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E TRAIN LEAVING THE STATION |
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I first met Eric Lindros in June of 1991, on concourse that ringed the bowels and the Lower Golds at The Aud in Buffalo.
I was at the NHL Entry Draft in Buffalo, covering the proceedings.
That day, I had met and spoken with several drafted 1st rounders: Pat Falloon, Peter Forsberg,Alex Stojanov.
None had given me the vibe that Lindros had. This guy was different. He was a beast.
Carl and Bonnie were at his side, per usual. He was confident, cool, and in command. There was an air of uncertainty in the stale Aud air that day, as to whether Lindros would actually follow through, and not pull on the Quebec sweater i they were to draft him. would he? wouldn't he? It made for one Hell of a buzz in the room. As fate would have it, Lindros never did pull that sweater over his head that day in Buffalo.
What an auspicious and interetsing beginning to a dramatic and flamboyant career for Lindros.
The boy who played like a man, had just flipped off the Nords and demanded a trade.
I loved Lindros for his passion and pig headedness. He knew that he had the hammer and the leverage, and he was not afraid to use it.
In the late 80s, I had a first hand witness account of the E-Train's assault on the OHL. The Oshawa Generals were his team, and he made it his business to obliterate his competition on a nightly basis. Talk about the total package, at age 18 Lindros had it all:
Rock star looks. Lumberjack size at 6'4 and 230. Soft hands. Quick feet. An arsenal of shots, which included a howitzer of a slapper. Strong as two oxen on his skates. A zero to 60 in two seconds temper. And two jackhammers that doubled as fists, that he would use to seperate opponents' heads from their torso. This guy was the Baddest Badass I had seen at age 18. One look at Lindros always evoked memories of Gordie Howe in my mind's eye.
*****
FROM NHL:
Eric Lindros was originally drafted first overall in the 1991 Entry Draft by the Québec Nordiques. One year later on June 30, 1992, Eric's rights were traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for Peter Forsberg, Steve Duchesne, Kerry Huffman, Mike Ricci, Ron Hextall, two first-round draft picks and cash. On October 6, Eric made his NHL debut and scored one goal in the match against the Penguins. Six weeks later on November 15, Eric scored his first hat trick in a game against the Senators. On December 26, Eric scored his second career hat trick and first penalty shot goal against the Capitals' Don Beaupré. In 61 games that season, Eric led the Flyers with a +28 rating and broke Brian Propp's team record for goals by a rookie (41). He was also an NHL All-Rookie Team centre. At season's end, Eric was ranked second on the The Hockey News' Top-25 players list.
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