Had Dinner with Eric Lindros on Saturday

[C0DITH]

So had a crazy night Saturday. Was at a hockey related charity event. Had dinner with Eric Lindros. Got sloppy drunk at the after party with Billy Smith, Bobby and Denis Hull, as well as the Hanson brothers haha. Players that attended the event were

Eric Lindros
Paul Coffey
Cujo
Grant Fuhr
Mark and Marty Howe
Billy Smith
Denis and Bobby Hull
Johnny Bower
Guy Lafleur
Bernie Parent
Max Domi (Rocking a Brent Burns beard)

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[Embiid]

So had a crazy night Saturday. Was at a hockey related charity event. Had dinner with Eric Lindros. Got sloppy drunk at the after party with Billy Smith, Bobby and Denis Hull, as well as the Hanson brothers haha. Players that attended the event were

Eric Lindros
Paul Coffey
Cujo
Grant Fuhr
Mark and Marty Howe
Billy Smith
Denis and Bobby Hull
Johnny Bower
Guy Lafleur
Bernie Parent
Max Domi (Rocking a Brent Burns beard)

Did Eric spit beer in your face...lol. Koo Koo Bananas reference for those of you who recall that incident....

 

[C0DITH]

Haha, nope he did not. Nice guy....bloody huge in person. Definitely wasn't a fan of the comedian that was there, most people weren't. Some pretty below the belt jokes making fun of concussions, a disabled guy who was running the charity the event was for and called Ken Reid from Sportsnet a F**. You could tell his demeanour changed big time.

 

[Embiid]

I remember Lindros always being pretty cool with fans. I went to Voorhees for practices and he was always cool with giving autographs out in the lot after practice. The funniest autograph experience I had was when Tommy Soderstrom was talking to me about some of the girls he wanted to have carnal relations with after giving them his autograph...lol. Brind'amour I flagged once from far away as he was about to get into his car...he waited but the whole time watched me like a hawk thinking I was going to knife him or something. Biggest ******* with autographs I experienced were Recchi and Gary Galley ....

 

[Pyrophorus]

Did Eric spit beer in your face...lol. Koo Koo Bananas reference for those of you who recall that incident....

I just thought beer was poured down his back.

 

[Embiid]

I just thought beer was poured down his back.

Supposedly he spit beer in a girl's face...alleged.

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19930208&slug=1684307

 

[YEM]

awesome!

Nice guy....bloody huge in person.

I've met him he is much bigger than you'd expect and you expect him to be a big guy

 

[sabremike]

I remember Lindros always being pretty cool with fans. I went to Voorhees for practices and he was always cool with giving autographs out in the lot after practice. The funniest autograph experience I had was when Tommy Soderstrom was talking to me about some of the girls he wanted to have carnal relations with after giving them his autograph...lol. Brind'amour I flagged once from far away as he was about to get into his car...he waited but the whole time watched me like a hawk thinking I was going to knife him or something. Biggest ******* with autographs I experienced were Recchi and Gary Galley ....

NHL players are generally the nicest as far as fan interaction. Met tons of players as a kid but one stands out: was 9 years old and I met Chris Nilan. My dad got a picture of us posing like we were fighting, and my dad got it blown up into an 8x10. Saw him later and got him to sign it, and he signed it as such: "Mike, thanks for the black eye, your pal Knuckles".

 

[Embiid]

NHL players are generally the nicest as far as fan interaction. Met tons of players as a kid but one stands out: was 9 years old and I met Chris Nilan. My dad got a picture of us posing like we were fighting, and my dad got it blown up into an 8x10. Saw him later and got him to sign it, and he signed it as such: "Mike, thanks for the black eye, your pal Knuckles".

Awesome! Well Bobby Hull was pretty "nice" to my mom in Winnipeg when he was giving autographs at a mall.. he hit on her! I am mad bc he could have maybe been my step dad...ha ha...

 

[C0DITH]

awesome!

I've met him he is much bigger than you'd expect and you expect him to be a big guy

I tried to give him a hard handshake and it felt like he had a baseball glove for a hand, just engulfed the entire thing haha.

 

[C0DITH]

Awesome! Well Bobby Hull was pretty "nice" to my mom in Winnipeg when he was giving autographs at a mall.. he hit on her! I am mad bc he could have maybe been my step dad...ha ha...

Bobby and Denis Hull were amazing....Bobby might be the nicest person ever to fans I have ever seen from an athlete.

