Lindros now follows the law of the letter

Sporting News, The, Sept 19, 1994 by Larry Wigge

It's only a letter stitched on his uniform, but seeing Eric Lindros stick out his chest so proudly when he wore the captain's "C" for the first time last week was a sign of good times for the Flyers.

For two seasons, Lindros suffered silently as the Flyers missed the playoffs for the fourth and fifth consecutive seasons. No team had traded six players, two first-round draft choice and $15 million to acquire one guy, so the pressure was on Lindros to produce. He did, but the team didn't.

All of that is about to change, because this is now officially Eric Lindros' team. And he's got the letter of recommendation to prove it.

"It took Mario Lemieux five seasons to get the Penguins to the playoffs and seven to win a Stanley Cup. I think Eric is ahead of Mario's pace," says Flyers right wing Mark Recchi, who was with the Penguins during Lemieux's formative years. "This team reminds me a lot of those Penguins teams -- they both have a big star to lead them, several solid veterans and a good nucleus of young players."

Lindros seems to enjoy the comparisons to Lemieux, but cringes at the thought that it will take him five years to make the playoffs.

"We're not taking five years," he says with a sense of urgency in his voice. "That's ridiculous. I don't think we're that far away."

The Flyers were the only NHL team last season that had three players -- Recchi (107), Lindros (97) and Rod Brind'Amour (97) -- score at least 90 points. Mikael Renberg (82 in 1993-94) could join that list this season. And you can count on new Coach Terry Murray to devise a game plan to make the club's defense and goaltending stronger.

Still, it's Lindros who will make the Flyers special.

"Eric is already special," Flyers General Manager Bobby Clarke says. "But in two more years, when he's got four or five years in this league, then you're going to see something really special."

By then, Lindros, who had 44 goals and 53 assists in 65 games last season, will have replaced Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky as the league's marquee player. For now, Lindros is only worried about making the Flyers a contender.

"I was told not to change," Lindros says. "You just keep on playing. You don't act like there's a loaded gun in your back and if you falter it's going to go off.

"It's a great opportunity. But whether you wear a vowel or a consonant, everybody has to lead in his own way. The more people that are doing that the better the leadership becomes on the team."

To Lindros, the "C" on his uniform stands for chemistry. But it's really short for champion -- and everyone will realize that in the next couple of years.

Not playing ball

To a man, NHL players say they expect the owners to lock them out October 1 -- the day the regular season is scheduled to begin.

Although the salary cap is the major stumbling block, players say there are 19 takebacks imposed by Commissioner Gary Bettman on September 1 that are also unresolved.

Bettman has owners' approval to lock out the players on October 1 (the players do not receive their first pay-checks until October 15). And because negotiations are still so far apart, a lockout appears imminent.

"Everything I'm doing is to force a deal," Bettman says. "I don't want to go through a season like they've had in baseball where it's hanging over everybody's head for half a season, then they have a strike."

Wayne Gretzky says the NHL can't afford a lockout.

"It's just the wrong time for us not to be playing hockey, with the way hockey has been so positive and on the upswing the last few years," he says. "All work stoppages are detrimental to sports, but the reality is fans will go back to baseball when that strike is over. Our situation is different.

"We're not as powerful and we don't have the history that baseball does, especially in areas like Florida and California, where we're just gaining momentum. It would be tough to lose those fans because fans are fed up with sports in general."

Our solution: A salary cap for rookies. It will reduce the outrageous entry-level contracts about which owners have complained. And it will not affect the current union membership.

There is nothing wrong with rookies signing one-year contracts -- and then establishing their real value on the ice.

Blue flu

Center Alexei Yashin has reported to camp despite his threat to boycott the Senators until they redo the five-year, $4-million Contract he signed in 1993. But Yashin is still seeing red and wants to be traded.

"I came here to win, and I refuse to spend my career in an organization that strives for mediocrity and places its bottom line miles ahead of the blue line," says Yashin, who led the Senators with 30 goals and 49 assists last season, 28 points more than any teammate.

Icy bits

Kirk Muller will make a terrific replacement to Guy Carbonneau as captain of the Canadiens, but who will replace Muller as an alternate captain? "Vincent Damphousse is going to be our Doug Gilmour this year," says Canadiens Coach Jacques Demers. Obviously Demers forgot that Damphousse never plays more than one in 20 games with the kind of heart that Gilmour does for the Maple Leafs.... Earth to the Blackhawks. Don't look now, but Jeremy Roenick's $1.1-million salary is fifth on the club -- yes, behind Bob Probert -- and Roenick would walk out of camp in protest if he wasn't such a team player. Roenick has one year and option left on his five-year contract.... Look for Dallas center Mike Modano to get 60 goals this season. Stars Coach Bob Gainey plans to use him to kill penalties for the first time. Modano could be scary with all that open ice.