Why didn't Lindros want to play in Quebec?

[Jets4Life]

My memory is very hazy, but I believe Lindros stated years ago (perhaps 1992?) that he was willing to sign with Quebec for 2 years. Aubut countered with a 10 year offer, from which Aubut didn't bulge. Now I realize that Lindros would not have been a free agent after 2 years, which makes me question the veracity of his story. Does anyone remember hearing or reading anything about this?

This is false.

 

[sr edler]

Years later, Brett also said he wouldn't have reported to Quebec.

What a gem they would have missed out on.

 

[Randy Marsh]

The family thought Marcel Aubut was incompetent, which he proved to be correct by trading him to 2 teams at once.

They also didn't think he'd be able to pay Lindros and put a competitive team around him.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Young Gun: 1991 SI feature on controversial Eric Lindros at 18

“Suppose I were going to college instead of the NHL,” he says. “How does that work? You have to take the SATs. How does that work? Well, there are kids who get 1,500 (out of 1,600) on the test. They’re the ones who get to choose whatever college they want. They’re the best. Next are the kids who get under 1,500 but over 1,000. They also get to choose, but they don’t have as many choices. Then there are the kids who get under 1,000. Now they can go to college, but they mostly have to go where they can.

“Why should it be any different in the NHL? Why should someone have to go to some underwater, door-slamming school when he could go to Yale or Harvard?”

“I’ve made up two lists,” says his mother, Bonnie. “Do you know how you make up two lists when you make a decision? Pros and cons? Here are my lists. Here is the list of pros, for going to Quebec.”

She holds her index finger and thumb about a quarter of an inch apart.

“Maybe there isn’t even a list,” she says. “Here’s my list of cons.” She holds her right and left hands about three feet apart. “Do you understand what I’m talking about?”

There had never been a flat-out pronouncement before the draft that Lindros would not go to Quebec, but there had been rumblings. Carl, Eric’s father, and Bonnie had challenged the junior draft two years ago, opting to send him to Farmington, Mich., to live with friends, attend high school and play for an amateur team there for six months rather than play in remote Sault Ste. Marie for the Greyhounds, who had drafted him. Wouldn’t the Lindroses challenge again? They won the first time, and the rules were changed, allowing the Greyhounds to trade Eric’s draft rights to Oshawa so he could return home to Toronto to play out two years of junior hockey with the Generals. It was no surprise when the family also said that Quebec was out of the question.

“We’re being consistent,” Bonnie says. “We had nothing against Sault Ste. Marie, except playing there would have interfered with Eric’s schooling. We wanted him to grow up in as normal an environment as possible. He would have been on buses, traveling all the time. We didn’t want that. We don’t have anything against Quebec, either. It’s a fine place for a lot of people. It’s just not the place for Eric. It’s not the environment we want for him.”

There's more comments in the link, but you get the sense it was his parents who dictated Eric's future more so than Eric himself.

 

[DannyGallivan]

I never fully understood his reasons for not wanting to play for Quebec? Lack of nationwide media exposure? The French language? Canadian dollars?

He simply couldn't figure out what the logo was. I can't blame him.

Spoiler: I learned many years later that it's a cross between a stylized "N" (yeah, it's a reach) and an igloo, with the obvious stick and puck reference.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

I think the perspective was that Lindros and his family thought they were bigger than the game itself. I think when his career ended up being not quite as great as envisioned and ended prematurely by injuries..a lot of people felt that was the game's version of cosmic justice. I think the common man tends to recognize and detest hubris. They saw it in Eric Lindros..and they weren't ever going to feel sorry for him once they did.

 

[Drytoast]

The Lindros family wrote a book after the 1991 draft to explain "their" side of the story. It still didn't make them look good. They wanted marketing available to Eric, they wanted money and not a small market. Even when they explained it, this is pretty much it came down to. The fact that they did the exact same thing in 1989 with the Greyhounds in the OHL makes you feel even less sorry for them, then and now. They were living in Toronto and Bonnie and Carl didn't want poor Eric playing all the way up in Sault Ste. Marie. Phil Esposito was the GM of the team at this time and to be honest he has said a lot less about this situation than Phil usually would for some reason. But they drafted Eric anyway, and why wouldn't they? Imagine licking your chops and knowing you can get Connor McDavid on your team. That's pretty much what it came down to.

If you want to play in the best league in the world you have to make sacrifices. Heck, aspiring Olympians have to do the same thing and they aren't getting million dollar contracts where they can retire comfortably at 30. Gretzky left home at 14-15 years old. Sure, it's tough, but nothing was stopping Lindros from hanging his skates up and punching in at a factory 5 days a week, so spare me Eric.........and Bonnie and Carl.

