Why haven't we seen another Eric Lindros?

[Toby91ca]

LMFAO AHAHAHAHAHAHAH

HAHAHAHAHA AH AHHAHAHAHA AHHAAH (Oh god let me catch my breath) HAGHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAH


Dude ALWAYS skated with his head down


That Stevens hit was the 4th concussion THAT YEAR from skating with his head down.
Dude spends the entire game staring at his laces and skating into open ice:

Generational My ass. Generational at getting knocked the f*** out maybe.
Kasperitis


Gill


Pilon


Doig


Lindros injures himself:


Jovonovski:




And It's not like that Scott Stevens hit came out of nowhere. They had a LOT of history and bad blood between them. A LOT of history.

Here's the headbutt that predated Lindros getting demolished:


If you do that to GREATEST hitter in NHL history with a reputation for absolutely demolishing players cutting across the middle, Lindros needed to be aware Stevens was hunting him.


No.. This dumb as bricks player who stared at his skates is not anything close to being a "generational" player. I don;t know where he got this reputation as some unstoppable force, or better than today's players, but no. He was not as good as anyone here seems to recall.

I watched a few of those clips, the Pilon hip check on Lindros was pathetic. I think the last time Lindros was near the puck was before it even got to the red line and he was hit at or inside the blue line trying to get by him to chase the puck that was down near the hash marks at that point.

There was a comment in one of the videos that was strange too.....mentions that Lindros, when he criticized the doctors was only thinking of himself and not the team....huh?

 

[Craig Ludwig]

I rmemeber him not being dominant enough to ever win it all. To get his ass kicked by multiple nhl'ers, and not staying loyal to his team not once, not twice, but at least three times. This guy was a jackass and never belongs in the HHOF.

Boring response, he never won it all.... Iginla never won it all, neither did Joe Thornton or Marcel Dionne, just off the top of my head.

Lindros literally carried the Flyers to the Stanley Cup finals and made stars out of his two linemates Renberg and Leclair (and I loved Leclair as a Habs fan).

Keep hating if it makes you feel better...

 

[Channelcat]

PLD could be Lindros if he cared about hockey. Adam Lowry could Lindros if he had hands.

 

[Nicko999]

PLD could be Lindros if he cared about hockey. Adam Lowry could Lindros if he had hands.

I could have been Lindros if I was taller, 50 lbs heavier and actually knew how to skate.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Edit: Also fastest to 500 points after Gretzky, Lemieux, Stastny and Bossy. Faster than Crosby, McDavid and Ovi. Nothing to scoff at and paints a different picture than just points finishes.

This only tells us that pre-Dead Puck players scored more points than post-Dead Puck players. Stastny and Bossy ranking ahead of Crosby and McDavid should have been a dead giveaway.

 

[gretzkyoilers]

You clearly never saw Lindros play if you make a post like this

Lindros is probably the most physically imposing skilled player the league has ever seen, he could pass, shoot, hit and had a solid two way game, at 19 when he entered the league he was already arguably a top 10 center. He didn't go around players he went through them, and yes I would openly say Lindros had the potential to be a generational talent, and he was very much boarder line for a few years. If Lindros played today he would dominate this league of smaller skilled players.

Question is: if Lindros played a less "power-forward" and physical game, would he be up there with Jagr point wise? Mario was a huge skilled player, and like Jagr (Mario Jr) both used their size and strength for puck protection and breaking through defense versus fighting and hitting.

So if Lindros played like Mario and Jagr, would he be as effective? This is sort of like Cam Neely where Cam admitted that once he could not hit like he used to his game declined. Post concussion Lindros was a shell of his former self and only a PPG player in his first year as a Ranger then a steep drop after that. Not Eric's fault as much of the game is mental and once Eric had fear of crossing the blue line that was it for him.

