“Remembering Big E”

Eric Lindros. The Big E. Back in the days when I was just getting into the “coolest game on earth,” hockey, Eric was my favorite player - an honor I’m sure he shared with every single hockey fan in Philadelphia at that time. He was the playmaker behind one of the deadliest lines in the history of hockey: the Legion of Doom. He won the Hart trophy, Lester B. Pearson Award, played in 6 All-Star games, won silver and gold Olympic medals and had the potential to be in the same boat as Wayne Gretzky. (He was once called “The Next One.”) Eric had everything you look for in a superstar player, but could not do one of the most fundamental and first things you learn when you play hockey: skate with your head up.

The Flyers had high hopes for Lindros. They traded A LOT for him. On June 30, 1992 they swapped to the Quebec Nordiques: Peter Forsberg, Steve Duchesne, Kerry Huffman, Mike Ricci, Ron Hextall, Chris Simon, Philadelphia's 1993 1st round draft choice, Philadelphia's 1994 1st round draft choice and $15,000,000...all for Eric and nothing else. This trade pretty much set up the Nordiques (who later moved to Colorado and became the Avalanche) for their future Stanley Cup victories. It’s safe to say Lindros arrived with high expectations, and he came through for the team, for the first few years.

The picture above is of me in my youth, watching the Flyers, during my brother’s birthday party. As you can see, I’m sporting a Lindros jersey. Not an official one, though. Since those damn things are so expensive, my parents bought me a plain one, and then later took it to Sixsmith’s Sporting Goods - up on Frankford Avenue - and got Eric’s name, number, and even the big “C” on the jersey. Nowadays, I actually have a real Simon Gagne jersey - which I received on my birthday. But, of course, once I get one, they get brand new designs by Reebok.

I have fond memories of the 1997 Stanley Cups finals. Hockey was a new thing in my neighborhood. Before that, it was all about football and the Eagles or baseball and the Phillies. But once the Flyers started making the playoffs, we all started to play and watch hockey. And, in 1997, the Flyers made it all the way to the Stanley Cup finals! I remember how dominant Lindros was in the playoffs, especially in their Eastern Conference Final series against the New York Rangers. How exciting! The Flyers in the Stanley Cup! Not. They got swept 4-0 by the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia was forced to deal with yet another heartbreak, only 4 years after Joe Carter destroyed everybody’s lives. Eric got us there and I had faith he would get us there again, and win. Sadly, we would only get that close again in 2004, when Keith Primeau basically put the Flyers on his back and led them to game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Flyer’s relationship with Big E came to an end in the 2000 Eastern Conference Finals. Eric was out most of the playoffs due to injury, and the series went all the way to game seven. I was excited, because I thought it was perfect timing for Eric to come back and lead the team to a Stanley Cup victory. Sadly, Eric was laid out by career concussion-giver, Scott Stevens, and he had seen his last days in a Flyers uniform. It was all over: the hopes for a Stanley Cup, with Lindros hoisting it above his head, and Eric’s career as a dominating player.

When the Flyers traded him to the Rangers, I was sad. I always hoped that he would be traded back somehow, but it was better that it didn’t happen. I never saw a hockey player perform with the same presence as he did. Whenever he leaped over the boards onto the ice, and you saw that huge number 88 stretched across his back... You knew he was out there, the second he hit the ice. He looked different than everyone else. He just seemed like a giant out there; a giant who wasn’t just out there to fight or hit, but one who could skate, shoot and score with the best of them. It’d be a rare find to see a player with such size and skill ever come through the league again, but, with all the talent out there today, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Based on his dominating years on the ice, I support 100% seeing the number 88 in the Hockey Hall of Fame someday. Thanks Eric.