Billy Smith was actually probably the most surprisingly nice guy though.

 

[BrindamoursNose]

I'm glad that Lindros seems to be a super good lad nowadays. My family used to tell me not super-glowing stories about him:

My brother used to be a bouncer at a place in Philly (that doesn't exist anymore) called the Rock Lobster. Apparently, the Flyers used to all go there.

One of the players he didn't enjoy a ton was Eric Lindros apparently. Back then, he'd sit by Eric's table to try and scare autograph hounds off. Supposedly Lindros never gave a tip or hooked him up in anyway. Said he was really skittish around people (which I guess I understand since he's there to eat/have a good time and not be hounded about hockey).

Also, side stories: John LeClair routinely drank everyone else under the table. Dave Poulin bought two cases of champagne for the boys one night for no reason. Shjon Podein put some dude in a headlock one night after being mouthy.

 

[daynus]

I bumped into several nhlers when they played games at sask place. One early senators game, I met one former flyer that never gets mentioned, Mel bridgeman, sens game at the time, got his autograph, nice guy. He has the most messed up nose I have ever seen. Looked like he took as many punches as Rocky Balboa.

My cousin is best buds with wade brookbank, he got invited when devils were in Van and they all nhlers go to the Shark Club, a high end strip club, restaraunt, 2 blocks from GM Place now Rogers Arena. He got drunk with brookbank, Marty Brodeur and a bunch of other Devils.

 

[Delete99991]

Definitely wasn't a fan of the comedian that was there, most people weren't. Some pretty below the belt jokes making fun of concussions, a disabled guy who was running the charity the event was for and called Ken Reid from Sportsnet a F**. You could tell his demeanour changed big time.

LOL. Nothing funnier than a blue comic working the wrong room.

 

[Chuck Downie]

I tried to give him a hard handshake and it felt like he had a baseball glove for a hand, just engulfed the entire thing haha.

Never shook Lindros hand, but I did shake Troy Crowder`s. He was a monster. Everyone those days said his dad was a tougher customer, which was hard to believe.

 

[C0DITH]

I'm glad that Lindros seems to be a super good lad nowadays. My family used to tell me not super-glowing stories about him:

My brother used to be a bouncer at a place in Philly (that doesn't exist anymore) called the Rock Lobster. Apparently, the Flyers used to all go there.

One of the players he didn't enjoy a ton was Eric Lindros apparently. Back then, he'd sit by Eric's table to try and scare autograph hounds off. Supposedly Lindros never gave a tip or hooked him up in anyway. Said he was really skittish around people (which I guess I understand since he's there to eat/have a good time and not be hounded about hockey).

Also, side stories: John LeClair routinely drank everyone else under the table. Dave Poulin bought two cases of champagne for the boys one night for no reason. Shjon Podein put some dude in a headlock one night after being mouthy.

You can tell Eric doesn't like social situations like this. He was very pleasant, and made more initiative then anyone else. One drunk idiot at our table did bring up Bobby Clarke....and you could tell it was one of those things that just kind of bring him down. Same thing with concussion jokes, how big he is and Quebec City. Regardless, I wouldn't doubt in his hockey life he would have been this type of person. I think now that he is out of hockey he is a more humble guy, also raising a bunch of little kids now too.

 

[WIP CALLER]

i remember meeting Eric as a kid and he honestly looked like superman to 6 year old me. him and leclair showed up to my hockey practice when I was in mites and they ran our practice. not sure if it was some contest or just community outreach but both guys seemed like they actually enjoyed being with us as opposed to being forced to show up and it still is one of my fondest hockey memories. because of that experience I was devastated when big E was traded away. he literally was like a super hero to me growing up.

on a side note, having met players from all 4 sports I'd say hockey players are by far the most fan accessible. have had so many postive experiences with players over the years. my only negative experience with a nhl player was Keith primeau. He was a coach on his sons team and i was reffing the game. I called a penalty against his sons team and he went from 0 to 100 screaming at me about the call. keep in mind i was a 17 year old reffing a squirt game... then after the game I went to shake his hand after the game like i do with all coaches and he completely stiffed me. made me really regret not giving him a bench minor...

 

[Ghosts Beer]

my only negative experience with a nhl player was Keith primeau. He was a coach on his sons team and i was reffing the game. I called a penalty against his sons team and he went from 0 to 100 screaming at me about the call. keep in mind i was a 17 year old reffing a squirt game... then after the game I went to shake his hand after the game like i do with all coaches and he completely stiffed me. made me really regret not giving him a bench minor...

