Scary Business

 

Eric Lindros has seen what concussions can do - his brother retired at 20 because of them - but the Big E wants to play again. Soon.

Brett Lindros once kidded his older brother, Eric, that he should wear nothing but black, break all the rules in the game and be known as the baddest dude in hockey history.

Eric Lindros definitely has proved to be a rebel. But after suffering six concussions in a 27-month span, the 27-year old center’s, career - he once was the most formidable force in hockey - is filled with question marks as he looks for a fresh start in a city not called Philadelphia.

Lindros, a restricted free agent, was given the green light to play on November 27 by Chicago-based neurologist James Kelly. But the hang-up is that Flyers G.M. Bobby Clarke says he wants full value for Lindros – a former No. 1 draft pick and league MVP – even though Lindros’ career could end with one more collision

“If Eric Lindros is a healthy hockey player as Dr. Kelly apparently has said, then he is one of the top players in the game, and we expect to be compensated accordingly." Clarke said at a press conference last week. “I'm not going to rent him out for draft choices and prospects. I have to do what's best for the Flyers, not make a deal just to satisfy Eric. He's the one who walked out on us.”

The jersey and helmet Lindros now wears are plain white - not the black suggested by his brother as he works out with friends at Toronto's York University. Lindros, who is living in a friend's spare room, pays for the ice time.

 

"A team taking me is going to have to make a big gamble, everyone knows that," Lindros says. "Some say I could be done with one more big hit. But I don't look at it that way. The last couple of months have been really good, not only from a physical standpoint, but from a mental standpoint. Hockey is a very important part of my life. I've been playing for a long, long time, and it is a big void when you are not doing it."

Former and current players who have been affected by concussions are telling Lindros to weigh his options carefully.

Kings G.M. Dave Taylor had his career ended by a concussion and now serves on committees to improve helmets and make mouthpieces essential and to study the effect of seamless glass on the number of concussions. He says one or two players from each team has had some form of concussion. "I remember I had trouble remembering things, even easy things like my phone number," Taylor says. "That's how bad it can get."

Adds Avalanche center Joe Sakic: "My first few years as a pro, you never even thought about it. You'd get knocked out big and then you would be right back at it in a few days. Now everyone realizes how serious it is."

Former Blues left winger Geoff Courtnall had similar sentiments. "The doctors told me if I gel any more damage to my brain, I might not live," says Courtnall, who retired after suffering a concussion. “If Eric Lindros doesn't get up the next time, was it worth the risk?"

Former Maple Leafs winger Nick Kypreos, whose career ended because of a concussion, is one of the players who has been working out with Lindros in Toronto. "I've told Eric I don't want to see him get hurt," he says. "But if he can't take a hit and we need to see this hunk of a man carried off the ice again, I want him to retire."

Former Islanders defenseman Dennis Vaske, however, brings the issue to a level we can all understand in his comment to Newsday several years ago: "Riding in that ambulance, I thought my head was going to explode."

 

Lindros, who says he has been free of postconcussion-syndrome symptoms for more than two months, wants to play for the Maple Leafs. Regardless of which team he winds up with, he realizes the questions about his health could push a deal into the new year.

"There is a lot of risk involved, from a medical point of view," Lindros says. "But I've been cleared, and I feel good.

"I wouldn't play again if it meant I could be scarred for life. I saw what Brett went through before he had to retire. I wouldn't put myself or my family through that again."

Postconcussion-syndrome symptoms forced Brett to retire in May 1996 when he was 20 after playing just 51 NHL games for the Islanders.

Eric Lindros has not played since the first period of Game 7 in the Eastern Conference finals, when he was slammed to the ice by a clean hit from defenseman Scott Stevens.

Though Lindros can sign an offer sheet with another team, Clarke and the Flyers have the right to match. As a result, a trade is his most viable option. Lindros is optimistic.

"I think things are warming up," he told reporters in Toronto.

While some reports speculated about a straight-up deal for Maple Leafs star center Mats Sundin, it is more likely that Clarke will ask for defenseman Tomas Kaberle and young center Nik Antropov. In the end, however, look for the Flyers to get a package that could include Antropov or winger Sergei Berezin and a defenseman like Danny Markov, plus conditional draft choices.

