Any discussion of Eric Lindros' career inevitably focuses on three things: his frequent serious injuries, his parents, and the seemingly endless controversies associated with him.
With Lindros, it seems like most discussions end up either being a heated "who's to blame" debate or a wistful "What might have been" exercise. Both of those have their place.
But at the end of the day, what I will remember most is the special talent on the ice that Lindros exhibited in his teens and most of his 20s. My biggest regret is that we didn't get to see him on the ice more often.
Watching him on the ice was thrilling. Even debating whether he was or wasn't an inherently dirty player could be enjoyable in small doses. But the rest of it got tedious and frustrating for everyone.
If someone were to ask me as a lifelong Flyers fan: "With the benefit of hindsight, would you still have welcomed the blockbuster deal that sent Lindros to the Flyers?"
I know that for many people, the answer is no. But for me, the answer is yes.
There are no guarantees that the Flyers would have been better off. They still may not have gone any further than a single Stanley Cup Finals appearance (in which they got swept), because the club may well have had the same issues with defensive depth and goaltending.
It would have been great to see Peter Forsberg play his prime years in Philadelphia, but it was also great to see Lindros in his prime.
I was fortunate enough to see virtually every game Lindros played during the Philadelphia portion of his career. On his best nights, I saw him do things that were beyond belief-- with finesse as well as with sheer power.
For one thing, he could control the puck on the end boards as well as any player I've ever seen (the cycling game that Lindros established with John LeClair and Mikael Renberg was quite a site to see).
He had any number of different ways to score, from finding the tiniest opening in the corner to scoring a one-handed goal in close with two defenders clutching desperately at him.
I'll remember the freight-train body checks and the dominance in the faceoff circle. I'll remember him going toe-to-toe with Scott Stevens early in his career, and their subsequent physical battles over the years-- of which Lindros won his share (although the most famous encounters were won by Stevens and the Devils).
I'll recall some of the biggest wins he was part of, especially the 1997 Eastern Conference Finals against the Rangers. But I'll also remember some games where Lindros stood out in a losing effort.
In particular, I think of a game late in the 1995-96 season, where the Flyers played Colorado at the Spectrum in what was billed as a potential Cup Finals preview-.
In the third period, it was still anyone's game. Lindros and Forsberg took turns strapping their respective clubs to their backs, with Forsberg (who scored a hat trick) and Colorado ultimately prevailing despite the heroics of Lindros (who buried a pair of goals on great individual efforts).
What ultimately tilted that game was the fact that Colorado scored a pair of goals from sharp angles and Colorado made the Flyers earn all of theirs the hard way.
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Speaking of Lindros, the Flyers' new PR blog has some fascinating, and very candid
comments about Lindros from Simon Gagne-- the only remaining Flyer who played with number 88.
It's a must-read.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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