Eric Lindros

**Eric Lindros** (born Eric Bryan Lindros on February 28, 1973 in London, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player.

He played junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for the Oshawa Generals prior to being chosen first overall in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft by the Quebec Nordiques. He refused to play for the Nordiques and was eventually traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in June 1992 in exchange for a package of players and draft picks including Peter Forsberg.

## Playing Career

As a youth, Eric played in the 1985 and 1987 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with the Toronto Marlboros and Toronto Young Nationals minor ice hockey teams, respectively.

### Junior playing career (1989–1992)

As a teenage power forward playing minor hockey, Eric became nationally famous both for his scoring feats and his ability to physically dominate players older than himself. He attended Monarch Park and later North Toronto Collegiate in Toronto.

Both Eric and his younger brother Brett (Eric in the 1988–89 season) played for the Metro Junior "B" St. Michael's Buzzers before moving up to the OHL. His play made him the most highly valued amateur player in North America and he was often nicknamed "The Next One", a reference to Wayne Gretzky's moniker "The Great One."

Throughout his career, Eric has been tagged with various other nicknames, including "The Big E." The hype around him during his early career led to an exclusive deal with sports card manufacturer Score.

Attempting to leverage this arrangement as much as possible, Eric was even featured on a baseball card showing him as a third baseman for the Toronto Blue Jays, although the closest he came to a professional baseball career was taking batting practice one day with the Blue Jays.

He refused to sign with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds after being drafted from St. Michael's. Greyhounds owner Phil Esposito had drafted him anyway, enabling Esposito to sell his share in the team at a higher price.

Eric was traded to the Oshawa Generals instead, and when they played the Greyhounds, some Greyhound players wore black armbands in protest of his refusal to play for their team.

Eric played parts of three seasons for the Generals from 1990 to 1992. During that time, he scored 180 goals, 200 assists, 380 points and had 437 penalty minutes in 157 games played. He helped lead the Generals to the 1990 J. Ross Robertson Cup, and a 1990 Memorial Cup victory.

During the 1990–91 season, Eric won the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy as top scorer, the Red Tilson Trophy as MVP, the CHL Player of the Year award and the CHL Top Draft Prospect Award. The Generals returned to the Robertson Cup finals, facing Sault Ste. Marie.

The series was one of the more dramatic in OHL history given Eric's attitude toward the team, with fans from the Soo loudly jeering him every time he touched the puck. The Greyhounds upset the heavily favoured defending champions in a six-game series, winning the last game on home ice.

On March 6, 2008, the Generals retired Eric's jersey number 88, making it the second number to be retired by the franchise, and it was declared Eric Lindros Day in Oshawa.

### 1991 NHL Entry Draft

Eric was selected first overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. He had signaled in advance that he would never play for the Nordiques, citing the ownership. Despite this, the team selected him anyway.

Nordiques owner Marcel Aubut publicly announced that they would make Eric the centrepiece of their franchise turnaround and refused to trade him, saying that the only way he would play in the NHL would be in a Nordiques uniform.

While he awaited a trade, Eric spent the time playing with the Generals and also participated in the 1992 Winter Olympics, winning a silver medal with Canada.

At the 1992 NHL Entry Draft, the Nordiques worked out trades involving Eric with both the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers.

The Flyers trade had the Nordiques receiving Steve Duchesne, Ron Hextall, Kerry Huffman, Mike Ricci, the rights to Peter Forsberg, the Flyers' first-round pick in 1992 (seventh overall) and 1993 and $15 million.

The trade with the Rangers had the Nordiques receiving Tony Amonte, Alexei Kovalev, John Vanbiesbrouck, Doug Weight, three first-round picks (in 1993, 1994 and 1996) and $12 million; additionally, if Vanbiesbrouck was declared an unrestricted free agent, James Patrick would have replaced him in the deal.

The Flyers (believing they had consummated their deal with the Nordiques first) filed a complaint and the NHL announced an independent arbitrator would be appointed.

On June 30, 1992 (11 days after the draft), arbitrator Larry Bertuzzi ruled in favour of the Flyers. Bertuzzi determined that the Flyers and Nordiques had agreed to a trade 80 minutes before the Rangers and Nordiques had reached their agreement.

Since the Flyers used the 1992 pick to select Ryan Sittler and Quebec had no interest in Sittler, the Flyers and Nordiques had to agree on a substitution for the pick. On July 21, 1992, Bertuzzi ruled that Chris Simon and the Flyers' 1994 first-round pick would be added to the trade.

