Yzerman to Quebec for Lindros in 1991?

Killion

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
36,763
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It's pretty well known that a report out of Toronto in 1991 had Yzerman heading to Quebec for Lindros after Lindros dissed Quebec at the draft.

The AP reported the trade was Yzerman, Chiasson and some draft picks. After seeing the report, Yzerman went public by saying he wouldn't report if traded because of taxes/money.

My questions are:

1) what toronto paper broke the story and when.

2) was the offer confirmed by another source?

Only asking because Yzerman never shot it down as rumor.

I do vaguely recall all of this, your quite right... Yzerman when asked to comment about it said something along the lines of "no way, not happening". Said he wouldnt report to Quebec if it was true. No way. He was making about $1.3M back then, didnt care, would simply sit. I dont ever recall this being confirmed by Detroit management or ownership, nor do I have the slightest clue who the AP & or Toronto source mightve been.
 

Steve Kournianos

@thedraftanalyst
I do vaguely recall all of this, your quite right... Yzerman when asked to comment about it said something along the lines of "no way, not happening". Said he wouldnt report to Quebec if it was true. No way. He was making about $1.3M back then, didnt care, would simply sit. I dont ever recall this being confirmed by Detroit management or ownership, nor do I have the slightest clue who the AP & or Toronto source mightve been.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...EgiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Vq0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=4331,3431188

Somewhere in there.

I just want to read the original artical from the "toronto newspaper"

So I guess:

1) what we're the major dailies in toronto in August 1991? Sun? Globe and Mail? Star?

2) who were the hockey columnists who reported/discussed trade rumors? Cox? Simmons? Shoalts? Hornby? Duhatchek? Strachan?


Need a little help I guess.
 

Killion

Registered User
Feb 19, 2010
36,763
3,211
I just want to read the original artical from the "toronto newspaper"... Need a little help I guess.

Toronto Sun not quite as expansive on the whole Affaire Lindros as was the G&M and the Toronto Star, so it couldve started with one of those two. However, the Stars' archives are behind a PayWall so trying to dig that story up's gunna cost and no guarantee it was that paper. Might even have been a rumor first started by a talking head from one of the sportstalk radio shows huh? No confirmation to this to the best of my knowledge from Detroit though, so could remain a mystery.
 

Bear of Bad News

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Sep 27, 2005
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Found it in the Toronto Star. August 16, 1991, page B1.

I won't violate the copyright (and my subscription) by posting the article, but it begins:

Toronto Star said:
MONTREAL (CP) - Detroit Red Wings centre Steve Yzerman said he wouldn't report to the Quebec Nordiques if he were ever traded there.

"It would never happen," Yzerman told Le Journal de Montreal in response to a Wednesday report in The Star that he might be dealt to Quebec along with defenceman Steve Chiasson and a package of draft picks for junior star Eric Lindros.

"I would never accept to play in Quebec. No matter what happened, I wouldn't go."

...
 

Bear of Bad News

Your Third or Fourth Favorite HFBoards Admin
Sep 27, 2005
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And this was from an article two days earlier (the one likely referenced above):

Toronto Star said:
One rumor currently making the rounds has Lindros heading to Detroit in a blockbuster deal for star centre Steve Yzerman, defenceman Steve Chiasson, two first-round draft picks and two second-round draft picks.
 

Fugu

RIP Barb
Nov 26, 2004
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That sounds like a pretty ridiculous package too. I can believe it was a rumor, but it didn't come from Detroit! :laugh:
 

Clown Baby*

Guest
If Lindros said he didn't want to report to Quebec only because of the taxes, would that possibly have made a difference on his reputation?
Eesh. If he did, I can't imagine the fall-out.

The Nords tried to sign Lindros. They reportedly offered over $50 million over 10 years, to which Lindros responded "If they offered me $100 million, I would not play for them." Clearly it wasn't a money issue for the Big E, who shocked many by turning down such a lucrative contract. "They don't want to win. I don't think everyone in their organization has the same goal: winning the Stanley Cup."
http://www.greatesthockeylegends.com/2013/04/great-trades-in-hockey-history-eric.html

Lindros is the 18-year-old son of a nurse and an accountant. His size and physical skills make him a player in demand and he is aware of his market value.