Lindros has scored 659 points in 486 games. That's impressive. But he has played more than 70 games just twice in his eight-year NHL career-and the conditional draft picks likely would be based on how many games Lindros plays after a trade is made.

The Kings, Stars and Rangers also are interested in Lindros. Stars G.M. Bob Gainey says he received a phone call from Gord Kirke, Lindros' attorney, informing him that Lindros was interested only in playing in Toronto.

 

"We have discussed the Lindros situation," Maple Leafs G.M.-coach Pat Quinn told reporters in Toronto. "But we're not about to take all the risk in this."

Lindros demanded a trade when he was playing junior hockey, and he demanded a trade when he first was drafted by an NHL team. Lindros is still sort of that black-clad rebel, insisting that he will play only for the Maple Leafs, though his career appears to be hanging by a thread.

Yes, Eric Lindros is an accident waiting to happen. But, if healthy, he's also one of the top players in the game. That is the intriguing part of what teams will ask themselves in the next few weeks-beginning with the Toronto management.

Brett Lindros, who has been physically where his big brother is now, sees little reason to discourage Eric from continuing his NHL career.

"If I didn't think he should play again, I would say so," Brett says. "If I saw the same telltale signs I had, I would tell him, 'Don't play.' "

Instead of leaving hockey, Brett Lindros thinks his brother needs only to leave Philadelphia. "Three years ago 1 told him that the Flyers weren't good for him, that he should look at the success that other big players have had after they change teams, like Shaquille O'Neal," Brett says. "But he wanted to see if he could get the job done in Philadelphia, win a Stanley Cup there."

Relations with Flyers' management three years ago were deteriorating. But Lindros thought the Flyers, who had gone to the Stanley Cup finals in 1997, could get back to the peak once again.

They didn't, and the finger-pointing escalated. Reportedly, Lindros and the Maple Leafs already have agreed on the framework of a five-year contract. But Clarke won't do Lindros or Eastern Conference rival Toronto any favors. He'll drag trade talks on until he's ready to make a deal-maybe to the March trade deadline.

 

But he will make a deal. Because the Flyers won't get better until they convert Lindros' value on paper into something tangible on the ice. That's why, eventually, Clarke has to give in to Lindros' power play.

That's the point where Brett Lindros picks up his brother's story again.

"For now, he's getting better and better," he says. "I want to see him healthy. But I also want to see him achieve his dream of winning a Stanley Cup. I still think he can do it."

I do, too.            TSN

Senior writer Larry Wigge covers hockey for THE SPORTING NEWS. E-mail him at wigge@sportingnews.com.

 

LaFontaine’s advice

The sparkle is back in Pat LaFontaine's blue eyes, more than two years after his sixth concussion.

He is one of the lucky ones. Not like former Rangers defenseman Jeff Beukeboom or former Blues winger Geoff Courtnall, both of whom are still suffering from postconcussion syndrome more than a year after they had to retire because of the injuries.

"After I retired I began fixing things around our house," LaFontaine says. 'Then I helped one of the neighbors. Now I've got a business rehabbing houses; I'm sort of like the Bob Villa of hockey."

LaFontaine has traded in his magical hockey stick, his fleet skates and helmet for a hard hat. He's counting his blessings that he's got his health, and he owes a lot of it to his dog.

"It's funny, but before I would admit my career was in jeopardy, before anyone could explain why I felt so listless and empty, my dog, Fred, knew something was wrong," LaFontaine says. "After I suffered my fifth concussion in November of 1996, I'd wake up every two or three hours and go into different rooms in the house - and Fred followed me to every room. I'm going through this emotional roller coaster, and Fred was the only one who really knew something was wrong."

LaFontaine played one more season with the Rangers before a sixth concussion ended his career in March 1998. That's why he says he'd be a hypocrite if he told Eric Lindros to quit after six concussions.

