Eric Bryan Lindros was born February 28, 1973, in London, Ontario, Canada, to parents Bonnie and Carl Lindros. Eric is the older brother of Brett, a promising NHL prospect whose career with the Islanders was cut short due to multiple concussions, and sister Robin.Eric's parents knew he had potential early on is his childhood. He began skating at the age of two, and by age five, little Eric was playing organized hockey. Although he played the trumpet as well, Eric's real passion was hockey.As a young teen, Eric would pattern his game after his idol, Edmonton Oiler great Mark Messier. By age 15, NHL scouts were touting Eric as the next great superstar.Eric Lindros began playing for the Oshawa Generals, a junior team in Ontario. During his junior days, Lindros amassed 216 points in 95 games, and a Memorial Cup championship in 1990. Lindros was the most popular teen player in world; no other junior player had as many hockey cards made after him, than Lindros.Despite Lindros' insistence that he would not play for the Quebec Nordiques, Quebec drafted him first overall in the NHL's 1991 entry draft. Lindros' refusal to play resulted in him sitting out the 1991-1992 season; however, he did play for Team Canada at the Winter Olympics.Finally, Eric was traded in 1992 to Philadelphia, in exchange for players such as Mike Ricci, Peter Forsberg and Ron Hextall, along with $15 million. In his rookie season with Philadelphia, Lindros finished with 75 points in 61 games, third place in rookie scoring. In 1993-94, he tallied 97 points, good for 11th in the league and second on the team. Lindros was named the Flyers' team MVP.The 1994-1995 NHL season was delayed and shortened due to a lockout, but that didn't seem to affect Lindros. He was named the league's MVP, as he tied for lead in scoring. He had a good postseason, racking up 15 points. The following season, Eric Lindros led the Flyers to the Stanley Cup finals against the Detroit Red Wings. Despite losing to Detroit, he totaled 36 points in 19 playoff games.The 1997-1998 season was a sign of things to come. Lindros missed 18 games, most of them due to a concussion. He did manage to register his 500th career point, which he accomplished the fifth fastest in NHL history. He also traveled to Nagano, Japan, to represent Canada in the Olympics.The 1998-1999 season saw Lindros collect 93 points, but suffer yet another concussion. Eric missed more games in 1999-2000 due to post concussion syndrome. After criticizing management's handling of his various injuries, Lindros was stripped of his captaincy by general manager Bobby Clarke. He appeared in only two playoff games, including the memorable tilt with the Devils when he was concussed yet again by Scott Stevens. That hit by Stevens was to be the last moment Eric Lindros would have in a Flyer uniform.Rather than report for the 2000-2001 season, Lindros chose to hold out and demand a trade. However, he proclaimed that he would only want to play in Toronto. With his hands tied and not much to work with, Bobby Clarke elected to let Lindros sit out the entire 2000-2001 NHL season. Knowing that Clarke was prepared to let Lindros sit out the entire season, the Big E expanded his trade teams list to include cities such as St. Louis, Detroit and New York. The Maple Leafs and Blues both tried frantically to get a trade done before the March trade deadline, but nothing materialized.
Once the 2001 season was over, Lindros was finally traded to the Rangers in exchange for Jan Hlavac, Kim Johnsson, Pavel Brendl, and a third-round pick. Despite suffering yet another concussion (albeit mild), Lindros is averaging about a point a game in the 2002 season, as he is a teammate of his boyhood idol, Mark Messier.In February of 2002, Eric Lindros once again represented his country at the Olympics and helped bring Canada the gold medal. Currently, the Rangers are attempting to make the playoffs for the first time in five years.QUOTE
"There might be more bumps in the road, there might not be..." -Eric Lindros, on his concussion early in the 2001-2002 season
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