Is Eric Lindros the most jacked and skilled NHL player of all time?

authentic

Registered User
Jan 28, 2015
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No

From a physical stand point one of Rod the Bod, Scott Stevens, Marty St Louis jump to mind

and from a skill point of view--He could not keep his head and that in itself is a key with talent--the fact that he could not keep his head up hurt him greatly

Stevens was in no way bigger or stronger than him, neither was Rod, and not sure why you mentioned St. Louis other than his leg strength. Rod may have appeared more jacked but I do not believe he was stronger.
 

Cup or Bust

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Oct 17, 2017
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Lindros was a force I hope we see again one day. Elite offensive ability and dominating physically. No player has ever had that combination at his level before or since.
 
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IamNotADancer

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Feb 16, 2017
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Not sure about darts, I've seen it on t.v before and the best guys were nearly obese old men.

There is a "-" (minus) in front of darts which suggest I meant "these sports excluded".

I sometimes wonder if having a big belly is a requirement or beneficial in darts to keep your body as steady as possible while trying to aim.
 

authentic

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Jan 28, 2015
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Yeah that's a huge risk in hockey. You want to be physically strong, but you don't want to bulk up so much that you lose speed or agility.

Someone like mackinnon bulked the right way. Physically imposing but fast as a laser. Or Crosby. He has arms the size of my legs.

And thighs the size of your body.
 

authentic

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Jan 28, 2015
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There is a "-" (minus) in front of darts which suggest I meant "these sports excluded".

I sometimes wonder if having a big belly is a requirement or beneficial in darts to keep your body as steady as possible while trying to aim.

Oh my bad, and that would be hilarious.
 

rambo97

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Jan 2, 2018
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To the OP, yes. Lindros was a bull. Whenever people ask me about Lindros I say this: imagine creating the perfect player in a video game--huge, solid skater, good puckhandler, good shot, great hitter. Lindros was all of the above. The dude is a genetic freak with an all-world skillset. There may never be another player like him.

This. I hated Lindros during his playing days because he was just so unstoppable. I was a Lemieux and Gretz fan and I didn't want Lindros to surpass them. So I cheered against him but can acknowledge his total package was breathtaking and a sight to behold.

He really did grow up in the wrong era. If he was in today's NHL with the focus on eliminating head shots he would probably obliterate the league. He also came up in the clutch and grab era because really that was the only way to stop him. Clutch, hold, obstruct and grab him. He was a freight train on the ice. I really believe he would have been a spectacle to behold in the current NHL (kind of like Lebron is in basketball).

Also wow was Gordie and Hull jacked especially for their era. I guess that is what old timers meant by "farmer's strength". My dad always told me never to mess with a farm boy.
 
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KevinRedkey

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Jan 22, 2010
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Guys like Bobby Hull and Gordie Howe were certainly jacked, but they were 5-6 inches shorter than Eric. Same goes for guys lie Rod "The Bod" Brind'Amour who was known for looking like a body builder. The shorter you are, the easier it is to look jacked, usually. Plus, a guy the size of Lindros with that much muscle, would tire easily.

Pronger was considered a beast, and his frame (torso) is thin compared to Lindros.
normal.jpg
 
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authentic

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Jan 28, 2015
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Guys like Bobby Hull and Gordie Howe were certainly jacked, but they were 5-6 inches shorter than Eric. Same goes for guys lie Rod "The Bod" Brind'Amour who was known for looking like a body builder. The shorter you are, the easier it is to look jacked, usually. Plus, a guy the size of Lindros with that much muscle, would tire easily.

Pronger was considered a beast, and his frame (torso) is thin compared to Lindros.
normal.jpg

Howe was 6'1 and Lindros was 6'4, but if I had to put my money on who was stronger I'm going with Lindros, same with Bobby Hull. Hull was bailing hay in his picture so of course he would appear more ripped and solid, not that that would indicate he was stronger anyway.
 

CartographerNo611

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Oct 11, 2014
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Chris Chelios and Gary Roberts were fitness freaks. Read an interview where Chelio's bear hugged a player along the boards and damn near cracked his ribs. Not talking Redwing Chris, that most on here remember, Im talking Erik Karlsson numbers while putting up 200 pim seasons... Chris.