After Lindros officially became property of the Flyers, he stated that he had been wary of playing for the Nordiques primarily because of what he called a "lack of winning spirit" in the organization. At the time they picked him, the Nordiques had finished dead last in the league for three years in a row.

However, in 2016, Eric told ESPN that his objection to playing in Quebec was based "solely" on Aubut. While he didn't elaborate, he said, "I was not going to play for that individual--period."

### Philadelphia Flyers

With his imposing physical strength and playmaking ability, Eric established himself as the top player on a Flyers team that had perennially been in contention but always fell short.

His time in Philadelphia would see him score points (for much of his first five seasons in the NHL, he hovered around fourth all-time in points per game) and become one of the most feared and dominating players in the NHL.

In September 1994, Eric succeeded Kevin Dineen as Flyers captain. Along with John LeClair and Mikael Renberg, he played on the dreaded "Legion of Doom" line.

He scored over 40 goals in each of his first two seasons and won the Hart Memorial Trophy as MVP in the lockout-shortened season of 1995 after scoring 29 goals and 41 assists in 46 games and leading the Flyers to their first playoff appearance in six years.

Eric led the Flyers to the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals, handily defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres and the New York Rangers in five games apiece. In the Finals, however, the Flyers were swept in four games by the Detroit Red Wings; his only goal came with 14 seconds left in the third period of Game 4.

Detroit Head Coach Scotty Bowman used the finesse-oriented defence pairing of Nicklas Lidstrom and Larry Murphy against Lindros' Legion of Doom line instead of sending out (as everyone, including the Flyers) expected Vladimir Konstantinov to engage in a physical confrontation.

In 1998, Eric (at just 25 years of age) was ranked number 54th on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players of all time. The only player of comparable age was 37th-ranked Jaromír Jagr, who was 26 at the time.

Eric's relationship with Flyers General Manager Bobby Clarke soon deteriorated. He and Clarke feuded in the media, with Clarke questioning his toughness; he spent many games on the injured reserve and suffered a series of concussions, the first in 1998 from a hit delivered by Pittsburgh's Darius Kasparaitis that sidelined him for 18 games. He would suffer a second concussion in January 1999 that sidelined him for two games.

During an April 1, 1999 game against the Nashville Predators, Eric suffered what was diagnosed as a rib injury. Later that night, Keith Jones (the teammate he was sharing a hotel room) discovered Eric lying in a tub, pale and cold.

In a call to the Flyers, the trainer was told to put Eric on a plane that was returning to Philadelphia with injured teammate Mark Recchi, but Jones insisted that Eric should be taken to a nearby hospital and it was discovered that Eric had a collapsed lung caused by internal bleeding of his chest wall.

Eric's father wrote the Flyers a letter in which he stated that if the trainer had followed team orders, Eric would be dead, a statement supported by the doctors who treated him in Nashville.

The 1999–2000 season would be Eric's last as a Flyer. Having suffered his second concussion of the season (fourth overall) in March, he criticized the team's trainers for failing to diagnose a concussion as he played with symptoms following a hit he suffered in a game against the Boston Bruins two weeks prior. Clarke then stripped him of the captaincy for his actions.

Eric sat out the remainder of the regular season and suffered another concussion while rehabilitating for a return to the lineup. He ultimately returned for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the New Jersey Devils; he scored the lone goal in a 2–1 Flyers loss.

In Game 7 of the series, Eric was coming over the blue line with his head down when Devils defenseman Scott Stevens lowered his shoulder into Eric, knocking him unconscious and suffering yet another concussion. He was able to get off the ice with help from teammates.

The Flyers lost Game 7, 2–1 and the series despite leading three games to one and Eric became a restricted free agent during the off-season. He refused to accept a two-way qualifying offer with a minor league provision from the Flyers, who still owned his rights.

After Eric was cleared to play in December, the Flyers refused to deal his rights to the Toronto Maple Leafs as he preferred, and he sat out the entire 2000–01 season.

### New York Rangers

On August 20, 2001, Bobby Clarke eventually traded Eric to the New York Rangers on August 20, 2001, in exchange for Jan Hlavac, Kim Johnsson, Pavel Brendl and a 2003 third-round draft choice (Štefan Ružička).

The Rangers would also receive a 2003 first-round draft pick if Eric were to suffer a concussion in the pre-season or the first 50 games of the regular season, and did not return to action for at least 12 months.

In the 2001–02 season, Eric averaged a little over a point a game with 37 goals and 36 assists for 73 points in 72 games. His impressive start also led to his seventh and final All-Star selection, but due to an injury he was unable to participate and was replaced by teammate Mike York.

