Weekes Head Posted March 10, 2004 Share Posted March 10, 2004 According to ESPN.com: ATLANTA -- Eric Lindros will undergo surgery on his right shoulder, Rangers GM Glen Sather announced Tuesday, ending his season and likely his career as a New York Ranger. Lindros, who has been bothered by shoulder pain all season, will have a torn labrum repaired. The 31-year-old forward has been out since Jan. 28 when he was drilled by Washington's Jason Doig. That hit caused the eighth concussion of his career. While recovering from his latest head injury, the 31-year-old Lindros felt soreness in his shoulder on Feb. 29 while shooting pucks in practice. He met with doctors last week. Sather held a conference call, before the Rangers went out and beat Atlanta 2-0 Tuesday night, to announce that his forward would have surgery. Lindros would like to have the surgery sometime in the next two weeks. "My head feels great, exceptionally well. And I was cleared to play" on Feb. 24, he was quoted as saying in The New York Times on Wednesday. The Rangers hold a $10.25 million option on Lindros. Sather jettisoned a slew of players in the week leading up to Tuesday's trade deadline, leaving it unlikely that the team would exercise Lindros' option. The Rangers obtained 16 players (12 of them younger than 25) and six draft choices, and claimed three players off waivers. Sather said Tuesday that several teams inquired about Lindros' availability before it was revealed that his shoulder was hurting. "The injury stuff stopped [the interest]," Sather said. In his third season with the Rangers, the 1995 NHL MVP has 10 goals and 22 assists in 39 games. He was traded to New York by Philadelphia after sitting out a season because of a bitter feud with Flyers general manager Bob Clarke and while recovering from his seventh concussion. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=1755901 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundstrom Posted March 10, 2004 Share Posted March 10, 2004 I'll be interested to see where he ends up when hockey resumes. Assuming that he's cleared and still wants to play. Obvious choice is Toronto, and I'd assume they'll find room for him...they find room for everyone. But if that soured, I wonder where else he might go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevs4978 Posted March 11, 2004 Share Posted March 11, 2004 In a perverse way the shoulder injury was the best thing to happen with him...why he would rush back from a concussion to play meaningless games with a rebuilding team is beyond me though I have to give him extra credit for trying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackjack Posted March 11, 2004 Share Posted March 11, 2004 In a perverse way the shoulder injury was the best thing to happen with him...why he would rush back from a concussion to play meaningless games with a rebuilding team is beyond me though I have to give him extra credit for trying. As much as I make fun of Lindros, and root against him and all, one thing I will say is that he absolutely adores playing. He's almost like a kid in that respect, I mean he just loves it. I really respect him for that. Looking at the guys that could've played in the spring but chose not to: Damphousse, Hill, Brisbois, you just get the feeling that Lindros would never do something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risky Posted March 11, 2004 Share Posted March 11, 2004 I feel bad for him. Without all those concussions, he's likely putting up 100 points a year, the guy was that good. But he'd also still be on Sillydelphia, so for that, I'm thankful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nieuwy25 Posted March 11, 2004 Share Posted March 11, 2004 In a perverse way the shoulder injury was the best thing to happen with him...why he would rush back from a concussion to play meaningless games with a rebuilding team is beyond me though I have to give him extra credit for trying. Exactly my thinking. He needs to give it time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek21 Posted March 11, 2004 Share Posted March 11, 2004 I think the extended rest for Eric is the best thing for him. It's obvious he still has a passion to play the game at the highest level. His attitude is great. I wish he could remain a Ranger. But I'm not sure it would be the best thing for the team because the two times he went down to a concussion, the Rangers fell apart. Maybe they relied too much on him. He is a great team guy though. There are positives to bringing him back. But no way can he make over 10 million in salary (there's a team option). I have a lot of respect for Lindros. So much so that I voted for him to win the Stephen McDonald Extra Effort Award. I can't think of anyone else that's left that deserves it. Nobody tried harder. Eric still wanted to comeback despite the team being done. It says a lot about his character. I was never a fan of acquiring him. Not because I disliked him. I've always liked Lindros the player. I own over 40 rookie subsets from that Score set. Lindros in my mind was one of the most dominant power forwards. Even after all the concussions including