Eric Lindros, bust or biggest bust ever?

[toby91_ca 620]

Not Hall of Fame potential. He was good, but not great.

No, he was GREAT, just not for a long time.

[RedWings Gone Wild 6]

Ciccarelli's ppg stat is still better than Neely's. Dino has other issues that have kept him out. That's what will happen when you need to get voted in.

I don't think Lindros should get in, though Lindros at his best is better than most players in there, but if Lindros doesn't get in, they should think about removing players (starting with Neely). This is a joke of course.

I think Anderson will probably get elected next year, but you never know. He has less than 500 goals, less than a point per game, but he was clutch, especially in the playoffs. Maybe some think he rode the coattails of others in Edmonton and that's why that haven't voted him in. Really though, there have been much better alternatives to vote for (especially this year's crop).

One thing Lindros has going for him is that he didn't try to keep going, thereby keeping him well above the point-per-game mark. So at the very least Lindros will always have rather impressive stats. After all, how many guys can say they averaged over a point per game playing in the defensive 90s? Even guys like Yzerman and Sakic have their stats padded by the tail end of the 80s (and Sakic gets the benefit of the easy scoring mordern NHL era). Also, Ciccarelli would have been well above a point-per-game if he just called it quits rather than show up for garbage teams like Florida and Tampa. Anyways, Dino will be in the Hall of Fame as soon as Bowman is off the committee and there is a slow year (which wont be for a few more years).

Anderson has a lot of competition. He'll probably get in, but i'd be VERY surprised if he got in next year. Even Igor didn't get in last year, that's how many people are waiting at the gates to get in. Though Igor was better and more important to Hockey than anyone else that got in the Hall of Fame in 2006, but the hof has always had an NHL bias.

[wingslogo19 281]

I know this doesn't have to do with his HHOF status, but i thought this was a good read

http://frontburner.dmagazine.com/2007/11/0...s-5-million/999

[HomeNugget 2]

One thing Lindros has going for him is that he didn't try to keep going, thereby keeping him well above the point-per-game mark. So at the very least Lindros will always have rather impressive stats. After all, how many guys can say they averaged over a point per game playing in the defensive 90s? Even guys like Yzerman and Sakic have their stats padded by the tail end of the 80s (and Sakic gets the benefit of the easy scoring mordern NHL era). Also, Ciccarelli would have been well above a point-per-game if he just called it quits rather than show up for garbage teams like Florida and Tampa. Anyways, Dino will be in the Hall of Fame as soon as Bowman is off the committee and there is a slow year (which wont be for a few more years).

Anderson has a lot of competition. He'll probably get in, but i'd be VERY surprised if he got in next year. Even Igor didn't get in last year, that's how many people are waiting at the gates to get in. Though Igor was better and more important to Hockey than anyone else that got in the Hall of Fame in 2006, but the hof has always had an NHL bias.

Lindros did try to keep going though. he got hurt 7 years ago, missed an entire season, and then came back. each season since then has been worse than the one before it. its good that he stopped now when his great seasons still outweigh his mediocre seasons.

[Guest Agalloch]

The creator of the thread just does not get it. You can give him all the facts in the world, but he will just ignore them and create some bulls***. He either has a grudge against Lindros (hell, I hate him, but there's no denying how good he was), became a hockey fan in the last couple years, or is just stupid. I don't know which it is, but it's ridiculous. Lindros is in no way a bust. If you're going to say he was a bust because he never won a cup, then so far Crosby has been a bust. Hell, tons of great players have been busts using that excellent logic.

May I subscribe to your blog BringHomeTheCup? I look forward to reading more of your excellent opinions and fantastic insight on such great topics.

[toby91_ca 620]

I heard someone bring up something interesting today that I hadn't really thought about.

He said that Lindros was a guy that you couldn't take your eyes off when he was on the ice....and that's a hall of famer. There are only a handful of players you can say that about.

He is right, he was a presence out there, but I still wonder if he did enough. In what I think the HOF should be, I don't think he gets in, but if you look at some of the guys in there, I don't know how you keep him out.

[BringHomeTheCup! 0]

The creator of the thread just does not get it. You can give him all the facts in the world, but he will just ignore them and create some bulls***. He either has a grudge against Lindros (hell, I hate him, but there's no denying how good he was), became a hockey fan in the last couple years, or is just stupid. I don't know which it is, but it's ridiculous. Lindros is in no way a bust. If you're going to say he was a bust because he never won a cup, then so far Crosby has been a bust. Hell, tons of great players have been busts using that excellent logic.

May I subscribe to your blog BringHomeTheCup? I look forward to reading more of your excellent opinions and fantastic insight on such great topics.

Here's the thing, I really don't care what anyone thinks about me, I've said what I thought, and I stick to it. I did provide facts as to why I think Lindros is a bust, no one has come back with anything except that he was a MVP, once. I've never said Lindros wasn't good, or that he didn't have a few great years. I have no personal hatred for the guy, in fact, I think he gets a bad rep out of the whole "I don't want to play for Quebec" thing. While I'm not the oldest tool in the shed, I've still seen more than my share of hockey. I've played at a high level, probably higher than most here. It's fun to read your generic responce. By saying that I think Lindros is a bust because he never won a Cup, shows that you haven't read any of my posts. I never said that he was a bust simply because he didn't win a Cup. Does that add to it, yes it does. Like it or not, it makes a difference. If Crosby doesn't win a Cup, is he a bust? I've already answered that. Go back and READ.