Even though the 2002–03 season was the first injury-free season of his career, Eric struggled to match his previous season, scoring just 53 points in 81 games.

In the 2003–04 season, his eighth concussion limited him to just 39 games, though he did collect 32 points. Again, he became an unrestricted free agent after the season.

### Toronto Maple Leafs

On August 11, 2005, after the NHL labour dispute had cancelled the 2004–05 season, Eric signed a one-year, $1.55 million contract with the Maple Leafs for the 2005–06 season.

After a steady start to his tenure with Toronto in which he recorded 22 points in 32 games, he suffered a tear of a ligament in his left wrist against the Dallas Stars on December 10, 2005.

After a 27-game absence, Eric returned to the Toronto lineup on February 28, 2006 (his 33rd birthday) against the Washington Capitals. However, his return was brief as he re-injured his wrist while taking a slapshot in a game against the Ottawa Senators on March 4, effectively ending his season.

Eric had surgery on the wrist at the Hand and Upper Limb Centre in London, Ontario, two days after the game.

### Dallas Stars/Retirement

On July 17, 2006, Eric signed a one-year contract for the 2006–07 season with Dallas. He would play in 49 regular season games collecting 26 points, and three games in the 2007 playoffs.

On November 8, 2007, he officially announced his retirement in London at the age of 34.

## Post-Playing Career

On the day of his retirement on November 8, 2007, it was announced that Lindros had donated $5 million to the London Health Sciences Centre; this donation supports programs such as the Fowler Kennedy Sport Medicine Clinic and is one of the largest personal donations by a Canadian sports figure.

On November 11, 2007, three days after his retirement, the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) appointed Eric to the newly created position of NHLPA ombudsman. he had been involved with the organization throughout his career; however, he cut ties with the NHLPA however, on February 3, 2009, resigning as ombudsman after 15 months on the job.

On May 9, 2010, Eric (along with his mother Bonnie, supermodel/actress Monika Schnarre and a few other Canadian notables) helped Habitat for Humanity Toronto by recognizing Mother's Day by building homes.

On December 31, 2011, he participated in the 2012 NHL Winter Classic Alumni Game between the New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers.

In April 2016, Eric supported Rowan's Law; this was a concussion-education legislation named in memory of a teen rugby player from Ottawa who died during a game.

The legislation was privately sponsored by Nepean-Carleton MPP Lisa MacLeod. Later, MacLeod revealed she knew of rumours relating to alleged sexual misconduct by Patrick Brown, then Ontario Progressive Conservative leader. In 2018, she acknowledged her source had been Eric.

In June 2016, Eric was announced as one of four appointees to the 2016 Hockey Hall of Fame induction class, joined by the late Pat Quinn, goaltender Rogie Vachon and Russian winger Sergei Makarov.

On January 14, 2017, he reunited with his former "Legion of Doom" linemates John LeClair and Mikael Renberg to play in the 50th Anniversary Alumni game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers.

In a 2017 interview on French Canadian television, Eric opened up about his time being drafted by the Nordiques. He later stated that he had no problem with Quebec City or the people, stating that his wife is French Canadian.

He stated that the real reason was because he did not respect Marcel Aubut and criticized on how he would never play for him. At the end of the interview, he was given the Nordiques igloo and fleur-de-lys jersey at last, 26 years after the saga began.

On January 18, 2018, the Flyers retired Eric's no. 88 jersey in a pre-game ceremony at the Wells Fargo Center.

## International Play

Eric has played for Team Canada in:

* 1990 World Junior Championships (gold medal)
* 1991 World Junior Championships (gold medal)
* 1991 Canada Cup (championship)
* 1992 World Junior Championships
* 1992 Winter Olympics (silver medal)
* 1993 World Championships
* 1996 World Cup of Hockey
* 1998 Winter Olympics
* 2002 Winter Olympics (gold medal)

## Accolades

### Professional

 NHL All-Star | 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002

### International

 Winter Olympic Games Ice Hockey All-Star Team

## Personal Life

Eric is the son of Carl Lindros (who works as a chartered accountant) and Bonnie Roszell-Lindros (who works as a registered nurse). He has a sister, Robin and a younger brother, Brett, who played hockey for the New York Islanders, but retired early in 1996 due to post-concussion syndrome.

He is of Swedish ancestry and is the third generation of the Lindros family to be born in Canada. His great-grandfather, Axel immigrated to Canada from Bredaryd, a small village in Sweden.

In 2012, Eric married Kina Lamarche, a native Quebecer and former president of the North American wing of Travelex. They have three children: Carl Pierre, and twins Sophie and Ryan. They currently reside in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.