He could, for example, play Olympic hockey for Canada and make at least $500,000 a year from corporate sponsors. He could refuse to play for the Quebec Nordiques, who plan to make him the top draft choice. He also could force a trade from Quebec to a high-profile team in a major market. Or he could join a new league called the Continental Hockey Association, which has talked to his agent about paying Lindros about $1 million a season.

"Lot of money, isn't it?" Lindros said at a news conference today. "I've grown up in a family that really has never been short of money. I've been very fortunate. But money isn't everything. Some days, my dad comes home -- and he's got a good ticket -- but he's not happy. Money isn't everything. There's always going to be money somewhere down the line. I re-signed all my endorsement deals this week. I'm in fine shape. I'll get by."

The Lindros matter is overshadowing everything else going on here as the N.H.L. opens its annual summer convention. This afternoon, Lindros and his agent, Rick Curran, met with about 100 reporters, some of whom wondered if Quebec might soon trade his rights.

"A lot of things could happen between now and tomorrow," said Lindros. "You never know what will happen."

One thing that won't occur in his case is a traditional rite of first-round draftees. It is customary for a first-round choice to don the jersey of the team that selects him and pose for pictures. Lindros says he will refuse to do this.

"Putting on a jersey would be a commitment, and at this time I don't think it would be right to commit to something I haven't really thought out," Lindros said. "It would be false."

Some of today's questions, particularly from French-Canadian reporters, were harsh, asking Lindros to defend himself against the perception that he is dictating terms to the league and that he is "bigger than the game."

"I don't think I'm bigger than the game," he said. " All I want to do is look at my options. I'm not dictating to the N.H.L. I'm just not going to follow the regular footsteps. I want to see what's best for me.

"I'm speaking up for myself. I won't be dictated to. I dictate to myself."

His decision, he said, involves "more than money."

"It's happiness," he said. "It's being in a situation you know is going to go up. A winning attitude. I'm sure in this whole mess there is one place that is right for me.

"All I want to do is do what is best for myself. If people have a hard time understanding that, that's fine. That's their perspective."

He compared his situation to that of Raghib (Rocket) Ismail, who spurned first-round status in the National Football League draft to sign with Toronto of the Canadian Football League.
http://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/22/sports/hockey-be-it-canadian-or-us-it-s-money-to-lindros.html
 

JA

Guest
Jimmy Devellano's book touches on a lot of these issues as he chronicled his career. I don't remember any mention of Yzerman to Quebec, but I'll check again.
I don't recall this being anything more than "what would it take to get Lindros to Detroit?" speculation. I'm sure a lot of teams made a pitch for Lindros, probably including the Wings, possibly including Yzerman, but I don't recall Detroit being a serious option. For that matter, I don't recall anyone else being a serious option before Philly (and then NY).
According to William Houston's July 3, 1991 article in The Globe and Mail, Lindros was telling people he would end up in Detroit.

http://search.proquest.com/docview/387248932
TRUTH & RUMOURS WILLIAM HOUSTON'S WORLD OF SPORT Don't drink the water. . . .
Houston, William. The Globe and Mail [Toronto, Ont] 03 July 1991: C.9.

...

We know where Eric Lindros doesn't want to play. (He stopped short of completely snubbing the Quebec Nordiques when they selected him first overall at the National Hockey League entry draft in June.) What isn't clear is where he would like to play. His home town is Toronto. New York, Los Angeles and Chicago are the glamour U.S. cities.

It seems now that Eric is eyeing the Motor City. He has told friends he will be playing in Detroit next season for the Red Wings if everything goes as it should. He speculates that the Red Wings would send their captain and best player, the 26-year-old Steve Yzerman, to the Nordiques, believing Yzerman will be past his prime by the time the team's handful of young stars matures. Lindros, of course, is no stranger to Detroit. He played Tier II hockey there as a 16-year-old, after he had been drafted by the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League.

...
Five days later, Lloyd McLachlan made this comment in The Windsor Star:

http://search.proquest.com/docview/253913130
For every action there is a reaction: [FINAL Edition]
Lloyd McLachlan. The Windsor Star [Windsor, Ont] 08 July 1991: C1.

...

A suggestion in the Detroit media is the Red Wings would have to give up Steve Yzerman as part of a deal for the rights to Eric Lindros.