 

[PaulD]

Curious question, we've had a ton of brilliant players come through the ranks since his last game, but nobody has ever come close to the physical dominance and skillset that Lindros had. Why haven't we seen someone like him since? Are players like him that rare? Should he be considered more of a generational player or even one of the best ever considering how rare it is to see a player like him?

haven't seen one like him before he arrived or since he left
Howe and Neely probably the closest

 

[S E P H]

WHAT the f***, Lindros was without a doubt considered one of t he best centers of the 90s, he was a top 5 player of that decade, please stop this revisionist bullshit, he literally turned Philly a contender the moment he stepped onto the Ice, he carried a flyers team to the finals.

The 90s had better star players overall than today's game. What has drastically improved today in the modern NHL is the quality of depth, which has greatly increased a thousandfold. You have now better 2nd liners, better #3-4 defencemen, and better back up goalers.

 

[daver]

You clearly never saw Lindros play if you make a post like this

Lindros is probably the most physically imposing skilled player the league has ever seen, he could pass, shoot, hit and had a solid two way game, at 19 when he entered the league he was already arguably a top 10 center. He didn't go around players he went through them, and yes I would openly say Lindros had the potential to be a generational talent, and he was very much boarder line for a few years. If Lindros played today he would dominate this league of smaller skilled players.

Lindros' offense was reliant on his physicality to a certain extent. Once that physicality was taken away, he wasn't as nearly effective offensively.

I have no idea what he would do in the current league. Seems like his physicality edge would be diminished somewhat.

 

[tarheelhockey]

There was a comment in one of the videos that was strange too.....mentions that Lindros, when he criticized the doctors was only thinking of himself and not the team....huh?

That clip shows Olbermann reading a quote from Bobby Clarke, who was the Flyers’ GM during the Lindros era. Clarke and Lindros had an incredibly bitter and public feud. The clip is taken from when Clarke had Lindros stripped of the C in 2000, and the comment about the doctors had to do with Flyers doctors repeatedly clearing Lindros to play despite major injuries. Back in 1999, they failed to catch that Lindros had a punctured lung that could easily have killed him. Leading up to this clip, they failed to diagnose him with a concussion leading into the playoffs. There was also a bunch of backstory about Lindros making his own dad his agent, and having a long-running standoff with Clarke over money, and even before that a lot of resentment seemed to simmer from the 1997 Finals where Lindros supposedly helped push out their coach after they melted down during the Finals.

If you asked Clarke, this all came down to Lindros thinking he was bigger than the team, and not having the kind of win-at-all-costs attitiude that Clarke showed as a player. And maybe that was true to an extent, as Lindros had always been the guy to kind of pick and choose the circumstances under which he was willing to play. But in the long run, it was pretty well documented that Clarke was really an absolute POS of a human and that Lindros was suffering through life-altering physical abuse over a period of years, just to be told he wasn’t sacrificing enough. Clarke was the common factor between this and some other really egregious cases of old-school employee abuse, most notably the treatment of Roger Neilson leading up to his death.

That Pilon clip also provides a good example of the absolute trash that NHL stars dealt with in the 1995-2005 era, being blatantly headhunted by low-rent scrubs. A big part of why the league lost so much popularity by the early 2000s.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

If you didn't watch the game back then - it's hard to imagine just how different is was to today's game. Lindros was the prototypical player that every GM wanted. People make fun of a lot of the draft busts from back then - but in many cases the drafting strategy was driven by the NHL game of the time.
Lindros was a huge beast of a player who could dominate offensively and play through both the ridiculous level of obstruction and physical play. Lindros could play through so much obstruction that smaller players couldn't.

 

[Sticktape]

Someone tell me how far Byfuglien was from a Lindros.

 

[Grifter3511]

Someone tell me how far Byfuglien was from a Lindros.

Night and day?

 

[jbeck5]

brady lmao, OVI would be a much closer comparison

I agree Brady is the best comparison today. But he's not as skilled as Lindros.

Lindros was a top 10 player who could go toe to toe with the heavies of his era physically.

