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

[The Grim Reaper]

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

Correction: Pronger's elbow was considered a beast.

 

[The Grim Reaper]

 

[Conbon]

His combination of skill and size was generational, as was Chara

Generational is absolutely correct. Very John Scott-esque

 

[CHGoalie27]

Mr.Hockey for the win

 

[authentic]

Someone once described Howe's punches sounding like an axe splitting wood. Rocket was also a monster.

No doubt he was very strong, I just doubt he was stronger than Lindros. I could be wrong though.

 

[authentic]

Really though? 6'9" amazing skater, is constantly leading his team in weights for workouts, reps, etc..

he is a physical specimen just as much as Lindros is

Yeah some people don't fully grasp that he's not just a 6'9 guy who can skate and play hockey well. He's extremely fit and strong.

 

[authentic]

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.

Does it really matter how jacked he looks though when he could throw peak Lecavalier around like a rag doll?

 

[pulfordfan]

No doubt he was very strong, I just doubt he was stronger than Lindros. I could be wrong though.

Like Cam on modern family, he was farm strong, way before "supplements" hay bails instead of dumb bells.

 

[authentic]

View attachment 106387

Yeah I've seen that pic a thousand times, doesn't really prove anything though, Lindros packed a good 40 pounds more than him of solid muscle in a frame 3 inches taller.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

I'd hit it.

 

[Breakfast of Champs]

Jacked in terms of muscle hypertrophy stemming from strenuous workouts followed by overeating and whatnot? In that case, there were probably many guys who were closer to bodybuilders.

If on the other hand you mean heavy-boned, overflowing with testosterone and a natural strength (look at Eric's wrists! They're thicker than many men's forearms!), then he does have a case. He radiated strength. The natural one. The functional one.

Pretty sure the Flyers limited Eric's upper body workouts due to fear of being too bulky and not needing any more strength whatsoever, so if it came at the cost of speed it was seen as bad.

I was told this but I have never actually read or looked into it.

 

[MoistDadBod]

Someone post that picture of Martin St. Louis' legs and close this one down.

 

[GreatGonzo]

He was a freak specimen. Bobby Hull and Gordie Howe were freaks as well, but I think what separates Lindros was that he was just significantly bigger, mix that in with his talent. He was a monster for sure.

 

[Canadian Finn]

I remember watching him in the Canada Cup at age 18.

Was a dominant force on the ice.

If we had a player come up through the system in 2018 the moisters wouldn't know what hit them!

Actually, I would suspect the youngings would suggest him not being allowed to play as he is mean and might hurt their favourite star made of glass.

Lindros = Power and Fear.

 

[CHGoalie27]

Harry Sinden tells a great Howe story.

In 1966 at Bruins training camp during an exhibition against the Red Wings there was a scrum in front of the Bruins bench. As the players squared off a Boston rookie by the name of Derek Sanderson grabbed Gordie Howe and was heard to say 'one false move old man and your career is over'

Howe just stared at him and smiled.

The entire Bruins bench busted out laughing. While Coach Sinden yelled ' get on the bench before he ******* kills you!'.

Makes me cry at this moment, how much of a sweet, kind, and caring heart he was. The world sucks much harder without him.

 

[ITM]

Probably, but it led to him thinking he was GOD and his brain is now going to be a science experiment.

I watched Lindros in junior and he was and is without any comparison the absolutely most dominating junior player I've ever seen. So, mindful that he actually was as intimidating a physical specimen as he was at 18 playing against men, he was exponentially so against teenagers in the OHL.

I think given how anomalous Lindros was physically and how exceptionally skilled he was, he needed a model or mentor at the point of transition from the OHL to the NHL in order to reset his mind to the possible dangers of believing he could likewise continue to impose his will in a hockey rink. And I don't think short of Mario Lemieux or Mark Messier being with the then kid Lindros entering his 20s on a weekly basis, that he was ever going to learn that lesson in theory. I think he knew he was an exceptional player and I suspect only an exceptional player could have reigned him in, if there was ever a chance to do so.

But I think the fix was in from junior. When you look like an NHL superstar and play like the toughest skilled NHL superstar in junior without the slightest material challenge to your "reign"...and then that teenage brain confirms said potential greatness against the absolute best in the world...he really didn't have a reason not to think he couldn't impose his will because it's all he ever knew. And what he knew kept bringing him to one peak of success after another...

...until he climbed Mt. Stevens.

But yeah...Other-wordly junior hockey player was Eric Lindros.

 

[gertbfrobe16]

rod the bod said he played football and that is when he started to train with weights. most players didn't use weights back in the day

 

[Connor McConnor]

Ask Scott Stevens

 

[bucks_oil]

Does it really matter how jacked he looks though when he could throw peak Lecavalier around like a rag doll?

It doesn't, but your argument is then with the relevance of the OP's statement. I'm responding only to that and by the common parlance used in the OP, Chara is not the most "jacked" of NHL players past or present. I was actually surprised about how "normal" he looked (once you get past the freakish height). I got a pic of my wife standing next to him... she's 5'1, so it made for quite a laugh.

 

[puckIuck]

Someone post that picture of Martin St. Louis' legs and close this one down.

st louis is 5'5'' though. lindros had it all.

 

[Sasso09]

Jiri Slegr was a weights freak on the Penguins back in 98 or so. He was a freak.

And he was the first guy to tell you he was like a child compared to Jagr.

Lindros played more physical, but Jagr was stronger IMO. And doubly so from the waist down, his thighs were huuuueeee (still are).

Yeah.....no

 

[authentic]

It doesn't, but your argument is then with the relevance of the OP's statement. I'm responding only to that and by the common parlance used in the OP, Chara is not the most "jacked" of NHL players past or present. I was actually surprised about how "normal" he looked (once you get past the freakish height). I got a pic of my wife standing next to him... she's 5'1, so it made for quite a laugh.

Lol I know what you are trying to say but I'm not sure what your definition of normal is, the guy is ripped and strong as an ox.

 

[authentic]

st louis is 5'5'' though. lindros had it all.

5'7. He deserves no mention in this thread though, unless it was one about strongest legs.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

I refuse to believe Rod The Bod never took anything illegal.

 

[CanadianPensFan1]

Most skilled? No.

Most jacked? Who knows. Tons of these guys are ripped to shreds. How does one quantity "Most?"