This is not an out-of-the-blue development, but all indications are Eric Lindros will finally get around to announcing his retirement in his hometown of London, Ont., when he will be part of a news conference with University of Western Ontario sports injury guru, Dr. Peter Fowler, on Thursday afternoon.
Lindros, 34, probably knows as much about injuries as Dr. Fowler because he certainly suffered through his share during his 14-season NHL career. The Big E endured serious, knee, wrist, shoulder problems and a punctured lung as well as several concussions throughout his playing days.
Ironically, four days after Lindros announces his retirement, New Jersey Devils hard-rock defenceman Scott Stevens will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Stevens knocked Lindros for a loop just inside the Devils blue line in a playoff game in May 2000. The latter was seldom the same player after that hit.
Also, with Peter Forsberg’s future in doubt with ankle problems, the Swede may also be forced into retirement. Lindros and Forsberg will forever be linked because they were traded for each other when Lindros refused to sign with the team that drafted him first overall in 1991, the Quebec Nordiques. Forsberg, also 34, won two Stanley Cups with the Colorado Avalanche and has scored 248 goals and 871 points in 697 games.
Lindros never played a full season, coming close with the 2002-03 New York Rangers when he missed only one match. In total, he played in only 68 per cent (760 of 1,118) of the games he was eligible for, and missed an entire season earlier this decade.
Some of the hockey nerds (who like to debate such matters) will no doubt dispute whether Lindros deserves to be feted with a Hall of Fame honour. It's a tough call. Former Boston Bruins power forward Cam Neely got in with 395 goals and 694 points in 726 career games. Lindros won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most outstanding player in 1995 as well as voted the winner of the Pearson Award by his peers, and averaged more than a point a game with 372 goals and 865 points.
But he didn’t help his cause this summer, when he immersed himself in NHLPA matters and will likely stay on with the union in some capacity under new executive director Paul Kelly. The Hockey Hall of Fame has kept former NHLPA employee Steve Larmer out of the Hall despite a long, productive and brilliant NHL career.
Lindros also won an Olympic gold in 2002 with Canada and a silver medal in 1992 as well as two world junior titles in 1990 and 1991, and the 1989-90 Memorial Cup with the Oshawa Generals. In the NHL, Lindros probably played his best hockey in the 1997 Stanley Cup playoffs with 12 goals and 26 points in 19 games, but his Flyers were swept by the Detroit Red Wings in the final.
