Is Eric Lindros a Hall of Famer?

[yave1964]

  It is becoming the topic of the year, every year when he does not get elected. Simple question, should Lindros be elected to the Hall of Fame?

 

  My personal opinion is he eventually will be, as time passes and the circus that is the Lindros family fades from memory and the statistical evidence is all that remains.

  I would never vote for him, not in a million years, he was the biggest distraction in the game, he hurt his team and they never won with him. Not in Philadelphia, not in New York, or Toronto or Dallas. Nowhere. I personally feel he should have been one of the top ten players of all time but wound up being a very, very good player, not a great one and on top of that kept his team from winning with all of his nonsense. He had a relatively short career, 760 games, and left people wondering what might have been.

 So again, my vote is an unequivocal and resounding no.  

What say you?

[Irishjim]

if foppa made the hall. so should lindros....their stats mirror each other

 

Forsberg:  (14 seasons – 708 GP)  249 G  636 A  885 PTS  690 PIM 1.250 PPG (points per-game)

Lindros:    (13 seasons – 760 GP)  372 G  493 A  865 PTS  1,398 PIM  1.138 PPG

 

and i'm sorry he didn't hurt his team..for a 5 year period he was one of the most dominating players in the game

 

OBTW the hall doesn't look at championships..just individual stats

Edited June 25, 2014 by Irishjim

[FD19372]

His concussions cut short his career but if you project his numbers over a 20 year period, especially before his concussions, he certainly would get in.

[yave1964]

@Irishjim

 

The hall looks at everything. Lindros Stats are borderline Hall worthy, a step below Forsberg but close. The other stuff counts against him, his bat crap crazy family, the injuries both real and imagined, the fact that he never won, all that pushes him back down.

[Irishjim]

@Irishjim

 

The hall looks at everything. Lindros Stats are borderline Hall worthy, a step below Forsberg but close. The other stuff counts against him, his bat crap crazy family, the injuries both real and imagined, the fact that he never won, all that pushes him back down.

what the hell does having nuts parents got to do with him going into the hall (you get a faceplam for that line) and scoring 20pts less in one less year is not a step below. and for injuries foppa had a broked foota for several years......

 

come out and say it you just hate the dude..admit it you know you wanna

 

something to watch   

Edited June 25, 2014 by Irishjim

[yave1964]

@Irishjim

  My opinion is there were not in the history of the game ten players who had as much talent. Wayne, Mario, Orr, Gordie, a very, very short list.  He did less with more than anyone in the history of the game. I think he put up outstanding numbers but everything else more than cancels it out.

  And yes, I do hate him.

[JackStraw]

I think he put up outstanding numbers but everything else more than cancels it out.

 

Everything else being what? Shortened career? He played more games than Cam Neely, who is in. He put up a higher ppg over his career than Neely while Neely had a higher goals per game, not unexpected for a center vs a winger. Lindros won the Hart and Lindsay, Neely won the Masterson. Neither won a Cup. That leaves his parents. You're suggesting he won't get in because of his parents?

 

If Neely is in then Lindros should be in.

[fan4ever]

what the hell does having nuts parents got to do with him going into the hall (you get a faceplam for that line) and scoring 20pts less in one less year is not a step below. and for injuries foppa had a broked foota for several years......

 

come out and say it you just hate the dude..admit it you know you wanna

 

something to watch   

 

Jim,

 

I was just thinking the same thing about the nutty parents.  We'd all be in trouble if our families were held against us, no?

 

[Irishjim]

That leaves his parents. You're suggesting he won't get in because of his parents?

apparently this is the 1st test to be hall worthy... i'm surprised he banged brindamors wife wasn't brought up as well 

[DaGreatGazoo]

Lindros Stats are borderline Hall worthy

 

 

At the risk of being swarmy, explain Cam Neely in the Hall then.....

[ruxpin]

I voted no.

 

The comparison to Cam Neely is apt.  If Cam Neely gets in, then Eric Lindros should get in.  My problem is much as I liked him as a player, I don't believe Neely should be in.

 

Back to Lindros. First, I completely get the arguments for him and wouldn't begin to be upset if he got in.  I didn't kick anything around when Neely got in.

