Until now, the hockey career of Eric Lindros has been defined by two things: his laundry list of head injuries and his problems with the Philadelphia Flyers organization. Whether that's fair or not is certainly a debatable discussion, but one thing is for sure: neither of those things have anything to do with the dominance he showed on NHL rinks in the 1990s.
Still, when the Hall of Fame induction committee meets today to determine which members of this years class will be inducted into the Hall, these things will no doubt be part of the discussion. Of the 18 member committee, 14 of them need to vote yes for a player to be inducted.
For Lindros, certainly the most polarizing player in Flyers history, this doesn't bode well. Then again, if number 88 could convince Flyers fans to love him after all the nonsense that surrounded his departure from town, and if he could convince former Philly GM Bob Clarke, shouldn't he be able to convince anybody?
Take the jump, finish reading, then vote in the poll.
Here's a segment Clarke did on TSN back in 2007 on this very subject:
Despite Eric's parents turning their sons' career and Clarke's life into an absolute circus for several years, Clarke still believes that the guy is a Hall of Fame hockey player. While Clarke isn't the general manager anymore, he's still in the organization, and on the whole, the organization has forgiven Lindros.
This video from the beginning of the 2008-09 season shows that the feelings are mutual. It was played on the vdeo board before the Flyers' final game at the Spectrum.
If the people involved in the mess can put these issues aside, why shouldn't everybody else? Why shouldn't a committee of 18 people be able to look past the bull and vote based on a player's accolades?
Because those accolades are very impressive. 760 career NHL games, 865 career points. That's almost 1.14 points per game across a 13 year career. The number severely fell off the map in the latter years of his career due to injury, and longevity is certainly a concern of some voters, but if you consider the eight seasons he played in Philadelphia, he was one of the most dominant players in the league.
So, what do you think? Should Eric Lindros be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame?