Eric Lindros May Come Back For The Winter Classic

Eric Lindros has always been my favorite Flyer. If you were visiting this site in the summer, you may recall my post about how awesome Lindros was. The main reason I hated Bob Clarke was because I blamed him for driving 88 out of town. But now I have new hope the we’ll see Lindros play for the Flyers once again. This time, it would be as a member of the alumni team during the Winter Classic. Justin Johnson, who covers the Flyers for The Hockey Writers, recently had an interview with The E Train.

"Q: There have been some rumors going around in Philly that you’ve been invited to play in the Winter Classic Alumni game. Is there any truth to that? Eric Lindros: I talked with [Flyers GM] Paul Holmgren about a month or five weeks back and we chatted about it. That’d be great if I could see Mikael Renberg again, and Johnny LeClair. I haven’t seen Johnny in a couple of years. That would be a lot of fun. Also possibly we could set up something along the lines where we could do something for CHOP (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia), maybe have a lunch or do something along those lines. We could bring in hockey fans and chat a little bit about what we’re up to and sign a bunch of stuff."

It would be a thrill to see the entire Legion come back for a game. But if that doesn’t work out, I really hope that Lindros still makes it. It seems to me like he really likes the idea.  Why else would he bring up possible line combos’s? He didn’t downplay the idea at all. Paul Holmgren: Please, please, PLEASE make it happen! If any of you missed it, Flyers Goal Scored By started a petition in September in hopes of making this happen.

I think the majority of fans would love to see him come back.  It’s hard to find many knowledgeable Flyer fans that didn’t like Eric.  He was a monster on the ice, and we adored him.  He could do everything. Many people were bitter at the organization after the split with him. We haven’t had anyone as close to as good as he was since he left.  Then again, I’m not sure there’s anyone in the league that can do what he did. But that’s all in the past. He’s not going to play in the NHL level. All we can hope for is an appearance in the classic.

Aside from that, there were a few other interesting things in the interview.

• He thinks Jagr will be good for the Flyers. He’s done pretty well so far, about what we would expect at this age.
• He feels healthy, no more post-concussion issues. It’s good to hear that he can live a normal life, unaffected by injury. Many players are not so lucky.
• He still skates outside often. I can imagine he still kicks his friends asses in pickup games. He might not be good enough to play with world class players anymore, but his world class skills can never be taken away from him by some wannabe’s.
• He loved the Philly fans. After he left, there were a few people that had gripes and felt that he was a prima donna. But he was above that, and realized the majority did NOT feel that way. I’ve never heard him say anything but great things about the fans.
• He hated losing. Nobody could ever say he didn’t give it his all. He was always trying to do everything. He wanted to bring us a Cup so badly. I still remember him crying when he won the Hart, because he cared so much about the team getting better and hopefully winning a Cup.

I also asked a handful of writers on our Network what they thought of Lindros.