Basically what Lindros did was create the entitlement attitude that we see today in sports. It is all about "me". I don't like what is happening, call my agent. I'll just sit out if they don't trade me. Eric did this in the OHL, after he was drafted in the NHL, and partway through his NHL career. Every time Eric eventually got his way because he felt he was bigger than the team, and the game.

So you get drafted by a bottom feeder? Cry me a river. The Oilers weren't exactly a powerhouse in 1979 when he started there. This is where you turn this poor team into a championship, like, oh I don't know, Gretzky!

We can ask Peter Stastny and Michel Goulet (and Joe Sakic to an extent) about how to carve out a HHOF career playing in Quebec. They are in there comfortably. Eric isn't.

It wasn't that Quebec was a bottom feeder, it had a small market stigma where players went to disappear. It was always overshadowed by the habs so I can't blame him.

Lindros wanted to play for Toronto and had they drafted him, he would have signed. Heck he made that dream eventually happen much later in his career.

I firmly believe that Lindros not signing helped lead to the downfall of the Nordiques moving to Colorado.

 

[Boxscore]

Carl did his research on Nordiques ownership and (supposedly) there were some shady dealings going on with them. That was from Eric in a recent documentary. He said that it had nothing to do with Quebec City, the market size, or the French Canadian culture at all. But there were reasons not to trust the owners. He married a French Canadian, so I'm sure it had nothing to do with the culture.

 

[Big Phil]

Carl did his research on Nordiques ownership and (supposedly) there were some shady dealings going on with them. That was from Eric in a recent documentary. He said that it had nothing to do with Quebec City, the market size, or the French Canadian culture at all. But there were reasons not to trust the owners. He married a French Canadian, so I'm sure it had nothing to do with the culture.

I say get in line, lots of owners if you dug into them deep enough wouldn't be clean either. In the Lindros' book in 1991 Bonnie wrote that one of the other issues is that her son was opposed to separatism for Canada and that it may not go well in Quebec. Like, really Bon? Sorry, but I forgot what Joe Sakic's views were on Quebec being its own nation. Or Peter Stastny. And the fans didn't care either.

It wasn't that Quebec was a bottom feeder, it had a small market stigma where players went to disappear. It was always overshadowed by the habs so I can't blame him.

Lindros wanted to play for Toronto and had they drafted him, he would have signed. Heck he made that dream eventually happen much later in his career.

I firmly believe that Lindros not signing helped lead to the downfall of the Nordiques moving to Colorado.

Here is the thing though................why is it always not good enough for Eric but fine for everyone else? Gretzky lands on an expansion team. Lemieux goes to a team that had 40 points. Crosby, McDavid, Ovechkin all went to horrible teams. Perreault went to Buffalo of all places with the spin of a wheel, an expansion team too. Potvin went to Long Island. What did Potvin do? He did what so many other greats have done, he carried the team around him and it was built around him. He's got 4 rings, 4 more than Eric. Enough said.

You really think Lindros in a Nords jersey gets overshadowed by the Montreal Canadiens? Not a chance. He IS the main show in that province. He'd have been front and centre with that rivalry. It doesn't matter what city you are in, if you are that good you are the face of the NHL. McDavid in Edmonton anyone? Sorry, but that isn't exactly the most glamorous place in the world with beaches and such. It's Edmonton! It's freezing cold. But he's the face of the NHL now. Lindros would have been had he been on Quebec, Hartford or San Jose. It wouldn't have mattered.

 

[Drytoast]

I say get in line, lots of owners if you dug into them deep enough wouldn't be clean either. In the Lindros' book in 1991 Bonnie wrote that one of the other issues is that her son was opposed to separatism for Canada and that it may not go well in Quebec. Like, really Bon? Sorry, but I forgot what Joe Sakic's views were on Quebec being its own nation. Or Peter Stastny. And the fans didn't care either.



Here is the thing though................why is it always not good enough for Eric but fine for everyone else? Gretzky lands on an expansion team. Lemieux goes to a team that had 40 points. Crosby, McDavid, Ovechkin all went to horrible teams. Perreault went to Buffalo of all places with the spin of a wheel, an expansion team too. Potvin went to Long Island. What did Potvin do? He did what so many other greats have done, he carried the team around him and it was built around him. He's got 4 rings, 4 more than Eric. Enough said.

