[DEBATE] Which #88 in their prime are you taking?

[Elias Pettersson]

Which #88 in their prime are you taking?

[Gurn]

In his prime it is Lindros.  

unanimous voting continues

[Elias Pettersson]

Eric Lindros in his prime was unstoppable.  THE perfect specimen.  If it wasn't for all of the injuries he would have been one of the greatest players ever.  

 

Yes I picked Eric Lindros...

[bigbadcanucks]

Eric Lindros...no doubt about it.

[Twilight Sparkle]

how can anyone forget oilers legend robbie schremp. this is a travesty

[Roger Neilsons Towel]

No Tryamkin? Smh 

[-Vintage Canuck-]

Eric Lindros should and will win this by a landslide.

[Patel Bure]

1 hour ago, Elias Pettersson said:

Which #88 in their prime are you taking?

Lindros no contest.   He was the best player on the planet and one of the greatest of all-time for a brief stretch there.  Prime Lindros was up there with the Crosby’s, McDavid’s, etc., even if it was for a few years.

 

Pat Kane and Vasilevsky are tremendous talents but they’ve never been head and shoulders the best player in the world like Lindros was from around 95-97.

Edited August 2, 2021 by Patel Bure

[-AJ-]

Prime? Lindros no question. Probably would've had 1500+ points in a career had injuries not hit him.

 

Kane is probably 2nd and beyond that, it gets pretty tight I think between the final three.

[Nuxfanabroad]

Man, the drama around Lindros, back around 1991-93. Imagine if there'd been the 24/7 social media(w/ all today's platforms) back then?

 

The stories about this guy. Like spitting beer on a girl in a club - he really seemed like an entitled, huge, bully-brat. Parents representing him, refuse Quebec, etc...

 

Gotta' be honest, when Kaspar leveled him, I felt the hockey Gawds had taken appropriate action. 'Karma Police' by Radiohead comes on as I'm typing..hmm. Yup, big Eric got a heavy dose of karma.

 

 

[filthycanuck]

Lindros. The guy was an absolute force. Kane and Pastrnak are great players, no question about it, but man Lindros was unstoppable with his size, brute strength, and his shot was world class.

[Patel Bure]

50 minutes ago, Nuxfanabroad said:

Man, the drama around Lindros, back around 1991-93. Imagine if there'd been the 24/7 social media(w/ all today's platforms) back then?

 

The stories about this guy. Like spitting beer on a girl in a club - he really seemed like an entitled, huge, bully-brat. Parents representing him, refuse Quebec, etc...

 

Gotta' be honest, when Kaspar leveled him, I felt the hockey Gawds had taken appropriate action. 'Karma Police' by Radiohead comes on as I'm typing..hmm. Yup, big Eric got a heavy dose of karma.

 

 

Lindros was a dickhead but he was one of the greatest players of all time at his peak.  Forsberg as well.

[iinatcc]

I'll take Kane, Lindros is tempting but he's had quite a number of injures 

[IBatch]

5 hours ago, Nuxfanabroad said:

Man, the drama around Lindros, back around 1991-93. Imagine if there'd been the 24/7 social media(w/ all today's platforms) back then?

 

The stories about this guy. Like spitting beer on a girl in a club - he really seemed like an entitled, huge, bully-brat. Parents representing him, refuse Quebec, etc...

 

Gotta' be honest, when Kaspar leveled him, I felt the hockey Gawds had taken appropriate action. 'Karma Police' by Radiohead comes on as I'm typing..hmm. Yup, big Eric got a heavy dose of karma.

 

 

My wife tutored Lindros in high school, while playing in Oshawa for math.  He was a perfect gentleman, kind and polite etc.   Think that the hate from Quebec brought on a lot of stuff, as did the dealings with Bob Clarke later as a flyer that questioned his character.    That said you won't ever find a bad word about him as a teammate anywhere.  He never wanted to be a "God" like the Nordiques said he'd be going there.   Not that i agree with that move - just go and be happy to be the next Mario.   As far as his play goes - just for fun go watch some highlights, the guy was punting 220lb D's in the leagues toughest ever era 20 feet into the boards with open ice hits.    Was a human pinball machine until he got his own back by Kaspar and then Stevens.   Incredible hands too.  

