Road to Redemption
Ex-Flyers D-man Chris Therien Says Eric Lindros Let Down Team (Excerpt 2)
In “Road to Redemption,” Chris Therien and author Wayne Fish detail the former Philadelphia Flyers defenseman’s career, his battle with alcoholism, and his new path to help others recover from alcohol or drug abuse. This second excerpt is from Chapter 12.
Behind the 88 ball
Then came Game 7. A winnable game that we lost, 2–1. In the first period, Eric Lindros was damn near decapitated on a Scott Stevens hit at the blueline. He was knocked out cold. All the energy was sucked out of the building. Guess what? When you roll the dice enough times, eventually they’re going to come up snake-eyes.
Our good fortune ran out. You could call it a fait accompli that we would lose that final game, which we did by a 2–1 score in front of our own fans. We pretty much knew that Eric had a concussion.
Craig Berube and I were sitting on the bench. Chief put his head down and was covering his face with his hand. Then he looked up. “Are you kidding me?” he said. I almost replied, “I told you this would happen.’’ I refrained. It wasn’t the time. Nobody wanted to see anybody get hurt.
In the next excerpt, which will be out in the next hour, @ctherien6 has some things to say about @88EricLindros. Spoiler alert: He’s not a fan of 88. #Flyers pic.twitter.com/E3lAeHFygO
— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) November 3, 2022
This leads me to what I thought happened to Lindros. Outside the numerous injuries which plagued him late in his career, it’s my opinion he was healthy enough to make it back for the 2000 playoffs while guys on the team put their blood and sweat into it only to come away empty-handed.
The entire 2000 playoffs were for the guys in Philadelphia that deserved a Stanley Cup and it was taken away. Never had there been a bigger disappointment than the looks on the guys’ faces after that game.
That’s the best group I’ve ever played with. It’s a shame it had to end like that and a lot of players would echo that sentiment.
My memoir/book release of Road to Redemption is TODAY. Filled with some great hockey stories from my playing days in Philadelphia but also a blueprint for the recovery community! Very pleased to share it with you all! pic.twitter.com/ayEVQ3pbYF
— Chris Therien (@ctherien6) October 25, 2022
His style hurt him
I also think that Lindros’ runaway freight train style of play ultimately hurt him more than it helped. Eric running kids over at 12 years old, at 14 or 18, didn’t do him any favors. The problem was, the level of intimidation that Eric brought, most of us knew was not going to be sustainable for him in later years.
It still haunts many guys on that Flyer team, certainly me. It’s not all Lindros’ fault, but a team’s best player can’t be both that and also his team’s biggest hindrance from a unit standpoint. That’s how it played out. If he had been 100 percent committed to hockey, been more open to criticism, worked to stay healthy and tweaked his physicality, he would have been the greatest player of all time.
That, in a nutshell, is what I think. He needed to adjust his game and he could have. He’d already have created enough room for himself in the league, but Eric never made the necessary adjustments. He could have been a great power forward, an elite passer, which he was, and a productive offensive player. He just needed to tweak his game and realize that running over people every night was not going to help his long-term health.
Sadly, to this day, he’s the one generational player who’s never won a Stanley Cup.
“Road to Redemption,” published by Triumph Books, is available at local book stores or on Amazon.
Excerpt 1: Chris Therien: ‘I was an Alcoholic’
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Wow. What a revisionist classless comment. While Lindros did leave his head down and took some big hits, the cheap shots and constant targeting lead to concussions. It could happen to any player in any moment…that’s been proven by science. He could have changed his style when he was like 15. Sure. That would not have stopped the targeting.
Shut up Chris! You couldn’t even carry big E’s jock strap!
