Eric Lindros : Hall of Fame?

Like Wayne Gretzky before him and Sidney Crosby after him, Eric Lindros was biggest name coming in to the NHL. Every team wanted to land Lindros, or as most hockey fans called him " The next one". He played for the Oshawa Generals of the OHL. For 3 seasons he put up 180 goals, 200 assists for an astonishing 380 points. He also helped his team win the Memorial cup. So it was no surprise when he was selected first over-all in 1991 by the Quebec Nordiques.

He didn't stay with the Nordiques. Eric Lindros refused to play for that team early on, and in 1992 he was traded to the Fylers... for a future Hall of fame player by the name of Peter Forsberg. Ron Hextall and other big names had to leave town as well. At the time it looked like a great move, but now a days I wonder if we would have been better off with Peter Forsberg. His career was also cut short and could have been even more if he didn't suffer from injuries as well.

Lindros' first season with the Flyers was good. He put up 41 goals and 34 assists. Over the decade he would do more of the same. In the 90's there was no player like Eric Lindros. He was big, strong and fast. He would check you, fight you and put the puck in the net. He centered one of the best lines in the NHL during the 1990's. They were called " The legion of doom". He won the Hart trophy in 1995, and he would lead the Flyers to the Stanley Cup in 1997. Think back to the 90's and there were only a few players in his league. You had Sakic, Jagr, Hull, Yzerman and the great Mario Lemieux. All great stars, and all current or future Hall of fame members. There was just something about Lindros during the time in the mid- 90's that made him even more of a power house than those players. It wasn't long either, but for a year or two he was the greatest player in the NHL. His number totals never made it as high as the other players that I mentioned but one can only think that if he stayed healthy, Lindros and Jagr would have similar numbers at the end of their careers.

He did a lot for Philadelphia hockey, in terms of fan base. Him and John Leclair turned my friends and I into life long Flyers fans. He gave us something to fall in love with growing up, the sport of hockey. If he could have just stayed healthy I believe that we would have had a 3rd cup in Philadelphia.

Will he ever make it into the hockey Hall of fame? I couldn't tell you that. He was a great player who had a lot of controversy over his great career. In my opinion "Yes" I do believe that one day he will be in the HOF.He ended his career with 372 goals, 493 assists for 865 points, in just 760 games. He went on to play with New York, Toronto and Dallas, but he will always be remembered as a Flyer. I will tell you this, there will be a ton of people watching the Alumni game this winter because of " The Big E" !