 

I realize he was one of the most dominant players in the league for a span of 8 seasons.  But that's really all we're talking about here.  For me, the Hall should be about a lifetime acheivement/contribution, not a short 8 years.  Yeah, you were great, but did you do it over a long career?  No.  Is it his fault?  No.  Well, maybe (keep your goddamn head up!  You're one of the best players in the game, learn how to stick handle without staring at your damn stick!).

 

I've never liked the 2-4 people getting in every year.  For me, it cheapens it after awhile.  It should be a hollowed place for the very very best.  Neely, for me, doesn't reach that echelon.  I don't like nor understand how Neely gets a bust or plaque or whatever right next to Gretsky and Orr and Howe and Lemieux etc. etc.  To my knowledge, they don't have "levels"  within the Hall ("He's in the 5 star room," for example), so they are all presented as equals.  I just simply don't believe they are.  But that's just me.

 

Lindros, for me, can go ahead in because Neely is in.  But--for me--players like Neely and Lindros being in cheapen the legacy and honor that should be reserved for players that a) accumulated great numbers 2) had great perseverance and longevity and 3) contributed to the game itself in a positive way.

 

Lindros has number 1--with the caveat that it was in a comparatively short period of time.  He does not have number 2 (I don't know who all is in the Hall that this would wash out, but couldn't there be like a 1000 game minimum so we compare apples to apples?) and I would argue against number 3 even for just the crap he pulled with Quebec.

 

Like I said, it's fine if he goes in.  If someone were dumb enough to allow me a vote, he would not get mine.

[yave1964]

Guys like Cam Neely can get in with a short career if he has no baggage. Lindros baggage has kept him out. His numbers are right there on the bubble, I think he will eventually get in but the reason it has taken this long and he is still on the outside looking in has less to do with his numbers and more to do with everything else. Objectively that is easy to see.

  I understand why Flyer fans would be upset by this. I am a Reds fan, so is my whole family, even after all these years just the mention of Pete Rose and the Hall of Fame gets a raucous argument going that can last for hours. Someone usually gets it going once or twice a year when we are all together and bored.  (It breaks my heart but I vote no on Pete BTW).  

  Essentially IMHO Lindros has numbers that meh qualify him for the Hall, he would likely be in if it weren't for the Quebec thing, the constant distractions and feuding with Clarke and if he had won a cup. You cannot count parents or a wife or any family member against someone, but in the back of their minds I guarantee it is there with at least some of the voters. Personal feelings aside, I would never vote for him, but there are worse players in the hall.

[ruxpin]

Essentially IMHO Lindros has numbers that meh qualify him for the Hall, he would likely be in if it weren't for the Quebec thing, the constant distractions and feuding with Clarke and if he had won a cup

 

Yes.  Any ONE of those factors and he's probably in.  Maybe even a combination of two, but not all of them.

 

Didn't win a cup:  You get the Marcel Dionne argument (by the way, I've always argued FOR him).

 

It's the Quebec thing and the feuding thing that is the deal breaker.  That and HE NEVER LEARNED TO SKATE WITHOUT WATCHING THE DAMN PUCK!

 

In a slow year where there aren't any real bona fide candidates, he may likely get in...and get a concussion on induction day.

[JackStraw]

I realize he was one of the most dominant players in the league for a span of 8 seasons.  But that's really all we're talking about here.

 

Bobby Orr was basically done at age 27. Should he have not gotten in?

[JR Ewing]

Players spend the first 8-10 of their career building their HOF case, then the rest of it padding the numbers. Sometimes, guys with long non-dominant careers look better than they really were, creating an impression of their qualifications which is greater than the whole of its parts.

[yave1964]

Bobby Orr was basically done at age 27. Should he have not gotten in?

 There are few players that could be done by 27 and get in, Orr and Wayne, maybe Dryden. Bobby Orr was a force unlike any other in the history of the game.

[blocker]

explain Cam Neely in the Hall then.....

 

Cam Neely scored 395 goals.  John LeClair scored 406.

Cam was  a 2nd team all-star four times.    John was a 1st team all-star twice, a 2nd team all-star 3 times.

 

I could go on. 