That's some BS there by Primeau. Adults who go berserk at referees in little kids' sporting events have serious problems, especially when the refs are young themselves and performing a thankless but important job. I used to umpire when I was in my late teens and early 20s, and there are some ill people out there.

 

[Van Buren Boy]

My buddy use to work at a hotel barbershop in Montreal where all visiting players use to stay (back in the 90s). He saw the team loading onto the bus and ran out to ask Lindros for an autograph for me since he knew the guy was my fav player. So Lindros asks him if he has a pen and paper. My friend in a fluster forgot to grab something when he ran out so he asked him to wait and ran back inside the hotel to get something. Goes back out and Lindros was still there waiting for him. He put the paper on my buddies head and signed it with a msg for me. Imagine, he used his head! Shook his hand to thank him and my buddy said they were biggest mitts he's seen.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

My buddy use to work at a hotel barbershop in Montreal where all visiting players use to stay (back in the 90s). He saw the team loading onto the bus and ran out to ask Lindros for an autograph for me since he knew the guy was my fav player. So Lindros asks him if he has a pen and paper. My friend in a fluster forgot to grab something when he ran out so he asked him to wait and ran back inside the hotel to get something. Goes back out and Lindros was still there waiting for him. He put the paper on my buddies head and signed it with a msg for me. Imagine, he used his head! Shook his hand to thank him and my buddy said they were biggest mitts he's seen.

That's very cool. He always struck me as a shy giant (who nonetheless lived to destroy regular-sized people) who was thrust into a spotlight and didn't really know what to do with it. I think he was probably misunderstood a lot - I think I misunderstood him a lot back in the day. He was traded for Mike Ricci (and Hexy) and I never really got over that.

 

[Larry44]

That's very cool. He always struck me as a shy giant (who nonetheless lived to destroy regular-sized people) who was thrust into a spotlight and didn't really know what to do with it. I think he was probably misunderstood a lot - I think I misunderstood him a lot back in the day. He was traded for Mike Ricci (and Hexy) and I never really got over that.

Before NHL Network or free streams, I used to have to go to the Sports Cafe in Toronto to watch Flyer games on satellite. Used to see Carl Lindros there all the time, then one day I came in and he recognized me as a fellow Flyer fan and motioned for me to join him. From then we watched games together occasionally. I asked him why he didn't just get a dish for his house. He said he did, but couldn't figure it out (I think he liked getting out/away from the missus!).

Had some good conversations. He was a very nice man and I expect his sons are the same.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

Before NHL Network or free streams, I used to have to go to the Sports Cafe in Toronto to watch Flyer games on satellite. Used to see Carl Lindros there all the time, then one day I came in and he recognized me as a fellow Flyer fan and motioned for me to join him. From then we watched games together occasionally. I asked him why he didn't just get a dish for his house. He said he did, but couldn't figure it out (I think he liked getting out/away from the missus!).

Had some good conversations. He was a very nice man and I expect his sons are the same.

That's cool to hear. Ricci waved to me during warmups when he saw I was wearing his sweater, and then again from the bus after the game when we went to see them off. The only other cool one I met was Doug Gilmour, at a bar, and he was awesome. We were out one night when the Devils were in St. Louis and we heard that they were at the bar - I was desperate to shake the hand of Slava Fetisov, in a "Red Dawn" Wolverines "You escaped the Soviet Union!" daft Cold War enthusiasm, but I was almost too drunk to walk, and definitely too drunk to talk. I saw Sean Burke, walked up to him and said "Where's Slava?" but I think it came out like "Was slobber!" Not surprisingly, he gave me a stern look I had about three gallons of vodka in me and I wanted to buy some for Fetisov, but I could never find that crafty commie.

 

[C0DITH]

I will mention this

When the guy at our table asked about Bobby Clarke, he said something along the lines of.

"He was a good guy, made some smart moves...some not so good" (He specifically mentioned Gratton)" - I guess he wasn't a fan of him.

"He wasn't so good when it came to the health and well being of players"


I also felt bad for him because he said he spent the entire day doing autographs (1200 in total he said). He then had to rush to this event, then at around 10:30pm, he had to drive two hours to get back home. Not to mention he has a bunch of young kids, so they keep him awake all night too.