what was supposed to be the coup de grat for his career (Stevens hit), Lindros still cameback and played the game at a high level after an entire year removed. Still amassing over a point-per-game. Whatever happens with Eric Lindros, I wish him the best of luck ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LOTCB Posted March 11, 2004 Share Posted March 11, 2004 I think the extended rest for Eric is the best thing for him. It's obvious he still has a passion to play the game at the highest level. His attitude is great. I wish he could remain a Ranger. But I'm not sure it would be the best thing for the team because the two times he went down to a concussion, the Rangers fell apart. Maybe they relied too much on him. He is a great team guy though. There are positives to bringing him back. But no way can he make over 10 million in salary (there's a team option). I have a lot of respect for Lindros. So much so that I voted for him to win the Stephen McDonald Extra Effort Award. I can't think of anyone else that's left that deserves it. Nobody tried harder. Eric still wanted to comeback despite the team being done. It says a lot about his character. I was never a fan of acquiring him. Not because I disliked him. I've always liked Lindros the player. I own over 40 rookie subsets from that Score set. Lindros in my mind was one of the most dominant power forwards. Even after all the concussions including what was supposed to be the coup de grat for his career (Stevens hit), Lindros still cameback and played the game at a high level after an entire year removed. Still amassing over a point-per-game. Whatever happens with Eric Lindros, I wish him the best of luck ! Unfortunately he will go down as what-might-have-been when thinking of Eric over his whole career, but now its to a point where he has to think about his future, away from hockey. And he is so passionate about hockey Im sure its hard for him to even think like a normal person, hockey has been front and cetner in his life for God knows how long...its gotta be so so hard to walk away.... Seeing what has happened to guys like Eric Lindros, Pat LaFontaine, Troy Aikman and Al Toon in football, makes you realize how much risk these athletes really take, even with all the money they make... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bg. Posted March 11, 2004 Share Posted March 11, 2004 while there is no way in hell the rangers (or anyone) would ever pick up a 10.25 million dollar option, for whatever reason i do not think eric's days as a ranger are over. do not underestimate the desire of an athlete to get through the rough times. i really think eric wants to be apart of the solution in new york and the only way he can do that is by staying. larry brooks (say what you want, but he is IN the ranger locker room not us) has maintained that with all the young players eric was always the best with them. based on that fact alone - not to mention having jagr and holik as your only veterans is just not enough, (two vets and ten young guys - no thanks!) i would not be surprised in the least to see #88 at the garden next season. in some article i read eric pointed out how he bought some property or an apt in manhatten and how that should suggest where he wants to be. the guy has a ton of cash, i cannot see how the contract he would get anywhere else might be all that different than the one he could get from the rangers. low base, everything based on games played and performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daneyko_booster Posted March 11, 2004 Share Posted March 11, 2004 Lindros' problem is he skates with his head down. He has ever since he played the game. Somebody should have told him he's not in peewee anymore and there are guys just as big as you. When you close your eyes and imagine Lindros skating, what image do you see? It's him looking at the ice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weekes Head Posted March 11, 2004 Author Share Posted March 11, 2004 I agree with that, dano booster. In all his years of playing hockey, you ALWAYS see Lindros with his Goddamn head down! If he could just learn to keep it up, he *might* not be in the mess right now. Even his latest concussion, his damn head was STILL down! I mean, after four or five knocks to the noggin, one would think he'd try to work on it... But yeah, I remember saying a couple weeks ago what Has said -- Lindros NEEDS the rest of this season off. If he's so stone-cold set on coming back to the game, then he really needs to calm down and just take some time off to get himself back in shape again. This shoulder injury could be a blessing in disguise. I really hope so, I'd hate to see his (once promising) career cut short, but then another part of me wants to see him just call it quits now because eventually he's going to get injured bad enough that it'll threaten his everyday life OUTSIDE of hockey. Who knows though...maybe he'll use this extended time off to learn how to play with his head up. Then maybe he came resume that (once promising) career and be something special again. I hope so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.