 

But, the point I'm trying to make is that if Neely is a standard, then there are a whole lot of guys who belong.

[Polaris922]

Lindros had borderline numbers. But the Hall is about more than numbers. It's about a player's legacy and how it promoted hockey. Lindros' legacy is a blemish on hockey. He doesn't deserve it.

Yes I hate him. Not because he was a Flyer. Not because he was good. But the minute he threw a temper tantrum refusing to play for the team that would draft him I felt and still feel he deserved to be banned from the NHL. The idea of Lindros the person in the Hall disgusts me. I don't care what jersey he was wearing.

[yave1964]

Players spend the first 8-10 of their career building their HOF case, then the rest of it padding the numbers. Sometimes, guys with long non-dominant careers look better than they really were, creating an impression of their qualifications which is greater than the whole of its parts.

Yup, guys like Harold Baines or Julio Franco, compilers who last forever, in hockey guys like Dale Hawerchuk is the poster child for such a guy, Dino Ciccarelli is in the Hall, he had nice start to his career then a whole bunch of 25-30 goal seasons. Personally, I would have taken Lindros over Dino any day of the week. Lindros at his peak was better than Dino at his peak, but Ciccarelli was like the energizer bunny, he just kept going and going and going.....

[JR Ewing]

Yup, guys like Harold Baines or Julio Franco, compilers who last forever, in hockey guys like Dale Hawerchuk is the poster child for such a guy, Dino Ciccarelli is in the Hall, he had nice start to his career then a whole bunch of 25-30 goal seasons. Personally, I would have taken Lindros over Dino any day of the week. Lindros at his peak was better than Dino at his peak, but Ciccarelli was like the energizer bunny, he just kept going and going and going.....

 

Mike Gartner is my go-to guy in hockey for this player type. Never great, but kept his legs and was able to keep popping a respectable number of goals. It also greatly helped him to play in the bubble hockey era of offense.

 

Baseball? Yeah, Baines was exactly one of those. Other guys who come to mind: Tony Perez, Rusty Staub, Chili Davis, Don Baylor.

[JackStraw]

Lindros' legacy is a blemish on hockey.

 

Huh? How so? An awful lot of people became hockey fans because of Lindros, and not just Flyers fans. I would guess that Lindros probably had a greater impact on popularizing the game than Neely did. Probably more than quite a few players who are already in the HoF.

[JackStraw]

Dino Ciccarelli is in the Hall, he had nice start to his career then a whole bunch of 25-30 goal seasons.

 

He also was involved (along with Scott Stevens and two other Caps players) in a "controversial incident" (some might have called it "rape") involving a 17 year old girl. I'd say that was worse than anything Lindros ever did.

[JackStraw]

Just to set the record straight... I'm not the biggest Lindros fan around here. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when he was traded. Overall I felt his career was disappointing and in hindsight I wish the Flyers had never made "that trade". I've never lost a minute of sleep worrying about whether or not he gets into the HHoF. But based on what he did during his career, and who has gotten in already, I really can't see any legitimate reason at all for Lindros not getting in.

Edited June 25, 2014 by JackStraw

[blocker]

learn how to stick handle without staring at your damn stick!).

 

Lindros had everything going for him.  Big, fast, quick and talented.  But, the arrogance that kept him from respecting his opponents did him in.  He ignored that warning given to all players,  "keep your head up.".  You might be able to run over most players, but there are always challengers who are looking for a chance to make a name.

 

There never was a horse who couldn't be rode.  There never was a cowboy who couldn't be throwed. 

 

Neely shouldn't be in the HOF.  Whether or not, that opens the door for Lindros, I dunno.

 

I think one mistake shouldn't determine who makes it.

[yave1964]

Cam Neely scored 395 goals.  John LeClair scored 406.

Cam was  a 2nd team all-star four times.    John was a 1st team all-star twice, a 2nd team all-star 3 times.

 

I could go on. 

 

But, the point I'm trying to make is that if Neely is a standard, then there are a whole lot of guys who belong.

 I don't see Neely as the standard, he is, to me, a bit of a mistake. Nice guy, well liked, had the one amazing year, personally I would not have put him in.