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Fans release wrath on the Ranger who has forced three trades.
By BRANT JAMES
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 20, 2001
TAMPA -- In nearly every arena, in every city, the boos come. Wafting from the rafters, from the crank in the 300 level, from the angry, inebriated man from the suburbs.
It's an involuntary reaction. See Eric Lindros. Boo Eric Lindros.
The talented, tempestuous, 28-year-old phenom-turned-pariah has given seemingly everybody reasons to boo, during a nine-year roller-coaster ride that has taken the MVP center from Quebec to Philadelphia, to career limbo, and now to the New York Rangers.
Maybe it was because he and his parents, derisively referred to as "Toronto" -- their hometown -- by his old boss, Flyers general manager Bob Clarke, have made a habit of dictating terms to his teams, from junior hockey's Sault Ste. Marie to the since relocated Nordiques, to Philadelphia.
Maybe it's because fans believe Clarke's assertions that some of the six concussions that cost Lindros 56 regular-season and 22 playoff games with the Flyers were self-diagnosed headaches designed to create leverage, to manipulate the organization.
Or there's that spoiled athlete thing. His family forced trades from three of the first four clubs for whom he played, including when father/agent Carl had him sit out what would have been his rookie season with Quebec, angry the franchise made him the top pick in the draft. Lindros also presented Clarke a list of suitable new teams after he rejected an $8.5-million qualifying offer from Philadelphia last year, and sat out a season while demanding a trade.
Despite the off-ice drama, Lightning assistant coach Craig Ramsay expects to see a solid Lindros tonight when the Rangers visit the Ice Palace for a 7:30 game. Lindros had two goals and two assists through Thursday. "There was a lot of notoriety with the way Eric came into the league," said Ramsay, who was the Flyers coach for Lindros' last three months in Philadelphia. "He works hard, he hits hard and plays aggressive, and when he's a visiting team member, everyone catches on. And it's always fun for the fans to go after the big guy on the other team, and he is the big guy."
As big as his personality conflict with Clarke. And his medical report.
That includes April1, 1999, in Nashville, when Lindros punctured his lung and was found gasping for air in the bathtub of his hotel room. (Lindros' mother, Bonnie, later said trainer John Worley had "tried to kill him" by putting him aboard the team plane.)
That includes six concussions over 27 months, the injury that ended brother Brett's career, and threw Eric's career in doubt after 290 goals and 369 assists in 486 games over eight seasons in Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia situation imploded after his sixth concussion -- incurred May27, 2000, in Game7 of the Eastern Conference final against New Jersey -- when Lindros skated, head down, through the neutral zone and was knocked out on a clean hit by Scott Stevens.
After a steady ramping up of tensions, Clarke switched from talking about the possible end to Lindros' career and moved to his character.
"I see Eric Desjardins get his teeth knocked out. I didn't hear from his mom and dad. John LeClair gets his face torn up with 40 stitches, and we don't hear from his mom and dad. I'm just so tired of our organization getting beat up so badly by all the accusations the family makes. I don't dislike Eric. I pity him. What's it like to be 27 years old and have your mom and dad running your life?"
But some people think Clarke did dislike Lindros for not being the type of old-school player Clarke had been when he was Lindros' boyhood idol. Lindros, who in addition to having his father as an agent also values time with his mother instead of spending it with teammates, apparently does not jibe with Clarke's image of the consummate Flyer.
"It was a very difficult situation that started long before I got there," Ramsay said. "I wasn't privy to a lot of it.
"But I really think Eric wanted to win and Bob wanted to win, and they just did not really get together on how it would get done."
Clarke had made it patently clear he was willing to let Lindros simmer for another three years -- until he became an unrestricted free agent -- before the New York Rangers, scrambling after a deal for the Penguins' Jaromir Jagr fell through, coughed up two starters and prospect Pavel Brendl to bring Lindros to New York.
Rangers GM Glen Sather hedged his bets by reportedly lacing Lindros' four-year $38-million contract with incentives for games played. Philadelphia also will send a 2003 first-round pick to New York if Lindros is sidelined with a head injury in the first 50 games and does not return for 12 months.
After receiving his medical clearance to play again in November, then sitting out another full season, Lindros had gotten what he wanted, and players such as the Lightning's Vinny Lecavalier appreciate his resolve.
"You go where you're wanted," Lecavalier said. "Of course, for him, I think it's great. I guess I understand the public for disagreeing with him, but he had to do whatever he felt was best for him."
Lecavalier walked a half-step in Lindros' path this fall, when he held out of training camp for nearly four weeks before signing a four-year deal. He said Lindros' choice to take a year off could not have been an easy one.
"I did not come to camp and it really hurt," he said. "I couldn't imagine a year. For sure he wanted to play, but he believed in something and he stuck to it."