George Laraque, while not skilled, was one of the strongest players to ever lace em up. Was routinely skating at 260 lbs +. The only player I have seen match him was a roided up Tony Twist who had a powerlifter build more than a body builder.
 

authentic

Registered User
Jan 28, 2015
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Chris Chelios and Gary Roberts were fitness freaks. Read an interview where Chelio's bear hugged a player along the boards and damn near cracked his ribs.

George Laraque, while not skilled, was one of the strongest players to ever lace em up. Was routinely skating at 260 lbs +. The only player I have seen match him was a roided up Tony Twist who had a powerlifter build more than a body builder.

Byfuglien, but of course he's not all muscle..
 
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pulfordfan

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Sep 28, 2017
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Little tidbit from Hockey news.

Howe was a brutal piece of work on the ice and in the corners. His elbows were lethal tools in his physical arsenal, but it was his sheer strength that made his foes cower. When Eric Lindros was a teenager, Howe came to visit his home in Toronto and when Lindros came to answer the door, Howe held it closed. Lindros could not pull the door open. “He’s just so stinking strong,” Lindros said at the time.
 

57special

Posting the right way since 2012.
Sep 5, 2012
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Tim Horton looks pretty ripped here. Doesn't look like a guy who ate a lot of doughnuts...

Forgot about him. Was famous for his strength. Believe it or not, Yvan Cournoyer was a tank. He lived in my town, and we'd see him in the summer at the local Perrette getting milk dressed in shorts and a T shirt. HUGE legs and forearms.
 

bucks_oil

Registered User
Aug 25, 2005
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Lindros and Howe were both monsters. Strong as hell.

Chara is the same. He's ripped at 260.
At 40 years old in training camp he blew away the rest of the team on pull ups.

View attachment 106313

I sat next to him on a plane while he was wearing shorts. He's all levers (obviously). He was the most "lean, wirey" looking guy I'd ever met. You are way more impressed by his height than anything else. If he were 6'3 with the same build you would just think he was skinny and tall... no bulk at all.

Not saying that doesn't lead to strength, it obviously can, but "jacked"... as the OP, put forward... is definitely not a word you'd use to describe him.
 

Ivan13

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May 3, 2011
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Howe was 6'1 and Lindros was 6'4, but if I had to put my money on who was stronger I'm going with Lindros, same with Bobby Hull. Hull was bailing hay in his picture so of course he would appear more ripped and solid, not that that would indicate he was stronger anyway.
Someone once described Howe's punches sounding like an axe splitting wood. Rocket was also a monster.
 

TheAngryHank

Expert
May 28, 2008
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Brett Hull didn't look very big on the ice compaired to other players but i seen him in Vail for Dallas training camp.He and a few others were eating out.Dressed in a tee shirt that dude was straight up YOKED.This was after the summer off. Hatcher was also a monster.
 

Appleyard

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He was great, even though I hate his on ice behaviour, but most jacked? I don't know. I wouldn't sign that. There were plenty of freakish players in the NHL over the course of it's existence. I'm not even sure he has a lot on guys Brind'amour, Stevens or Pronger. And these are just contemporaries.

He did beat Rod the Bod twice in Flyers pre-season fitness tests though.
 

Burke the Legend

Registered User
Feb 22, 2012
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Mind boggling whenever I see this pick. How freaking big are his arms?

This all before protein, creatine, HGH etc.. too. Did he do this on Whiskey and Sirloin Steaks?

A lot of these guys were farm boys who would go back and work on the family farm every summer, and back when farming was a lot more manual intensive than now. So they didn't have the advanced power training in gyms guys do now but still would be working out like crazy all day and doing the kind of "natural motion" resistance/strength movements that a lot of trainers now emphasize anyway.
 

Canadian Finn

Oskee Wee Wee
Feb 21, 2014
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Chara couldn't tie Lindros's skates.

Eric is the most skilled (not most successful) player I've seen since watching hockey in the early 80's.

To be honest, I'm not sure who even comes close.
 

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