Eric Lindros
Career Timeline

A chronology of Eric Lindros's hockey career

  1. May 27, 1989: Selected No. 1 by the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the Ontario Hockey League draft of 16-year-olds, but refuses to report to the Major Junior A team.

  2. September 1989: Moves to Detroit to play Tier II junior.

  3. Dec. 17, 1989: The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds trade Lindros to the Oshawa Generals for goalie Mike Lenarduzzi, forwards Jason Denomme and Mike DeCoff, a second-round pick in the 1991 OHL draft and fourth-round pick in 1992 OHL draft and up to $80,000 Cdn.

  4. Jan. 6, 1990: Canada, with Lindros in the lineup, wins the world junior hockey championship in Helsinki.

  5. May 13, 1990: Lindros and Generals win Memorial Cup championship in Hamilton.

  6. Jan. 4, 1991: Canada, again with the help of Lindros, repeats as world junior champion by beating Soviets 3-2 in Saskatoon. Lindros named to all-star team and selected best forward.

  7. May 13, 1991: Named player of the year in Canadian major junior hockey. Wins OHL scoring title with 71 goals and 149 points.

  8. June 13, 1991: Bonnie Lindros indicates in an interview that her son won't play for the Quebec Nordiques if they draft him.

  9. June 16, 1991: NHL president John Ziegler, Hall of Famer Guy Lafleur and president Marcel Aubut and general manager Pierre Page of the Nordiques meet with Lindros family and agent Rick Curran in Toronto hotel suite in hopes of avoiding an embarrassment at the draft in Buffalo, N.Y., but Lindros states flatly that he doesn't want to play in Quebec.

  10. June 22, 1991: Quebec Nordiques make Lindros the No. 1 pick in the NHL entry draft. He shakes hands with Page but spurns tradition by refusing to don the Quebec jersey after the selection is made.

  11. Sept. 1, 1991: Curran tells the Nordiques that Lindros will play in the OHL in 1991-92 if Quebec does not trade him.

  12. Sept. 16, 1991: Canada defeats the United States in Hamilton to win the Canada Cup tournament. Lindros was the only player without NHL experience on the roster but showed his physical power early in the tournament by breaking veteran Swedish defenceman Ulf Samuelsson's shoulder with a clean body check.

  13. Sept. 22, 1991: Begins OHL season with Oshawa. Takes out $5-million insurance policy.

  14. Sept. 14, 1991: The Nordiques reportedly offer Lindros a $50-million, 10-year deal, with one-half the money deferred. It's rejected.

  15. Oct. 24, 1991: The Generals loan him to the Canadian Olympic team.

  16. Jan. 4, 1992: Canada finishes sixth at world junior tournament in Germany. Lindros's lacklustre performances blamed on flu.

  17. Feb. 23, 1992: Canada, helped by Lindros, wins Olympic silver medal at the Winter Games in France; Aubut meets with Carl Lindros during Games in Albertville but family stands pat.

  18. March 10, 1992: NHL trading deadline passes.

  19. March 12, 1992: Plays one OHL game for Oshawa then packs hockey in for the season saying he needs a rest.

  20. June 1992: The Nordiques, after months of holding out hope they could persuade Lindros to sign, announce they're willing to trade his rights and actively solicit offers.

  21. June 20, 1992: Both the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers claim to have reached an agreement with Quebec on a deal for Lindros; NHL decides to appoint an independent arbitrator,Toronto lawyer Larry Bertuzzi, to decide the issue.

  22. June 22, 1992: Bertuzzi begins hearings in Montreal.

  23. June 27, 1992: Bertuzzi concludes hearings in the early morning hours after listening to presentations from 11 people, including Lindros, and returns to Toronto to review the evidence.

  24. June 30, 1992: Bertuzzi awards Lindros to Philadelphia. In exchange, Quebec Nordiques get Mike Ricci, Peter Forsberg, Steve Duchesne, Kerry Huffman, Ron Hextall and future considerations (Chris Simon) plus the Flyers' first-round choice in the 1993 entry draft (Jocelyn Thibault) and 1994 entry draft (later traded to Toronto and then Washington, who selected Nolan Baumgartner) and $15 million US.

  25. Oct. 6, 1992: Scored first NHL goal in Pittsburgh.

  26. Feb. 8, 1993: Acquitted of common assault after an incident with a woman in a Whitby, Ont., bar named Koo Koo Bananas. The woman alledged Lindros had spat and poured beer on her.