You really think Lindros in a Nords jersey gets overshadowed by the Montreal Canadiens? Not a chance. He IS the main show in that province. He'd have been front and centre with that rivalry. It doesn't matter what city you are in, if you are that good you are the face of the NHL. McDavid in Edmonton anyone? Sorry, but that isn't exactly the most glamorous place in the world with beaches and such. It's Edmonton! It's freezing cold. But he's the face of the NHL now. Lindros would have been had he been on Quebec, Hartford or San Jose. It wouldn't have mattered.

It doesnt matter how great your team is. Leaf coverage and merch sales is tops regardless how great winnipeg is. Lindros i guess wanted to make bank and a name for himself.

Quebec was always gonna be second fiddle to montreal...always.

He should have signed with quebec but i get wanting to be in control your career as well. Why play in small fry quebec when you could make a killing off of merch sales and be a big star in toronto?

Selfish? Sure. But i get it.

 

[Big Phil]

It doesnt matter how great your team is. Leaf coverage and merch sales is tops regardless how great winnipeg is. Lindros i guess wanted to make bank and a name for himself.

Quebec was always gonna be second fiddle to montreal...always.

He should have signed with quebec but i get wanting to be in control your career as well. Why play in small fry quebec when you could make a killing off of merch sales and be a big star in toronto?

Selfish? Sure. But i get it.

If you look at the direction those teams went I don't see it. Sure, Montreal is ALWAYS Montreal the same way the Yankees are always the Yankees or the Leafs are always going to get attention if they suck. But I'm a Leaf fan and even I wasn't thinking about them past the 1st round last year. The image plastered all over the papers is not Auston Matthews, it is Ovechkin with the Cup over his head.

Even as early as 1993 I am guessing Lindros plays a big role if Quebec and Montreal play in the first round. Maybe there is no Cup for Montreal then. Without a doubt Lindros wins some Cups with Quebec and you think his jersey isn't going to be flying off the shelves? Sure it still did in Philly, but imagine him with a Cup!

I still think the guy is stubborn. Yeah he was 18, but it isn't as if he's ever looked back in hindsight and thought what he did was self-absorbed. I won't hang a guy for what his parents encouraged him to do at 18 because...........he was 18. But when he's in his 40s maybe he has a different insight. Lindros more than anyone brought in the negative image that comes with the modern entitled athlete.

 

[The Panther]

Quebec was always gonna be second fiddle to montreal...always.

I dunno about that. Of course Quebec City would always be smaller and more provincial, but if the Nords had stayed put (with Lindros, say) and become a League powerhouse, as they already were becoming c.1994, and reeled off a couple of Stanley Cup wins, then a new building would have been built and the team's image and currency would have been way bigger. It's not like Montreal was doing anything great in this period.

I reckon Gretzky jerseys were outselling Maple Leafs' ones in the 80s... Winning does a lot for a team's revenue and currency!

Those Nords' jerseys were pretty nice, even if the logo is a bit weird...

 

[Normand Lacombe]

The whole Lindros was just 18 and just following his parent's advice is silly. Eric was an adult and capable of making decisions on his own had he been mature. But he wasn't mature enough thanks to Bonnie and Carl, which went back to being drafted by Sault Ste. Marie. Rather than encouraging him to start acting like an adult and allowing him and Rick Curran to accurately access the Quebec situation, they coddled Eric like he was a 6 year old. Sure, Eric's parents still could have given him their opinion on Quebec, but they should have let the decision belong solely to Eric. Had it been Eric's decision, he would have probably signed with Quebec.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Here is the thing though................why is it always not good enough for Eric but fine for everyone else?

this is where i always say even mario—even mario—eventually went to pittsburgh. even mario wasn’t that big of a baby.

Draft Revisited – Mario Lemieux and the Class of 1984

 

[Drytoast]

I dunno about that. Of course Quebec City would always be smaller and more provincial, but if the Nords had stayed put (with Lindros, say) and become a League powerhouse, as they already were becoming c.1994, and reeled off a couple of Stanley Cup wins, then a new building would have been built and the team's image and currency would have been way bigger. It's not like Montreal was doing anything great in this period.

I reckon Gretzky jerseys were outselling Maple Leafs' ones in the 80s... Winning does a lot for a team's revenue and currency!

Those Nords' jerseys were pretty nice, even if the logo is a bit weird...

They had just won the cup in 93...

 

[jghockey]

The Flyers should have let Lindros go to the Rangers. They gave up too much for one player who had not played one NHL game.

 

[streitz]

Don't know, but regardless he got a healthy dose of karma getting knocked out so many times during his career. Ditto for Bryan Berard.