My first reaction is, "Oh yeah?"

Since when is a player out of junior hockey, even a Lindros, anywhere near equal in value to a proven NHL talent like Yzerman who can score 100 points from memory?

My second reaction is, "My God. Less than a month to training camps for the Canada Cup."

...
On July 24, 1991, Houston made this claim:

http://search.proquest.com/docview/385609172
TRUTH & RUMOURS WILLIAM HOUSTON'S WORLD OF SPORT Johnson and Johnson
Houston, William. The Globe and Mail [Toronto, Ont] 24 July 1991: C.9.

...

The Detroit Red Wings continue to pursue Eric Lindros, who was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques. An executive close to the team says, the Wings will "do whatever they have to do to get him." It is speculated Detroit would have to give up captain Steve Yzerman.

...
McLachlan published this on August 10, 1991, refuting the rumor:

http://search.proquest.com/docview/253936230
Yzerman for Lindros deal just a foolish rumor: [FINAL Edition]
Lloyd McLachlan. The Windsor Star [Windsor, Ont] 10 Aug 1991: B1.

Steve Yzerman to Quebec in a package for Eric Lindros. The rumor that will not die. You can pound it. You can pummel it. If you like, you can puree it and pour it down the nearest Port-A-John. It will return to confound you. How to deal with crazy rumors that have more lives than the luckiest feline? Help. I am running out of ways. There is the Ignore It Because It Doesn't Make Sense theory.

The Yzerman rumor definitely doesn't make sense, but ignoring it isn't working. There is the Consider The Source theory. Uh, only one problem. What source? Here is my conclusion.

THERE IS NO way it will die. The only solution is begrudging acceptance of the It's Summer And Hockey News Is Scarce So We Have To Put Up With This Nonsense theory.

Bryan Murray is attempting to put up with it, and he was doing reasonably well until it reared its ugly head again Friday. It was a good-news, bad-news day for Murray. The good news is the telephones in his office at Joe Louis Arena were finally working again, which allowed him to make outside calls. The bad news is the outside call he made to return mine forced him to try to put the Yzerman rumor to rest yet again.

"It's way out of whack," he said. "There is nothing going on."

Murray took control of the Detroit Red Wings as general manager and coach just more than a year ago, and it is no rumor that he absolutely loves the job.

...
Some reports stated that the rumor was "getting old."

http://search.proquest.com/docview/251797975
Latest is Lindros for Leetch: [Final Edition]
Matheson, Jim. Edmonton Journal [Edmonton, Alta] 16 Aug 1991: F4.

The Eric Lindros to Detroit trade stories are getting old - Lindros for Steve Yzerman and other suspects - but the best bet might be the New York Rangers.

...
Here's Yzerman stating his case against going to Quebec; based on the above article, it was not the first time he spoke about the issue publicly:

http://search.proquest.com/docview/436458465
Hell no, I won't go to Quebec: Yzerman: [FIN Edition]
CP. Toronto Star [Toronto, Ont] 16 Aug 1991: B1.

MONTREAL (CP) - Detroit Red Wings centre Steve Yzerman said he wouldn't report to the Quebec Nordiques if he were ever traded there.

"It would never happen," Yzerman told Le Journal de Montreal in response to a Wednesday report in The Star that he might be dealt to Quebec along with defenceman Steve Chiasson and a package of draft picks for junior star Eric Lindros.

"I would never accept to play in Quebec. No matter what happened, I wouldn't go."

Yzerman does not have a no-trade clause in his contract, a long- term deal signed last year that paid him $1.3 million last season.

"I don't know what I'd do, but I imagine I'd have no other option but to refuse to report to the Nordiques and stay home," Yzerman said. "I'm glad I don't have to deal with that."

...

"I agree with Lindros on one point," said Yzerman, 26. "Because of the taxes, the exchange rate on the dollar and the cost of living, it is financially very difficult to play in Quebec.

"I have nothing against Canada, the province or the city of Quebec. People won't like what I say but it is strictly business. The owners always make business decisions so why not the players?"

...

"It's just the high taxes," he said. "In Quebec, sales taxes are 15 per cent. In Michigan, they're 4 per cent.