Ame , therien is a Crumb. If not for the Train, the flyers wouldn’t have gone as far as they did. Put the blame where it belongs Clarke! Clarke had a choice bebetwee@Cujo,@Richter& @Beezer&he took the Worst 1 ! I remember this team like it was ystrdy. I Truly believe if Clarke would’ve picked up Richter or Cujo, we would’ve won the cup. I 💯 believe that
I guess he hasn’t noticed all the former players who’ve either committed suicide or suffered early onset from all the concussions they suffered. How, in this Dan and age can even suggest he play with a concussion. He should thank Lindros every day for carrying his sorry butt through his career. Horrible defenseman, horrible broadcaster….and this confirms he’s the idiot I always thought he was.
I remember that game I thought that hit on 88 was a little dirty just looked more personal than that it would in game mode I was hoping for a team mate too go and give Scott a good old fashioned cowboy ass kicking Broad street Bullies style and know one showed up
EXACTLY 💯 Bro, I remember this game like it was Ystrdy. The hit was Clearly personal & Targeting. In this day& age, Steven’s would’ve been arrested for that hit. Lol.
I like Bundy but this is a horrible take on his part.
I’m guessing when someone tells Lindros about this article, he says; “Chris who??”
Lindros played hard through his career and was entertaining to watch. I give him credit for wanting to return for that game 7, but I thought at the time that he should not have been inserted into the lineup. They were winning and playing well with all players stepping up. I thought, don t change the lineup now. When he ended up a crumpled heap at center ice, you could just feel the energy and emotion that got the Flyers to that point was gone.
I have been following the Flyers for almost 50 years, and for one of the wimpiest Flyers of all time to criticize Eric Lindros is laughable. If Chrissy had just played with 10 percent of Eric Lindros’s physicality and heart, the Flyers would have won a cup. What a loser this guy is to take shots at Lindros now. Look in the mirror you dope before criticizing other people.
I couldn’t agree more. Lindros was the Man. He made LeClair a 50 goal scorer. Remember LeClair was a throw in w that trade! Trade was made for Desjardins. 88 turned that scab Trent Klatt into a 20 goal scorer. When lindros was gone, Klatt was out of hockey within a year. Lol. Put the blame where it belings— Bobby C. He hated 88 so much, he Never surrounded the Train w any legit talent he got the worst of the 3 goalies in Beezer. Ifya recall, we could & Shoumda got Cujo or Richter instead, @BC chose wrong.
#LEGIONOFDOOM
#CRAZY8s
Can I rec this 1000X? He should have never been played that game! They had chemistry and if it ain’t broke- don’t fix it. Flyers would have won the cup that year if he did not play in that game..
Dude, don’t Dare try to blame 88 for that L. He was playing great plus he got them there. Do you remember that season??
Remember they were up 3-1 and lost Games 5 and 6 before Lindros tried to come back and rescue their asses.
Flyers got smoked at home in game 5 (4-1) to make the series 3-2 Flyers. Lindros came back in game 5 and scored twice. Unfortunately, his first goal was waived off after review because the period had expired a fraction of a second before the puck crossed the line. They lost game 5 2-1 with Lindros scoring the only goal.
WOW. Talk about a hit piece. The Flyers would have been better off not to play Lindros in that Game 7; but Bundy taking shots at a former Team mate is just sour grapes on his part. I hope Bundy wasnt counting on a Christmas Card from Big E this coming Christmas.
The fact that nobody went after Stevens during the rest of the game shows that there werent any leader on that team or that they wouldnt have Big E’s back.Berube should have jumped on Stevens without giving him the chance to choose if he wanted to fight.
No Chrus, tge whole team let us down.
Between losing to losing to Buffalo in the first round to to the whole team not playing jp to standard when Eric wasn’t in the lineup.
Blame also goes to St Bobbie for not getting a goalie when the that was the missing piece for that team. Instead he acquired Adam Burt, Dave_Babbych and a myriad of other immobile defenseman.
Tells it like it is.
Lindros came back in game 6 at NJ and scored the Flyers only goal. He had scored before that but that goal was waived off because time had expired a fraction of a second before the puck crossed the goal line. (I don’t recall is it was the 1st or 2nd period).
It seemed to me that Lindros was the only player on the ice that actually cared. I knew that was the last game he’d play for the Flyers and bought his jersey on the way out of the building.