Sakic, Sundin, Nolan had no problems signing in Quebec. All those poor souls on the leafs under Ballard sucked it up and played. Could never stand Lindros, always thought he was an overrated baby.

 

[streitz]

The Flyers should have let Lindros go to the Rangers. They gave up too much for one player who had not played one NHL game.

Frankly one of the players they gave up ended up being better then Lindros anyways(Foresberg).

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

I say get in line, lots of owners if you dug into them deep enough wouldn't be clean either. In the Lindros' book in 1991 Bonnie wrote that one of the other issues is that her son was opposed to separatism for Canada and that it may not go well in Quebec. Like, really Bon? Sorry, but I forgot what Joe Sakic's views were on Quebec being its own nation. Or Peter Stastny. And the fans didn't care either.



Here is the thing though................why is it always not good enough for Eric but fine for everyone else? Gretzky lands on an expansion team. Lemieux goes to a team that had 40 points. Crosby, McDavid, Ovechkin all went to horrible teams. Perreault went to Buffalo of all places with the spin of a wheel, an expansion team too. Potvin went to Long Island. What did Potvin do? He did what so many other greats have done, he carried the team around him and it was built around him. He's got 4 rings, 4 more than Eric. Enough said.

You really think Lindros in a Nords jersey gets overshadowed by the Montreal Canadiens? Not a chance. He IS the main show in that province. He'd have been front and centre with that rivalry. It doesn't matter what city you are in, if you are that good you are the face of the NHL. McDavid in Edmonton anyone? Sorry, but that isn't exactly the most glamorous place in the world with beaches and such. It's Edmonton! It's freezing cold. But he's the face of the NHL now. Lindros would have been had he been on Quebec, Hartford or San Jose. It wouldn't have mattered.

this is my feeling on it too.

ironically enough, the Nordiques with Lindros would've been really good.

They already had a hell of a group of young players that became the basis of multiple Cup wins.

Sakic, Sundin, Nolan, Foote were all 18-20 years old. Adding Lindros would've been the missing piece

 

[The Panther]

They had just won the cup in 93...

I was referring more to the period of Lindros's prime, when Quebec might have been contending for the Cup -- c. 1996, 1997, 1998.

From 1995-96, Montreal was in decline.

 

[Drytoast]

this is my feeling on it too.

ironically enough, the Nordiques with Lindros would've been really good.

They already had a hell of a group of young players that became the basis of multiple Cup wins.

Sakic, Sundin, Nolan, Foote were all 18-20 years old. Adding Lindros would've been the missing piece

Forsbeg > lindros

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Forsbeg > lindros

career, yes...peak, its even

wasn't comparing Lindros and Forsberg.

just enjoying the irony of not going to Quebec because he didnt think they'd compete when they really had most of the core of a multi Cup winner in place and adding him to it would've been the key piece (same way Forsberg was)

 

[jghockey]

Frankly one of the players they gave up ended up being better then Lindros anyways(Foresberg).

Like I said, the Flyers should have allowed the Rangers to have him.

 

[Jets4Life]

Comes down to who you want to believe

I lived in Vancouver while this was going on and according to the guys I knew who worked for the cbc Vancouver made an offer but lindros nuked the deal. He said He would have gone to any other Canadian team but I have my doubts on this

Lindros would not have reported to any small market in Canada, except Toronto or Montreal. I recall Winnipeg, after an impressive 1989-90 season, getting off to a very slow start, and at Christmas break were bottom 5 of the standings. The Lindros camp had said something to the effect that they would not even consider letting Lindros play for the Jets. I'm pretty sure Lindros would not have reported to the Oilers, had they been in the Lindros sweepstakes in 91'

 

[Jets4Life]

I dunno about that. Of course Quebec City would always be smaller and more provincial, but if the Nords had stayed put (with Lindros, say) and become a League powerhouse, as they already were becoming c.1994, and reeled off a couple of Stanley Cup wins, then a new building would have been built and the team's image and currency would have been way bigger. It's not like Montreal was doing anything great in this period.

Not so sure Lindros would have saved the Nordiques. It may have delayed their relocation, but there is just as much chance that Quebec would have moved at some point regardless. The Edmonton Oilers were a dynasty for a decade with Gretzky, Messier and company, yet after a few years of mediocrity, came within an inch of moving to Houston in 1997. This is a city that is larger, has more wealth, and a better arena than Quebec did in the 90s.

One also has to keep in mind that the Nordiques return on Lindros was better than Lindros himself. There is no guarantee that Quebec would have become a powerhouse club, especially since they did not have the ability to attract free agents to the club the way the Flyers did.