Brady is a top 50 or so player who who could go toe to toe with the heavies of his era physically.

The difference is Brady's era is much less physical.

But pretty sure Brady is the only guy who is a bonafide first line talent while also being able to hit and fight with the biggest of the game right now.

 

[Craig Ludwig]

Chara is sort of a good comparable to some degree in their fights and physicality. But Chara has insane balance and positioning and not nearly as much speed (but he made up for it with range).

But Lindros was more like a worse version of Ovechkin (during his early 'Bull in Chinashop' years).
Ovechkin had WAY more skill and speed. OV had a bit less nastiness, but he still often lead the league in hits, and could keep his head up. Like Lindros would get caught in emotion, and attempts to bully and intimidate, whereas OV was like a goddamn Terminator who didn't care what you thought or felt, he would go through you.

Lindros = baseball bat
OV = heat-seeking missile.

Lindros doesn't have anything close to the hardware collection that OV has, because he really wasn't close to being as good, and he loved staring at his laces going into open ice.

Compare highlight videos of Early OV and Lindros. They're not even close, OV was a dynamic wizard with an insane mix of size skill physicality and speed.



OV is Clearly a few tiers above Lindros, and OV's inclusion as a 'generational talent' is debated. Lindros wasn't anywhere close to OV, let alone being "generational".


OV has the scoring titles, the insane number of Rockets, the Cup, and he's chasing 99's goal record. He played a smarter (better) version of Lindros' game.


And look at the types of hits OV makes:
His head is up, and he CLEARLY see's the play develop, and then is opportunistic with laying them out. Lindros never applied any kind of hockey sense with his hits. He just hit whoever was in front of him.

If OV could headhunt, he would have ended as many careers as Stevens.

Great post. I think Lindros had about 2 years of looking like Ovechkin, his 3rd (Hart Trophy) and 4th Year (47 Goals). But that was about it, whereas Ovi did it for a good 15 years. People mocking Lindros simply never saw those 2 years. And to think that there's tons on these boards that also say Ovi was just a one shot/move wonder, I just don't get it. I hope, but doubt, we'll ever see another Ovi.

 

[Kegs]

LMFAO AHAHAHAHAHAHAH

HAHAHAHAHA AH AHHAHAHAHA AHHAAH (Oh god let me catch my breath) HAGHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAH


Dude ALWAYS skated with his head down


That Stevens hit was the 4th concussion THAT YEAR from skating with his head down.
Dude spends the entire game staring at his laces and skating into open ice:

Generational My ass. Generational at getting knocked the f*** out maybe.
Kasperitis


Gill


Pilon


Doig


Lindros injures himself:


Jovonovski:




And It's not like that Scott Stevens hit came out of nowhere. They had a LOT of history and bad blood between them. A LOT of history.

Here's the headbutt that predated Lindros getting demolished:


If you do that to GREATEST hitter in NHL history with a reputation for absolutely demolishing players cutting across the middle, Lindros needed to be aware Stevens was hunting him.


No.. This dumb as bricks player who stared at his skates is not anything close to being a "generational" player. I don;t know where he got this reputation as some unstoppable force, or better than today's players, but no. He was not as good as anyone here seems to recall.

Now show all the highlights of him crushing ppl and scoring goals. He was an absolute animal. One of the best power forwards in my life.

 

[Kegs]

Someone tell me how far Byfuglien was from a Lindros.

Hard to say. Both great at crushing ppl. Lindros had more raw talent. Byfuglien didn’t skate with his head down. They both crushed ppl. Byfuglien is way better at fishing and played defence. Lets give it to my guy Byfuglien

 

[tarheelhockey]

Someone tell me how far Byfuglien was from a Lindros.

Byfuglien was a different body type. Only a little taller but a lot lighter, except when he ballooned for a while. Whereas Lindros had more of an NHL linebacker type of physique, stout and very muscular while also being 6’4”. Even if you just look at their faces — Byfuglien had a relatively slender bone structure accented by some pudge, while Lindros could have been the model for the Brawny paper towel guy.

