Sidney Crosby and Eric Lindros Are More Alike Than You Think
By Scott Cole
Fast forward to 2004. A new prospect from Halifax, Nova Scotia was being touted as “The Next One”. He was just shy of 6’0″ and around 200 lbs; several pounds and inches shorter than Big E. But “The Kid” was very highly prized by everyone. He was going to be the next big hockey superstar. That’s right….it’s Sidney Crosby.
And for years, Flyers fans have said the same thing about Crosby. “He cries to the refs every time he he gets hit!” “He’s flopping! He took a dive! That’s not tripping/holding/etc.!” “He’s a big baby”. Heck, I’ve even seen memes that have said “You can’t spell Crosby without ‘cry’ and ‘sob'”.
And over the years, it hit me. The same things that many hockey fans, Flyers fans in particular, say about Crosby, they said 10 years earlier about Lindros. How close are the comparisons?
First, let’s look at a stat comparison:
Games Played Goals Assists Points PPG Pen. Min.
Eric Lindros 760 372 493 865 1.14 1398
Sidney Crosby 1189 550 950 1500 1.26 783
It’s no doubt that Crosby is a future Hall of Famer and has been the best player in hockey until Connor McDavid showed up. Lindros played only 64% of the amount of games that Crosby has. And if you took 64% of Crosby’s stats, he’d have just 352 goals and 544 assists. Those numbers are similar to Lindros.
Early on in Crosby’s career, he was hit hard with a lot of injuries like concussions. Whereas Crosby was able to recover from them, Lindros was not. Maybe that was due to rules that protected Crosby or more awareness of what concussions can due, in part because of what happened to Lindros. Still, it is hard to deny that Crosby is a generational talent.
And yet the hate for Crosby remains. David Pastrnak is a well documented Flyers killer, but we all respect him. We sit in awe at the sheer dominance that is McDavid. And even Alex Ovechkin, as cocky as he is, has never earned the ire of Flyers fans like Crosby does.
Maybe part of that hatred is because the Pens and Flyers were both the cream of whatever division they were both in at the time. The battles between Crosby and Claude Giroux were legendary. Crosby brought home the Stanley Cup three times. Lindros and Giroux never could.
When talking one-on-one to Flyers fans about this comparison, at first they’ll shake their heads and yell, “No, No!” like Luke Skywalker after the BIG reveal in The Empire Strikes Back.
But after they’ve had time to digest it…they will, sadly, admit that it is in some ways true. We dislike Crosby because he is what Lindros was and could’ve been had he stayed healthy.
For the first time in 16 years, the Penguins are staying home. I will not be shedding a tear, however I have more fury and anger in my heart towards the Devils and Rangers than I ever had with the Penguins. And while I too feel that Crosby is a crybaby, I also know deep down that if he was a Flyer, I’d have loved him and would’ve made all the excuses in the world for him; just as I did in college when friends complained about Lindros. I also know that he is a damn good player. He helped fuel the Flyers-Pens rivalry into something great.
Both players were good, solid competitors who left it all out there on the ice. Crosby is a reminder to us of what Lindros could’ve been. In many ways, Sid owes his career to Eric. Lindros was more of a physical presence that could change the nature of game while Crosby’s finesse skills could do the same. Either way, they are two of the greatest players of all time. However, just remember, 87 is not as big as 88.