We knew it was coming. It’s been simmering for weeks and it was just a matter of time. Former NHL MVP Eric Lindros officially announced his retirement on Thursday in his hometown of London, Ontario. He scored 372 goals and had 865 points and 1,398 penalty minutes in 760 games for Philadelphia, Toronto, the New York Rangers and Dallas. He won the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 1995 and was part of the Canadian Olympic team that won gold in 2002. He also won silver for Canada at the 1992 games. The 34-year-old center made it through 13 seasons despite several concussions – injuries that eventually limited his playing time. The injuries restricted him to an average of only 58 games a season in his career, but he was an impact player when healthy, having four 40 plus goals seasons. Lindros was a free agent and hadn’t played this season. He is expected to join the staff of the NHL Players’ Association. Lindros also donated approximately $5 million to the London (Ontario) Health Sciences Foundation, where Lindros was treated during his career.
Lindros, hampered by concussions throughout his 13 years in the NHL, went out in style by donating $5 million to the London Health Sciences Foundation. It is believed to be the largest one-time donation by an athlete in Canada for charitable purposes, a foundation spokesman said. Some of his best hockey was in Canada’s colours. He was on two teams that won world junior championships, skated in the 1993 world senior championship, was on Canada’s victorious 1991 Canada Cup team, and won gold (2002) and silver (1992) Olympic medals.
He ruffled a lot of feathers when he refused to join the Quebec Nordiques after they made him the first pick in the 1991 entry draft, and he said he’d do it again. This time, he’d explain his position better, he said, reiterating that he’s not anti-French. While Lindros never quite made the mark on the game many people thought he would, he did things on and off the ice that indelibly impacted the game.