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Sunday, May 28, 2000

Latest concussion could end Lindros' career

By Rob Maaddi
Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA - Eric Lindros' star-crossed career could be over.
   The Philadelphia Flyers star sustained his fourth concussion in five months and his sixth in two years during the first period of a 2-1 loss to New Jersey in Friday night's Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.
   Lindros, 27, spent the night in a hospital and returned to his South Jersey home Saturday. Neither Lindros nor his father and agent, Carl Lindros, could be reached for comment.
   Carl Lindros attended Friday's game and accompanied his son to the hospital.
   Lindros was playing his second game after a 10-week absence because of postconcussion syndrome. It was widely speculated upon his return that Lindros' next concussion could end his career.
   His younger brother, Brett Lindros, retired from the NHL in 1996 after suffering three concussions with the New York Islanders and several concussions in juniors.
   "We are concerned about his career," Flyers forward Mark Recchi said.
   Should he decide to continue playing, it's likely Lindros - in the final season of a one-year, $8.5 million contract - would not return to Philadelphia because of the hard feelings between the Lindros family and team management.
   The controversial star played four games after a check by Boston's Hal Gill on March 4 gave him his second concussion of the season. He criticized the team's medical staff for failing to diagnose the severity of the injury and was stripped of his captaincy.
   He subsequently was ostracized from the team. His photo was removed from promotional advertisements. He wasn't included in highlight videos and the "C" was airbrushed from his sweater in an action photo on the cover of the team's postseason media guide.
   But Lindros returned to the team for Game 6 against the Devils, and played like he hadn't missed any time. He scored the team's only goal in the 2-1 loss, had another goal nullified because it was a half-second too late and was the main offensive threat.
   "The effort he put in to come back, the work with the training staff and the rehabilitative staff, he gave us a jump," Flyers interim coach Craig Ramsay said.
   But Lindros' comeback ended 7:50 into the first period of Game 7 when Devils captain Scott Stevens leveled him with a hit across the middle.
   The 6-foot-4, 236-pound Lindros was skating up ice with the puck and his head down when Stevens blindsided him with an elbow and shoulder hit. Just before the hit, Devils forward Jay Pandolfo impeded Lindros' progress by placing his stick between Lindros' legs.
   Lindros appeared to bang his head on the ice, and lay crumpled on the ice as the sellout crowd at the First Union Center grew eerily silent.
   No penalty was called on the play, and the Flyers said they thought it was a clean hit.
   "It was sickening," said Flyers forward John LeClair, who helped Lindros off the ice and later visited him at the hospital.
   Lindros, who played mainly on the third line in his first game back, was reunited with LeClair on the top line Friday night. The duo combined for more than 400 goals in nearly six years together.
   Now, they might never play together again.
   Lindros becomes a restricted free agent July 1 if the Flyers make him a qualifying offer. If they don't, he'll be an unrestricted free agent.
   General manager Bob Clarke, who hasn't spoken to Lindros since his return, has said the team will make the offer to ensure it would receive five first-round picks if Lindros signs elsewhere.
   Lindros' latest injury, however, could affect those plans. Clarke would not comment on the matter.
   Lindros was a walking textbook of medical problems this season. He missed two games with a viral infection, two with a bruised hand, four with his first concussion, four with back spasms and the final 14 with his second concussion.
   He missed the first 16 playoff games with postconcussion symptoms, including his third concussion sustained during a practice drill May 4 while he was recovering from the second one.
   Lindros was 19 when the Flyers traded six players, two first-round draft choices and $15 million to the Quebec Nordiques to acquire him.
   Despite six All-Star selections and an MVP award in 1995, he never won the Stanley Cup. The Flyers were swept by Detroit in 1997 in their only trip to the Cup final during the Lindros Era.

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