"When I fill up my gas tank in Detroit, it costs $17. If I cross the river into Windsor, I have to pay $44 for the same gas. Quebec and Montreal are fantastic cities, just like my home town, Ottawa. But what the people put up with financially is crazy."
After this, the rumor died down:

http://search.proquest.com/docview/385597093
TRUTH & RUMOURS WILLIAM HOUSTON'S WORLD OF SPORT Soviet coaching strategy.
Houston, William. The Globe and Mail [Toronto, Ont] 16 Aug 1991: C.11.

...

There was more bad news for the Quebec Nordiques, who have been unable to sign Eric Lindros. Steve Yzerman of the Detroit Red Wings, who has been the subject of rumour in a potential Lindros-Yzerman swap, told Le Journal de Montreal that if he is traded he will not report to Quebec.
It's difficult to know whether it started with William Houston, but he was certainly one of the first sources to talk of the proceedings as though they were fact. Prior to his July 3, 1991 article, it seems the only mentions of Yzerman going to Lindros were speculative and usually lumped in with trade speculation involving other teams' players for Lindros as well. It's interesting that McLachlan mentions the Detroit media talking about this as well. The Lindros-for-Yzerman rumor lasted for over a month.
Works Cited

"Hell no, I Won't Go to Quebec: Yzerman." Toronto Star: 0. Aug 16 1991. ProQuest. Web. 25 Nov. 2014 .

Houston, William. "TRUTH & RUMOURS WILLIAM HOUSTON'S WORLD OF SPORT Don't Drink the Water. . ." The Globe and Mail: 0. Jul 03 1991. ProQuest. Web. 25 Nov. 2014 .

Houston, William. "TRUTH & RUMOURS WILLIAM HOUSTON'S WORLD OF SPORT Johnson and Johnson." The Globe and Mail: 0. Jul 24 1991. ProQuest. Web. 25 Nov. 2014 .

Houston, William. "TRUTH & RUMOURS WILLIAM HOUSTON'S WORLD OF SPORT Soviet Coaching Strategy." The Globe and Mail: 0. Aug 16 1991. ProQuest. Web. 25 Nov. 2014 .

Matheson, Jim. "Latest is Lindros for Leetch." Edmonton Journal: 0. Aug 16 1991. ProQuest. Web. 25 Nov. 2014 .

McLachlan, Lloyd. "For Every Action there is a Reaction." The Windsor Star: 0. Jul 08 1991. ProQuest. Web. 25 Nov. 2014 .

McLachlan, Lloyd. "Yzerman for Lindros Deal just a Foolish Rumor." The Windsor Star: 0. Aug 10 1991. ProQuest. Web. 25 Nov. 2014 .
 
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Theokritos

Global Moderator
Apr 6, 2010
12,538
4,911
Wait, so Yzerman pulled a Lindros too in 1991? No, in fact he did more than that since he had a valid NHL contract (without a no-trade clause) when he said he would never go to the Nordiques, trade or not. As opposed to Lindros who had not yet signed anything. What a self-entitled brat, that Yzerman guy! Didn't care for the "system", didn't care for the fate of NHL hockey in Quebec... :sarcasm:

As for the "system":

Steve Yzerman: The owners always make business decisions so why not the players?
 

DanishPastry

Registered User
Mar 6, 2013
115
3
I suppose Lindros vs Bowman would have been an interesting clash of personalities. No idea how that would end up.

Who were the big hitters in the west? Would Pronger, Foote, Blake, Jovanovski (Probably missing some names here) catch him off guard like Stevens did?
 

Fugu

RIP Barb
Nov 26, 2004
36,952
220
϶(°o°)ϵ
Wait, so Yzerman pulled a Lindros too in 1991? No, in fact he did more than that since he had a valid NHL contract (without a no-trade clause) when he said he would never go to the Nordiques, trade or not. As opposed to Lindros who had not yet signed anything. What a self-entitled brat, that Yzerman guy! Didn't care for the "system", didn't care for the fate of NHL hockey in Quebec... :sarcasm:

As for the "system":


He probably responded to the same crazy "news" that was going on. But seriously, a 26 yr old Yzerman and then some for Lindros? Reading that Lindros was spouting off about it himself makes me think it was his agent put that crap out there. The Wings may have been interested in a trade, but not for Yzerman.


And yes, excellent research above. Thanks.
 

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