Worf
08-12-2005, 04:00 AM
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
August 11, 2005, 7:59 PM EDT
TORONTO -- Eric Lindros signed a one-year, $1.55 million contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.
Lindros, an Ontario native, has been linked to the Leafs for years. But their on-again, off-again courtship was not completed until Thursday.
"It's a little dusty," said Lindros, as he pulled on a No. 88 Toronto sweater. "It's about time. This is great. I'm really excited about it. It's a dream come true."
Lindros' father and agent, Carl, said teams were calling as late as Thursday to show interest in signing the hulking forward.
"It's interesting how it worked out," Carl Lindros said. "But this is a good situation for him. It's what he wanted."
The oft-injured Lindros passed the Maple Leafs' medical tests.
"He's here and we're pleased to have him," general manager John Ferguson said.
In November 2000, Lindros -- then out of favor with the Philadelphia Flyers -- announced the Leafs were the only team he wanted to be traded to.
Toronto's board of governors approved a deal to get Lindros three months later but Pat Quinn, then coach and general manager, said a day later that the Flyers pulled out of the agreement.
Lindros was eventually traded to the New York Rangers on Aug. 20, 2001, and the 32-year-old forward played three seasons on Broadway. He had 10 goals, 22 assists and 60 penalty minutes in 39 games during the 2003-04 season.
The 6-foot-4, 240-pound center won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player in 1994-95 and the Lester B. Pearson Award as the most outstanding player in the league as voted by the players.
But concussions have taken their toll on the big forward.
He missed all of the 2000-01 season recovering from head injuries after a check from New Jersey's Scott Stevens in Game 7 of the 2000 Eastern Conference finals gave Lindros his sixth career concussion.
Lindros has played 678 NHL games for Philadelphia and the Rangers, recording 356 goals, 461 assists and 1,285 penalty minutes.
His new salary is a far cry from the $8.5-million qualifying offer he turned down from the Flyers before being traded to New York.
Lindros was tabbed as "The Next One" but has made almost as much news off the ice as on.
In 1989, he was taken first in the Ontario Hockey League draft of 16-year-old players by Sault Ste. Marie but refused to report.
He was then chosen No. 1 in the 1991 NHL draft but he refused to sign with the Quebec Nordiques, forcing a trade a year later.
But that wasn't a simple transaction, either, as the Flyers and Rangers both claimed to have reached an agreement with Quebec on a deal for Lindros. An arbitrator later awarded his rights to the Flyers, who traded five players -- including Peter Forsberg -- a draft choice, future considerations and $15 million to the Nordiques.
The Flyers made Lindros their captain in September 1994 but the relationship between him and the organization -- especially general manager Bob Clarke -- soon turned sour.
In March 2000, Lindros criticized Flyers' trainers for not recognizing a concussion. Days later he was stripped of the captaincy.
A string of concussions followed and Lindros eventually wound up in New York.
Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.
August 11, 2005, 7:59 PM EDT
TORONTO -- Eric Lindros signed a one-year, $1.55 million contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.
Lindros, an Ontario native, has been linked to the Leafs for years. But their on-again, off-again courtship was not completed until Thursday.
"It's a little dusty," said Lindros, as he pulled on a No. 88 Toronto sweater. "It's about time. This is great. I'm really excited about it. It's a dream come true."
Lindros' father and agent, Carl, said teams were calling as late as Thursday to show interest in signing the hulking forward.
"It's interesting how it worked out," Carl Lindros said. "But this is a good situation for him. It's what he wanted."
The oft-injured Lindros passed the Maple Leafs' medical tests.
"He's here and we're pleased to have him," general manager John Ferguson said.
In November 2000, Lindros -- then out of favor with the Philadelphia Flyers -- announced the Leafs were the only team he wanted to be traded to.
Toronto's board of governors approved a deal to get Lindros three months later but Pat Quinn, then coach and general manager, said a day later that the Flyers pulled out of the agreement.
Lindros was eventually traded to the New York Rangers on Aug. 20, 2001, and the 32-year-old forward played three seasons on Broadway. He had 10 goals, 22 assists and 60 penalty minutes in 39 games during the 2003-04 season.
The 6-foot-4, 240-pound center won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player in 1994-95 and the Lester B. Pearson Award as the most outstanding player in the league as voted by the players.
But concussions have taken their toll on the big forward.
He missed all of the 2000-01 season recovering from head injuries after a check from New Jersey's Scott Stevens in Game 7 of the 2000 Eastern Conference finals gave Lindros his sixth career concussion.
Lindros has played 678 NHL games for Philadelphia and the Rangers, recording 356 goals, 461 assists and 1,285 penalty minutes.
His new salary is a far cry from the $8.5-million qualifying offer he turned down from the Flyers before being traded to New York.
Lindros was tabbed as "The Next One" but has made almost as much news off the ice as on.
In 1989, he was taken first in the Ontario Hockey League draft of 16-year-old players by Sault Ste. Marie but refused to report.
He was then chosen No. 1 in the 1991 NHL draft but he refused to sign with the Quebec Nordiques, forcing a trade a year later.
But that wasn't a simple transaction, either, as the Flyers and Rangers both claimed to have reached an agreement with Quebec on a deal for Lindros. An arbitrator later awarded his rights to the Flyers, who traded five players -- including Peter Forsberg -- a draft choice, future considerations and $15 million to the Nordiques.
The Flyers made Lindros their captain in September 1994 but the relationship between him and the organization -- especially general manager Bob Clarke -- soon turned sour.
In March 2000, Lindros criticized Flyers' trainers for not recognizing a concussion. Days later he was stripped of the captaincy.
A string of concussions followed and Lindros eventually wound up in New York.
Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.