Thoughts on Two Flyers and Hockey Hall of Fame

With the naming of a well-deserving class of 2010 Hall-of-Fame inductees in Dino Ciccarelli, Angela James, and Cammi Granato, talk of certain Philadelphia Flyers chances to make the Hall once again arose.

Here is a look at one player that was mentioned more than any other, and one that I believe should be enshrined already.

Eric Lindros

Leading up to the announcement of the HHoF inductees, there was a tremendous buzz about whether or not Eric Lindros should be one of the players that would be receiving a call.

Turns out, he wasn’t.

The 37-year-old should be used to such hype and hoopla.  After all, he was projected to be one of the all-time greats of the game, a perfect blend of brawn and skill.

The comparisons being bandied about when Lindros was playing juniors for the OHL’s Oshawa Generals were something to behold.  I distinctly remember one member of the Philadelphia media describing number 88 as “a combination of the best parts of Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier”.

For much of his time in Philadelphia Lindros was dominant, even a lethal weapon.

Winner of the Hart Trophy in a lockout shortened 1995 season, “The Big E” would go on to record 290 goals and 369 assists for a total of 659 points.  That total was in only 486 regular season games for the Flyers, and is good enough for fifth in Philadelphia scoring history.

His 6′ 4″, 240 pound frame made him almost unstoppable during those days in the OHL.  But when he got to the NHL and the bodies were just as big, the “E-Train” had serious problems with durability.

His 486 contests were spread out over eight injury-shortened seasons, and his bouts with concussions are not legendary.  Only twice in the eight seasons in the Orange-and-Black did Lindros play more than 70 games in a season.

The Flyers never were able to win a Stanley Cup during the Lindros-era.  As a matter of fact, they only made it to the Finals once, a 1997 sweep at the hands of Steve Yzerman and the Detroit Red Wings.

Unfortunately, some of the most lasting memories of Lindros with the Flyers are of the negative nature:  Eric sprawled out on the ice after a thunderous Scott Stevens shoulder / forearm check to the head when Philly played the New Jersey Devils in the 2000 Eastern Conference Finals;  the bickering between Lindros’ parents and Flyers’ GM Bob Clarke;  Lindros’ criticism of the Flyers’ medical staff handling of his maladies, which was the final straw in Eric being stripped of the captaincy.

Lindros Lingo:  Exactly 19 years to the day that Lindros snubbed the Quebec Nordiques organization by not wearing their sweater after being taken with the first-overall selection in the NHL Entry Draft, Lindros was snubbed by the Hall-of-Fame.

But if you compare Lindros’ numbers to those of 2005 Hall inductee Cam Neely of the Boston Bruins, Eric could have a good case for inclusion in the future.  In 726 career games, Neely scored 395 goals and 694 points.  Lindros recorded 372 goals and 865 points in 760 games.

Both played the game the same way, with brute force.  And both defined the term “power forward”.

Even Clarke, one of Lindros’ chief critics over the course of his time here in Philadelphia, gave him a vote of confidence regarding the Hall:

“Yes, based on his ability to play the game and based on his contributions as a player, I think you have to separate all the crap that went on.  Particularly when he played for the Flyers, it was just outstanding, dominant hockey.  The first of the huge, big men with small man’s skill.”

Mark Howe

One of the greatest players ever to not yet make it into the Hockey Hall of Fame is Mark Howe.

The highest-scoring rearguard in franchise history with 138 goals and 480 points in 594 games for the Orange-and-Black, Howe was the quintessential offensive-defenseman.

Blessed with a fluid skating stride and a howitzer of a wrist shot, to watch the grace with which Howe played the game was truly poetry on ice.

Howe was the number one D man in head coach Mike Keenan’s “big four” on the great Flyers teams of the 1980′s.  Skating with Brad McCrimmon as his defensive partner, the duo formed the most dominant pairing in the club’s history.

But much-like the greatest team of all-time, the 1980′s Edmonton Oilers, overshadowed the ’80s Flyers, Howe was eclipsed by Edmonton’s Paul Coffey during this period.

A classic example was the 1985-86 season.  Howe tied a career-high with 24 goals and set a personal-best with 82 points, and finished a with a league-best +85.  But much like the Flyers making it to the Finals twice in three seasons, only to lose to the powerhouse from Edmonton, Howe’s fantastic season just so happened to coincide with Coffey’s season of scoring 48 goals, an all-time high for blueliners.  The Norris Trophy was not to be Howe’s, as Coffey walked away with not only the Cup that season, but also the Norris.

Howe finished with 197 goals and 742 points in his NHL career in 929 games.

But that’s not the entire story for Howe.  When you consider that he spent six of his prime seasons in the rival WHA from 1973 to 1979, Howe’s career professional numbers take on an even more impressive look.

Howe can Mark NOT be in the Hall?  While playing for the Houston Aeros and New England Whalers with legendary father Gordie (“Mr. Hockey”) and brother Marty, Mark would tally 208 goals and record 504 points, splitting time as a defender and playing left wing on an all-Howe line.

If you add up his professional hockey numbers, Howe played in 1355 games, scored 405 goals and 1,246 points.

Of any of these Hall prospects with Flyers’ ties, Howe deserves it the most.  It’s time to once again re-unite father and son and put Mark in his rightful place, alongside Gordie in the hallowed halls in Toronto.

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