  27. Sept. 6, 1994: Named Flyers captain.

  28. March 18 and 20, 1995: Scored back-to-back hat tricks against Florida and Montreal.

  29. July 6, 1995: Wins Hart Trophy as league MVP in lockout-shortened season.

  30. Feb. 26, 1997: Had a goal and six assists at Ottawa.

  31. June 1997: Lindros and Flyers swept in four games by Detroit Red Wings in Stanley Cup final.

  32. Oct. 21, 1997: Scores 200th NHL goal, against Tampa Bay.

  33. Nov. 29, 1997: Named captain of the Canadian Olympic hockey team.

  34. Feb. 28, 1998: Scores winning goal at the New York Rangers for his 500th NHL point in his 352nd game. Fifth fastest to reach the plateau after Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Peter Stastny and Mike Bossy.

  35. March 7, 1998: Suffers concussion in Pittsburgh after a clean hit by Darius Kasparaitis. Misses 18 games.

  36. Sept. 8, 1998: Agrees to one-year, $8.5-million US deal with Flyers in handshake agreement.

  37. Dec. 29, 1998: Suffers mild concussion against Calgary after being checked heavily into the boards by Jason Wiemer.

  38. April 1, 1999: Suffers collapsed lung after check during game against Predators in Nashville. Teammate finds Lindros unconscious in hotel bathtub that night.

  39. April 9, 1999: Undergoes surgery after a setback in recovery from a collapsed lung.

  40. Jan. 14, 2000: Suffers concussion in Atlanta after checking an opponent then taking an elbow on the same shift.

  41. March 4, 2000: Suffers concussion when checked by Boston's Hal Gill.

  42. March 22, 2000: Chicago neurologist James Kelly diagnoses Lindros with Grade II concussion. Lindros out 4-6 weeks.

  43. March 23, 2000: At a news conference, Lindros criticizes Flyers' trainers for not recognizing concussion.

  44. March 27, 2000: Flyers strip Lindros of captaincy.

  45. May 4, 2000: Suffers concussion after practice collision with Francis Lessard of the AHL Philadelphia Phantoms. Also needs 20 stitches to close a cut on his upper lip.

  46. May 24, 2000: Returns to lineup for Game 6 of Eastern Conference final after 10-week absence due to concussions and scores in 2-1 loss to New Jersey Devils.

  47. May 26, 2000: Suffers concussion when hit by Scott Stevens 7:50 into Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final. Lindros spends the night in hospital.

  48. June 30, 2000: Clarke offers Lindros $8.5-million qualifying offer before midnight deadline.

  49. July 31, 2000: Lindros rejects Flyers' qualifying contract offer of $8.5 million US.

  50. Nov. 27, 2000: Cleared to play by Dr. Kelly.

  51. Nov. 28, 2000: Lindros announces after workout at Beatrice Ice Gardens in Toronto that the Toronto Maple Leafs are the one and only team he wants to be traded to.

  52. Feb. 7, 2001: Flyers tell Leafs what they want in exchange for Lindros.

  53. Feb. 19, 2001: Leafs' board of governors approves Lindros deal.

  54. Feb. 20, 2001: Flyers pull out of deal, according to Leafs GM Pat Quinn.

  55. Feb. 21, 2001: Leafs announce deal is dead. Leafs' GM Pat Quinn blasts Clarke.

  56. March 11, 2001: Lindros gives up Leafs-only stance, telling Flyers he'll accept a trade to St. Louis, Washington or Detroit as well.

  57. March 12, 2001: Lindros flies to St. Louis for a medical for the Blues.

  58. March 13, 2001: NHL trade deadline passes without a Lindros trade.

  59. June 13, 2001: Clarke flies to Toronto and has meeting with Carl Lindros and lawyer Gord Kirke, hoping to find a way to deal Lindros before July 1.

  60. June 21, 2001: Last-ditch talks between Leafs and Flyers fall through again before NHL draft in Sunrise, Fla.

  61. July 5, 2001: Lindros expands wish list to New York Rangers. July 24, 2001: Lindros invited to Team Canada Olympic camp in Calgary in September 2001.

  62. Aug. 11, 2001: Clarke gets serious in trade talks with Rangers GM Glen Sather.

  63. Aug. 20, 2001: After days of rumours, Lindros finally traded to Rangers in exchange for forwards Jan Hlavac and Pavel Brendl, defenceman Kim Johnsson and a middle-round draft pick.

  64. February 2002: Represents Canada at Olympics for third time.

  65. Oct. 23, 2003: Suffers shoulder injury in game against Florida.

  66. Jan. 28, 2004: Suffers another head injury in game against Washington. Limited to 39 games in 2003-2004 because of the injuries.

  67. Aug. 11, 2005: Lindros, an unrestricted free agent, signs a $1.55-million, one-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

  68. July 17, 2006: Lindros, an unrestricted free agent, signs a $1.55-million, one-year contract with the Dallas Stars.