"A neurologist at the Mayo Clinic asked me, 'Did it feel like someone came along and ripped all the motivation and personality out of you?' That was exactly what happened to me" LaFontaine says, "I remember being scared because for the first month after my fifth concussion, I was very depressed at times. I wouldn't want to come out of my room. My wife was really scared because the littlest things would set me off.

"It was almost like I was hit by a tidal wave. At first, I felt numb. Then you're almost in denial to what was happening. When things got worse, it seemed like everything slowed down to a crawl. The doctor said it's like you're used to using a 32-megabyte computer, and now it’s 16 and the wires have to be reconnected. Being an analytical person, a Type-A personality like I am, doesn't make it easier. For somebody who is always upbeat, positive, it’s a scary feeling not to have any of that. I had no drive. No focus and goals and objectives. There was no challenge to move forward. I didn't choose this; it chose me.

"We all think as athletes we're somewhat invincible. We get knocked around, but we get back up again. There's control involved. What I would tell Eric Lindros is that if he ever feels he has lost that control, then he should start to think about changing his career." -L. W.

 

He should have known better

Flyers right winger Mark Recchi says there's something in all of us that makes us hide the truth when we're not feeling well.

Earlier this season Recchi suffered dizzy spells after a game in Philadelphia. He had nausea and memory lapses-all symptoms of a concussion.

"But I didn't want to say the c-word," Recchi says. "And I, more than any other player, should have known better. After all, my father-in-law is a neurologist and because of what's going on with Eric (Lindros), we've talked all about concussions"

 

Recchi even refused to tell the trainer he still was having problems and went with the team to New York. When he couldn't play in the game, he finally admitted that he was having concussion symptoms and was sent home on a train. -L. W.

 

A view from the other side

Neutralizing opponents is the main part of New Jersey defenseman Scott Stevens' job. He still regrets putting Eric Lindros out with his sixth concussion, but Stevens says he can't change the way he plays.

"Hitting is part of the game. That's the bottom line," he says. "An important part of the playoffs is finishing your checks. In this situation, one scoring opportunity might have won it for them, and it's my job to see that that scoring chance is eliminated.

"You don't look at a player and say, 'This guy's had concussion problems, I'm going to take it easy on him' In a split-second you see one of their players coming at you, and you do whatever you can to stop him. That's the way this was. I think everyone knows I'm no good to my team if I don't play as physical as I can."

The hit on Lindros came early in the first period of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Lindros, who had just returned to the lineup after missing 10 weeks with a series of concussions, skated into the Devils' zone with the puck and sidestepped defenseman Scott Niedermayer. But Lindros didn't see Stevens, who caught him flush in the jaw with a devastating and clean check. Lindros appeared unconscious even before he hit the ice.

Stevens was noticeably distraught on the bench, watching as Lindros was helped off the ice.

 

"I had to go talk to him," says Devils coach Larry Robinson. "He was really down. He felt bad. He's a physical player, but that hit really bothered him."

"I never like to see another player get hurt," Stevens says. "Yes, I'm physical and hurting players is part of my job. But not putting a player's career in jeopardy." -L. W.

 

Remembering concussions

Concussions seem to have become an increasingly common ailment in the NHL these days, but the story surrounding each concussion is different.

• Paul Kariya's memory lapses following his fourth concussion-caused by a crosscheck to his jaw by defenseman Gary Suter on February 1,1998-were so bad that several times he called a friend and then called him again moments later, not remembering the first call.

"If you want to know the truth," Kariya says, "there probably isn't a player in the league who hasn't had a concussion. But we're all so macho that we shake off a hit to the head or the jaw and keep on playing-and as long as the symptoms don't get too bad, we sometimes don't even say anything to the medical staff."

Kariya missed the last 28 games that season and didn't begin to feel right until two months later, when he began a series of acupuncture treatments to help ease the pain in his neck and head. Kariya began the acupuncture treatments at Eric Lindros' suggestion.

Kariya also began wearing a mouthpiece and a safer helmet, and he began a routine of exercises to strengthen his neck, which he still does today.

Kariya hasn't had any more concussions, but he won't soon forget the frightening end to that season.