In practical terms, that translates to Lindros being a lot stronger and a lot faster. Had better hands as well, and he was just an altogether nastier customer than Byfuglien. He was in the Tom Wilson, Scott Stevens class of guys who didn’t think twice about targeting a guy with intent to take him out of the game. He took a lot of abuse because he was flat-out stronger and meaner than anyone else on the ice, and the only way to stop him was to hurt him.

Understandable comparison as there are some similarities in size and style, but Lindros was sort of like the full realization of the potential for that type of player.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

Someone tell me how far Byfuglien was from a Lindros.

Buff was Half the skater and half the skill, and not as consistently mean. Buff did have that ability to dominate physically that EL did where the other player looked completely overmatched.

 

[SirKillalot]

Lindros was a unicorn, plain and simple. A fantasy player you only get to build in video games. He just lacked certain fundamentals and a proper sense of taking care of his body. He probably felt invincible because of his frame and stature and that did him in. He is the NHL's Titanic story. Deemed unsinkable but before his career was well underway it was already sinking.

Edit: Also fastest to 500 points after Gretzky, Lemieux, Stastny and Bossy. Faster than Crosby, McDavid and Ovi. Nothing to scoff at and paints a different picture than just points finishes.

Lindros is more like Mike Tyson was. Came in, dominated in the level and then ran into a couple of walls he didn't see coming.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

The thing about Lindros is that he may not have been able to play his game with today’s rules and officiating. He would’ve been getting calls and suspensions from the DOPS every 5 seconds.

When using Ovi as a comparison point, even he was getting regularly in trouble with the DOPS around 2009-10, and that was nothing compared to how Lindros played.

 

[authentic]

Byfuglien was a different body type. Only a little taller but a lot lighter, except when he ballooned for a while. Whereas Lindros had more of an NHL linebacker type of physique, stout and very muscular while also being 6’4”. Even if you just look at their faces — Byfuglien had a relatively slender bone structure accented by some pudge, while Lindros could have been the model for the Brawny paper towel guy.

In practical terms, that translates to Lindros being a lot stronger and a lot faster. Had better hands as well, and he was just an altogether nastier customer than Byfuglien. He was in the Tom Wilson, Scott Stevens class of guys who didn’t think twice about targeting a guy with intent to take him out of the game. He took a lot of abuse because he was flat-out stronger and meaner than anyone else on the ice, and the only way to stop him was to hurt him.

Understandable comparison as there are some similarities in size and style, but Lindros was sort of like the full realization of the potential for that type of player.

I always wonder, if the Lindros that we saw was able to play full seasons regularly at the level he played at, how good was that player really? Better than Crosby? As good As McDavid? I believe he would've been somewhere in that stratosphere.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I always wonder, if the Lindros that we saw was able to play full seasons regularly at the level he played at, how good was that player really? Better than Crosby? As good As McDavid? I believe he would've been somewhere in that stratosphere.

It’s hard because injuries impacted Crosby too… we’d think differently of him if he’d always been that 2007 version of himself.

With that caveat, I think peak uninjured Lindros was roughly a Crosby level player. Just a hair below the level of a Howe, who is the closer comparable stylistically, but Lindros didn’t quite show that level of offensive consistency. And of course Lindros was never going to win a scoring title at 34. But yeah, sort of a Gordie Jr.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

Never watched Lindros play, but is Malkin the closest thing today?

Malkin is too lanky to be physically intimidating. Lindros was more like a Tom Wilson with Malkin skill. Scary player for sure.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

The thing about Lindros is that he may not have been able to play his game with today’s rules and officiating. He would’ve been getting calls and suspensions from the DOPS every 5 seconds.

Ding ding ding!!!

A Lindros 2.0 would have everyone here making threads crying about “how he’d need to be suspended” after every game.

Fact is, the game and it’s fans nowadays are toilet paper soft.