Question: 1991 NHL draft order

[Brodeur]

Stumbled on this Lindros/California tidbit: Lindros Shows Interest in Gulls, Comrie Says : Hockey: Team's prospective owner expects Canadian Olympic star to make no decision on offer before the NHL's trading deadline.

SAN DIEGO —

Fred Comrie, prospective Gull owner, said Thursday Eric Lindros is interested in a lucrative contract offer submitted to him last week, but no agreement is likely to be reached before March 10, the National Hockey League’s trading deadline.

Comrie, who expects to take control of the Gulls from Ron Hahn on Monday, says he has invited Lindros, whom the Quebec Nordiques picked first overall in the 1991 NHL entry draft, to visit San Diego.

Comrie said Lindros, now skiing in Europe, hasn’t responded.

Comrie reportedly is offering $20,000 per game to a maximum $500,000 for the remainder of the season. In addition, the offer includes $2 million for next season.[/QUOTE}

Stumbled on another article on Comrie buying the Gulls which alluded to the possibility of an NHL expansion club (ie, in a world before Anaheim got one).

 

[Normand Lacombe]

I really don't think so.

Am I the only who thinks Toronto would have been the only team Lindros reported to without issue? Bonnie and Carl Lindros were even suspicious of Philadelphia because Lindros' agent from back then, Rich Curran, had his main office in Philadelphia.

 

[seventieslord]

Am I the only who thinks Toronto would have been the only team Lindros reported to without issue? Bonnie and Carl Lindros were even suspicious of Philadelphia because Lindros' agent from back then, Rich Curran, had his main office in Philadelphia.

Toronto is the only one I would bet my life on, yeah.

Someone said he'd go to San Jose earlier today. I think that with it being a smaller market, new market, non-traditional hockey market, and just plain an unknown, Lindros wouldn't have gone. Throw in the fact that they're an expansion team and I am pretty comfortable in saying it would have been one of his bottom five destinations.

 

[The Panther]

What exactly was the logic behind the ex-WHA teams in 1979 getting all the worst draft-picks, and then the new franchises in the early-90s getting really high draft choices?

 

[JianYang]

Interesting thread. ? becomes does Lindros report to San Jose if they pick #1 overall? I'm not sure that he would.

Based on what lindros said a couple years back, their only problem was the nords ownership group. I think their gripe was very specific, and that lindros would have reported anywhere but QC... If lindros is to be believed.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Toronto is the only one I would bet my life on, yeah.

Someone said he'd go to San Jose earlier today. I think that with it being a smaller market, new market, non-traditional hockey market, and just plain an unknown, Lindros wouldn't have gone. Throw in the fact that they're an expansion team and I am pretty comfortable in saying it would have been one of his bottom five destinations.

it’s not like the flyers were even a playoff team so i don’t know that competitiveness was such a big deal. i think resources and the ability to quickly build a contender around him would be very important though.

i don’t actually know, but what was the financial situation of sj back then?

beyond stable ownership and willingness to spend, obviously location would be important but i don’t think sj is that low, even though i have to admit i had never heard of that place before 1991. at least not relative to like winnipeg or minnesota or buffalo or edmonton. i think the marketing opportunities would be there, especially with the precedent of larry johnson becoming such a big star and the face of converse in the new school market (and uniform) of charlotte.

 

[Hobnobs]

What exactly was the logic behind the ex-WHA teams in 1979 getting all the worst draft-picks, and then the new franchises in the early-90s getting really high draft choices?

Revanchism.

 

[The Panther]

Revanchism.

That's what I suspected. It's good to know the "brain"trust of the NHL were putting the fans' needs first, ahead of their internal petty ego squabbles.

 

[Hobnobs]

That's what I suspected. It's good to know the "brain"trust of the NHL were putting the fans' needs first, ahead of their internal petty ego squabbles.

It was mostly Ballard and Molson. They were against the merger outright. Molson had to relent after the Molson boycott. Boston was also against it. Originally the merger was going to take place in around 1975 but Campbell was against it. In the end it didnt become a merger but an expansion. Heavily favouring NHL teams.

I didn't like Oilers growing up. But after hearing that story from my gramps, we have roots in winnipeg hence rivalry, I loved that the Oilers became a dynasty. Just a nice middle finger in the face of the NHL.

 

[Theokritos]

Toronto is the only one I would bet my life on, yeah.

Someone said he'd go to San Jose earlier today. I think that with it being a smaller market, new market, non-traditional hockey market, and just plain an unknown, Lindros wouldn't have gone. Throw in the fact that they're an expansion team and I am pretty comfortable in saying it would have been one of his bottom five destinations.

I don't know for sure, but this seems to be true:

Based on what lindros said a couple years back, their only problem was the nords ownership group. I think their gripe was very specific, and that lindros would have reported anywhere but QC... If lindros is to be believed.

Which seems to be backed up by the following:

Some explanation in a paper from LaPressePlus. GoogleTranslated with some edition.

The president of the Nordiques Marcel Aubut, dominates the discussions. He talks almost nonstop. And the more he talks, the worst things goes, chronicled Guy Lafleur two years later.
The former Canadiens star player was invited to Toronto by the Nordiques Head Coach, Pierre Pagé, who knows the Démon Blond is an idol in the Lindros family. Its role is to coax clan members. Wasted efforts.
"When I arrived there, I immediately understood the Nordiques had no chance, Guy Lafleur wrote in a column published in The Ottawa Sun, on 14 November 1993. The bridges were burned; the die was cast "
Guy Lafleur is welcomed by Eric and his parents, Carl and Bonnie Lindros. "At one point, they took the trouble to draw me aside to explain their attitude. They had something against Marcel Aubut.
"Bonnie told me that his son will never play for a guy like that. This is unfortunate, Guy, but do not try to convince us. "
On board the plane that brings them in Quebec, Guy Lafleur notify Aubut of the Lindros animosity towards him. The president of the Nordiques's can't believe it.
"Later, I was told of an incident that allegedly occurred during a previous meeting and that would have created an insurmountable cold. During a discussion, Aubut whispered something in French for his entourage, without suspecting that Bonnie understands French. A reflection that Lindros mom heard and deemed unpleasant", recounts Guy Lafleur in 1993.
What was that thought? Twenty-two years later, Guy Lafleur, Marcel Aubut and the Lindros clan still refuse to comment. But according to a source present at the meeting, it was not a lewd comment.

And....

"I have no animosity towards the Nordiques. I have nothing against Quebec City either. I only have something against an individual who is the head of the organization of the Nordiques. "
- Eric Lindros, October 12 1992 during his first visit to Quebec as a Philadelphia Flyer