allowed you to create the ultimate player (green jello I think it was). It was skilled and huge. Lindros was the literal version of this. He was an absolute bull in a parade.

 

[Whaleafs]

Lindros’ size and strength ended up being a double edged sword. Grew up his whole life towering over and physically dominating everyone else, so he never had to learn to skate with his head up. Once he got to the NHL playing against men it was inevitable something would happen eventually. It’s a shame because that really was his only weakness and hurt what would have been a way more impressive career.