[Legionnaire11 0]

here's some Lindros video. Ask yourself how many players would survive 13 years and put in 800 points playing this type of game. He was as physically dominating as any player ever. Didn't live up to the hype, but you can never call him a bust...

and a bonus for Wings fans...

Lindros TKO's Konstantinov

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Negative. While winning a Cup should obviously not be the only thing to judge somebody on getting in the HOF, for somebody who had the rep and presence that Lindros did before he got injury-happy, that would have greatly helped his cause, as he definitely had the numbers and stats early on in his career to help out.

Far from a complete bust, but unfortunately once he suffered that concussion from the major hit from Stevens in that New Jersey playoff series in 2000 (?), his career on the ice slowly started going downhill unfortunately.

[Opie 308]

I really don't think Hype should be a factor in the HHOF, in whether or not he was a bust I think it is a mandatory category.

The HHOF should be awarded on merit, what the player did to deserve to be there.

Hype shouldn't be the only criteria to be used when considering him a bust though either, draft position should have something to do with it. Since Lindros was drafted high and was expected to do unbelievable things, I guess he didn't live up to those expectations long term. I have a hard time labeling a guy that did what he did a bust though, far from it actually. But I can see how some one could consider him a bust.

It would have been fun though to see what he could have done if he had not had concussion issues. Imagine him playing 10-15 years at that level of competition, but then again a guy who plays that style of physical hockey is going to get injured often and usually pretty severely.

[eva unit zero 271]

I really don't think Hype should be a factor in the HHOF, in whether or not he was a bust I think it is a mandatory category.

The HHOF should be awarded on merit, what the player did to deserve to be there.

Hype shouldn't be the only criteria to be used when considering him a bust though either, draft position should have something to do with it. Since Lindros was drafted high and was expected to do unbelievable things, I guess he didn't live up to those expectations long term. I have a hard time labeling a guy that did what he did a bust though, far from it actually. But I can see how some one could consider him a bust.

It would have been fun though to see what he could have done if he had not had concussion issues. Imagine him playing 10-15 years at that level of competition, but then again a guy who plays that style of physical hockey is going to get injured often and usually pretty severely.

The fact that he is being talked about as a potential Hall of Famer means he's not a bust by any stretch. A bust is a guy who not only is supposed to do well, but then comes out and NEVER succeeds. For example:

Alexandre Daigle was drafted 1st overall in 93, Viktor Kozlov was drafted 6th that same year. Daigle scored 129 goals and 327 points in 616 games, which compares fairly well to the 169 and 442 in 749 games Kozlov carried into the current season. Daigle is universally considered a bust; some even label him as the biggest bust ever. Yet Kozlov was at times during his career considered a star player. Daigle was far more consistent a scoring threat and produced roughly the same amount of points without ever playing with talented linemates....I believe the best linemate he ever had was Mike Sillinger in Philadelphia. Lindros, however, won a Hart trophy and was nominated the next season, and was one of the five best players in the world for years. You can fail to live up to expectations and not be a bust, and that's what Lindros did.

[Opie 308]

The fact that he is being talked about as a potential Hall of Famer means he's not a bust by any stretch. A bust is a guy who not only is supposed to do well, but then comes out and NEVER succeeds. For example:

Alexandre Daigle was drafted 1st overall in 93, Viktor Kozlov was drafted 6th that same year. Daigle scored 129 goals and 327 points in 616 games, which compares fairly well to the 169 and 442 in 749 games Kozlov carried into the current season. Daigle is universally considered a bust; some even label him as the biggest bust ever. Yet Kozlov was at times during his career considered a star player. Daigle was far more consistent a scoring threat and produced roughly the same amount of points without ever playing with talented linemates....I believe the best linemate he ever had was Mike Sillinger in Philadelphia. Lindros, however, won a Hart trophy and was nominated the next season, and was one of the five best players in the world for years. You can fail to live up to expectations and not be a bust, and that's what Lindros did.

I agree I wasn't calling him a bust just saying I could see how some would view it that way.

[TSD 10]

I think it comes down to, "if injuries prevent you from being what you could have been" constitute you being a bust? In my opinion being a bust is being healthy and not performing near as expected. While Lindros was healthy he performed as expected, injuries just prevented him from padding those stats over time. You have to look at how he performed while healthy, do the numbers he put up while he was healthy constitute a bust in his case? No. He obviously performed like a star player. Unless being physically indestructable was part of his hype/potential, then lindros is far from a bust.

Lets compare an HOFER to lindros

Denis Savard

gp G A P

1196 473 865 1338

Eric Lindros

GP G A P

760 372 493 865

Savard played 436 more games and only scored 101 more goals. lindros could have scored .23 gpg for the next 436 games and tied Savards goals. and .85 apg to tie his assists ( or in total 1.08 ppg, lindros easily would have exceeded by far the 500 goal mark). At Lindros rate when healthy he would have blown this out of the water. Bottom line, lindros was is not a bust in reference to skill. Second of all it is ridiculous to tout any player out of college or juniors as being as good as gretzky, I garauntee crosby won't even come close to tasting gretzkys career point record or assist record is he a bust?

[Kutcher 0]

As much as I hate this guys for being a whiney little ***** through his OHL and NHL drafts. He was one of the best players to ever skate on the ice. I mean he dominated teams when he was healthy, I'm not sure he deserves the HOF but I think he will get in because getting in is a joke lately, but he was most certainly not a bust. I think you may have taken too many shots too the head and you are just retarted now, I mean if you claim he was a bust than any other player who boasted a ppg over 1.0 across 13 seasons is also a bust.