"I remember," Kariya says, "before I began the treatments in mid-April, it was like I couldn't remember the last time I felt good"

• After Boyd Devereaux went into convulsions after taking a hit from Dallas Drake in an April game, Oilers team physicians that Devereaux, a 22-year-old center, should retire; it simply was too risky to continue his hockey career. The doctors were concerned by earlier tests that had detected bleeding around his brain.

Knowing this, the Oilers didn't protect Devereaux, the sixth-overall pick in the 1996 draft. They also didn't make him a qualifying contract offer, which made him a free agent.

But after being passed over in the expansion draft in June, Devereaux began feeling better. He never suffered serious side effects associated with concussions, such as nausea and vision problems. So he sought out a second opinion from a doctor in Montreal. This time the diagnosis wasn't as severe. It was decided Devereaux could continue to play hockey with limited risks. He later signed with the Red Wings.

"This summer was like a huge roller-coaster ride for me," Devereaux says. "It was the hardest day of my life when the doctors said I couldn't play. You don't want to think it's over. But I had to think of alternatives for my life. It wasn't an easy time."

• Watching the playoffs from the press box was no easy time for Blues right winger Pavol Demitra. He was the team's leading scorer, but missed the final eight games of the season and all seven first-round playoff games after being checked from behind by forward Brian Holzinger on March 24.

"I wanted to play so bad, but some days I had a headache for 24 hours and couldn't even sleep," Demitra says. "I'd go for a couple of days without headaches and then get another one I could hardly stand.

"The doctors kept saying I had to have three straight days without headaches before I could exercise. I thought I was home free one time and then started getting headaches riding the bike."

• The elbow defenseman Derian Hatcher slammed into Petr Sykora's head in the first period of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals spoiled Sykora's dream of skating around the ice with the Cup. Instead, he was in a hospital room in Dallas when his Devils teammates celebrated.

In honor of his countryman, linemate Patrik Elias draped Sykora's No. 17 sweater around his shoulders during the celebration. Sykora says he didn't suffer dizzy spells after the hit, but he did have a headache.

"I watched the rest of the game on TV in the hospital," Sykora says. "When we won I saw my sweater on Patrik's shoulder - and my headache suddenly didn't feel so bad. I remember turning off the TV and going to sleep and dreamed about the guys celebrating.

"Then all of a sudden I woke up and there were six or seven of the guys in my hospital room with the Cup. Winning the Cup wasn't how I dreamed it would be, but I'll bet no one else can say they raised the Stanley Cup in celebration in a hospital room like I did." -L. W.

 

The Latest Victims

 

Concussions have dominated the headlines in the NHL this year as well. The players who have missed playing time because of concussions through December 1:

Petr Buzek, Atlanta

Steve Staios, Atlanta

Patrik Stefan, Atlanta

Paul Coffey, Boston

Jay Henderson, Boston

Joe Hulbig, Boston

Rhett Warrener, Buffalo

Tom Albelin, Calgary

Phil Housley, Calgary

Steve Smith, Calgary

David Tanabe, Carolina

Adam Deadmarsh, Colorado

Jeff Nielsen, Minnesota

Jim Campbell, Montreal

Christian Laflamme, Montreal

Garry Galley, Islanders

Keith Jones, Philadelphia

Keith Primeau, Philadelphia

Mark Recchi, Philadelphia

Jeremy Roenick, Phoenix

Hans Jonsson, Pittsburgh

Mark Smith, San Jose

Alexander Kharitonov, Tampa Bay

Pavel Kubina, Tampa Bay

Bryan Muir, Tampa Bay

Andrei Zyuzin, Tampa Bay

 

___________________________________________________________________

Title:	Scary Business. Eric Lindros has seen what concussions can do - his brother retired at 20 because of them - but the Big E wants to play again. Soon.
Author:	Wigge, L.
Publisher:	The Sporting News Publishing Company
Source:	Sporting News (St. Louis, Mo.)
Volume (Issue):	224(50)
Date:	11 Dec 2000
Page:	46-49
SIRC Article #:	S-667992

 

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