Eric Lindros says he still plays recreation hockey twice a week “just to fit into my jeans.”
Now players in his beer league can now say they are lining up against a Hall of Famer. Lindros was informed Monday that he will be entering the Hockey Hall of Fame next fall, along with goalie Rogie Vachon and Russian star Sergei Makarov. The late Pat Quinn will be inducted as a builder.
This seems to be the Hall’s year of making amends to those who have been overlooked.
Quinn’s daughter Callie told the news media that her father had told her before he died in November 2014 that he didn’t expect to be inducted. Vachon hasn’t played an NHL game in 34 years, and Makarov hasn’t played in 19 years.
“To be honest, I had resigned myself to: ‘I don’t think it’s going to happen,' ” said Vachon, who played with the Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins.
But it was Lindros’ wait that drew the most attention because his absence seemed like an intentional snub rather than indecision about his candidacy.
Lindros was a beast of a competitor, maybe the player who came closest to matching the physical capabilities of Gordie Howe.
He was big and strong with exceptional talent. He could embarrass a defenseman with a slick move or hurt him with a crunching body check.
Lindros averaged 1.14 points per game, ranking him 19th in NHL history. He won a Hart Trophy in 1995, and there were many periods during his career, particularly early on, when Lindros seemed like a force who could do what he wanted when he wanted.
Many will say Lindros waited for the call from the Hall because he played in only 760 games, the victim of a career cut shot by concussions.
But that argument is flimsy, given that the Hall of Fame has welcomed Cam Neely, Pat LaFontaine and Pavel Bure whose careers were also shortchanged by injury.
The other version of why Lindros was put on the waiting list is that he made enemies that were unrelated to what was happening on the ice. He bucked the system and refused to play for the Quebec Nordiques after he was drafted by them. Then, there was considerable tension between Lindros and Philadelphia Flyers general manager Bob Clarke.
It’s not hard to find people around the NHL who didn’t enjoy their moments with Lindros.
But the theory that Lindros brought this on himself because of his displeasing personality shouldn’t be an argument made in the 21st century. Politics shouldn’t play a role who is inducted in the Hall of Fame.
While Lindros was waiting for the Hall of Fame to let him in the door, the man he butted heads with the most, Clarke, said multiple times that Lindros deserved to be in the Hall of Fame.
If Lindros was miffed or disappointed by the wait, he didn’t show it in the Hall of Fame selection press conference. He seemed thankful, gracious, humbled and maybe relieved to be selected. It didn’t seem like he wanted to dwell on the wait or the reason for it.
He admitted there were times he thought about the “what ifs.”
"It was six years and it is a long time,” Lindros said. “But you can turn it around and say I’m in the Hall of Fame forever.”