[IBatch]

1 hour ago, iinatcc said:

I'll take Kane, Lindros is tempting but he's had quite a number of injures 

In his prime in the dead puck era, he was killing it.   Kane's one dimensional, Lindros was complete and playing in this era we'd be picking him ahead of McDavid and Mckinnon most likely.   No redline, and few players that would causes him an iota of pushback.  If any really. 

Edited August 2, 2021 by IBatch

[IBatch]

5 hours ago, -AJ- said:

Prime? Lindros no question. Probably would've had 1500+ points in a career had injuries not hit him.

 

Kane is probably 2nd and beyond that, it gets pretty tight I think between the final three.

Yes he would have, mostly in the dead puck era too.   Jagr and Lindros were the only two guys that could really put up points back then.   Bure, Selanne, Sakic and Forsberg too but Lindros was half himself after the collapsed lung and concussions started.   When he was a junior nobody could touch him...in the 90's there was a couple guys on each team that could handle him somewhat, but still took him forever to learn to keep his head up.    In today's game i'm sure he'd be making the max, not redline, no head hunting and a small handful of D's big enough to give any trouble.   The guys an absolute beast.    No Babychs's in this game except one and he's 43 now. 

[Putgolzin]

2 hours ago, IBatch said:

Yes he would have, mostly in the dead puck era too.   Jagr and Lindros were the only two guys that could really put up points back then.   Bure, Selanne, Sakic and Forsberg too but Lindros was half himself after the collapsed lung and concussions started.   When he was a junior nobody could touch him...in the 90's there was a couple guys on each team that could handle him somewhat, but still took him forever to learn to keep his head up.    In today's game i'm sure he'd be making the max, not redline, no head hunting and a small handful of D's big enough to give any trouble.   The guys an absolute beast.    No Babychs's in this game except one and he's 43 now. 

And don't forget little, old, mid-30s Wayne Gretzky could still put up similar numbers through that era; he still showed up in the Top 5 in scoring some years despite the historical-revisionism that he only scored in the high-flying 80s

[grumpyone]

Lindros? that snot nosed little puke who refused to play for the team that drafted him. He should have been banned from the NHL for life... you play for the the team that selected you or you wait it out, 3 years, and re enter the draft. It's a privilege to be able to play in the greatest league of the world. Until you have enough senority to warrant holding out for a trade/sign elsewhere you suck it up and play your heart out. 

[HorvatToBaertschi]

I'll take the 3x SC winner that's proved he was a playoff performer time and time again. Was too young to see Lindros in his prime so my opinion is skewed, but Kane is and was a complete beast offensively in an era where goalies could actually stop the puck. 

[IBatch]

30 minutes ago, nzan said:

And don't forget little, old, mid-30s Wayne Gretzky could still put up similar numbers through that era; he still showed up in the Top 5 in scoring some years despite the historical-revisionism that he only scored in the high-flying 80s

No doubt.   Half his peak was still good enough to compete with the best of the next era in their peak prime.    Any sort of re-visionist history discussed with someone who wasn't around can be not worth the effort.   With a bad back that almost forced retirement in the very early 90's, and a bum shoulder (which for sure affected his shot), he was still outproducing almost all the HHOFers that started in the late 80's to the late 90's.   That's a big list including Federov, Iginla, Theo Fluery, JNew,  Shanny,   Bure, Sakic, Sundin, Forsberg, Modano, Lindros, Jagr et all.   100 points was half his peak literally and figuratively.    The guy was just at another level like Orr and Mario.   And played his swan song years with lesser teams in the dead puck era.   What could have been if he played with us, Ronning stayed ... Plus Mogilny Bure etc 

Edited August 2, 2021 by IBatch