| | Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA -- Eric Lindros' career with the Philadelphia
Flyers may not be over after all.
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| Lindros |
Flyers chairman Ed Snider said Wednesday the team plans to
re-sign Lindros, who can become a restricted free agent on July 1.
Lindros sustained his fourth concussion in five months and sixth
in just over two years in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals
last Friday.
"We believe Eric will be healthy and will be able to play
hockey," Snider said in a television interview.
Asked if the Flyers plan to sign Lindros and keep him in
Philadelphia, Snider said, "Of course."
The Flyers must tender Lindros a qualifying offer of $8.5
million -- equal to this year's salary -- to prevent him from
becoming an unrestricted free agent.
Lindros' medical history coupled with his tense relationship
with management made it seem unlikely the Flyers would make the
offer.
Lindros, appearing somber and depressed at a news conference on
Monday, is contemplating retirement or sitting out up to a full
season.
If he retires before July 1, the Flyers retain his rights. If he
retires after July 1, the Flyers would retain his rights only if
they make the qualifying offer.
"I don't know what the future holds," Lindros said Monday,
less than three days after his latest concussion knocked him out of
the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Lindros returned to his home in Toronto on Tuesday to undergo
further treatment for his concussion. Neither Lindros nor his
father and agent, Carl Lindros, could immediately be reached for
comment.
The 27-year-old former captain indicated he would like to return
to Philadelphia, but said, "I don't think that's my decision."
General manager Bob Clarke has a major role in making that
decision, but Clarke's relationship with Lindros deteriorated this
season.
After Lindros criticized the team's medical staff for failing to
diagnose his second concussion on March 4, Clarke stripped the star
center of his captaincy.
The two haven't spoken in months, and Clarke shunned Lindros
when he encountered him in a corridor at the team's practice site
Monday.
"I think Bob Clarke has taken a bad rap in this whole thing
because Eric felt certain things happened and he and his
agent-father were angry at Bob Clarke. Bob Clarke's never been
angry at Eric," Snider said. "They speak when they have to speak.
They're not warm buddies because Eric, I guess, has made it known
that he's not too happy with Bob Clarke."
Lindros was playing in his second game after a 10-week absence
due to postconcussion syndrome when Scott Stevens took him out with
a thunderous hit early in the New Jersey's 2-1 victory Friday that
sent the Devils to the Stanley Cup finals.
"The real problem with concussions is that nobody can give you
a definitive answer so, at some point, we're just going to have to
make a decision ourselves as to what we believe," Snider said on
Comcast SportsNet, which is owned by the Flyers.
Lindros' younger brother, Brett, retired from the NHL in 1996
after three concussions with the New York Islanders and an
undetermined number of concussions in juniors.
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