Stevens may have been the icing on the cake, but he had 5 concussions before that, and was suffering badly (and Clarke was a real dick about his condition too). Philly almost killed him before the Stevens hit:
Lindros' relationship with Flyers general manager Bobby Clarke soon deteriorated. He and Clarke feuded in the media, with Clarke questioning his toughness; Lindros spent many games on the injured reserve and suffered a series of concussions, the first in 1998 from a hit delivered by Pittsburgh's Darius Kasparaitis that sidelined him for 18 games.[20][21] Lindros suffered a second concussion in December 1998 that sidelined him for two games. During a game against the Nashville Predators on April 1, 1999, Lindros suffered what was diagnosed as a rib injury. Later that night, the teammate he was sharing a hotel room with, Keith Jones, discovered Lindros lying in a tub, pale and cold. In a call to the Flyers, the trainer was told to put Lindros on a plane that was returning to Philadelphia with injured teammate Mark Recchi. But Jones insisted that Lindros be taken to a nearby hospital and it was discovered Lindros had a collapsed lung caused by internal bleeding of his chest wall. Lindros' father wrote the Flyers a letter in which he stated that if the trainer had followed team orders, Eric would be dead, a statement supported by the doctors who treated him in Nashville.[22]
The 1999–2000 season was Lindros' last as a Flyer. Having suffered his second concussion of the season (fourth overall) in March, Lindros criticized the team's trainers for failing to diagnose a concussion as he played with symptoms following a hit he suffered in a game against the Boston Bruins two weeks prior. Clarke then stripped Lindros of the captaincy for his actions. Lindros sat out the remainder of the regular season and suffered another concussion while rehabilitating for a return to the lineup. Lindros ultimately returned for game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals against the New Jersey Devils; he scored the lone goal in a 2–1 Flyers loss. In game 7 of the series, Lindros was coming over the blue line with his head down, when Devils defenseman Scott Stevens hit Lindros with a shoulder check, knocking him unconscious and suffering yet another concussion. He was able to get off the ice with help from teammates. The Flyers lost game 7, 2–1 and the series despite leading three games to one, and Lindros became a restricted free agent during the off-season. He refused to accept a two-way qualifying offer with a minor league provision from the Flyers, who still owned his rights. After Lindros was cleared to play in December, the Flyers refused to deal his rights to the Toronto Maple Leafs, as he preferred, and Lindros sat out the entire 2000–01 season.
Edit: All that said, I don't think Lindros would have won a cup in Philly - it was a flawed team. They didn't really have a good defence and their goaltending was average.
Maybe read some of what Clarke had to say about the Lindros saga. The issue wasn't with Eric it was with Bonny telling Clarke who Eric had to play with and what other players the team needed. He has always said the issue was with the family. There defense was just as good as anyone elses at the time. And goaltending, other than the first 2 years the Flyers goalies were good.
McDavid will not re-sign in Edmonton because Edmonton is no good and he has known that for many years. It took him longer to figure it out than it should have because he was young and naive but Connor now knows that Edmonton is no good. Clearly Connor knows that Edmonton won't win a cup and that they were lucky to make it to the Stanley Cup Final two years in a row. If Connor thought Edmonton had a chance to win he would have signed a contract already.
Edmonton is no good and Connor McDavid wants out.
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The only thing that would give me a glimmer of hope if I was an Oilers fan is that McDavid is still answering questions about his contract. When he starts saying I am not going to answer anymore questions is when he has truly made up his mind.
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How many players are missing/injured from their Defensive lineup? Because woof is an understatement.
Something made me think Ekholm was injured but I guess not.
It will be hilarious if McDavid walks away from this team in free agency next summer. Think about this roster without him. And think about their prospect depth as well. They have nothing in the system to keep them competitive. Draisaitl will likely drop from a 100 point player to a 80-90 point player and then keep dropping.
Their smart move if McDavid leaves would be to trade Draisaitl next summer and go full rebuild since they would likely get a haul for him. Waiting for his numbers to drop without the McPowerplay would turn his contract into a bit of an albatross so the return would probably start to diminish after a couple years.
Something made me think Ekholm was injured but I guess not.
It will be hilarious if McDavid walks away from this team in free agency next summer. Think about this roster without him. And think about their prospect depth as well. They have nothing in the system to keep them competitive. Draisaitl will likely drop from a 100 point player to a 80-90 point player and then keep dropping.
Their smart move if McDavid leaves would be to trade Draisaitl next summer and go full rebuild since they would likely get a haul for him. Waiting for his numbers to drop without the McPowerplay would turn his contract into a bit of an albatross so the return would probably start to diminish after a couple years.
There was a false report that got pulled that Ekholm was going to be out long term with a groin injury, so he'll be in the lineup for a few weeks to start the season before he goes out long term with a groin injury.
