[ANTHONYD]

What a joke.


Maple Leafs sign Lindros for 1 year
WebPosted Thu, 11 Aug 2005 16:24:13 EDT
CBC Sports
Nearly 15 years after making his National Hockey League debut with the Philadelphia Flyers, Eric Lindros is coming home to Toronto to fulfill a lifelong dream.

RELATED: Player bio: Eric Lindros

Eric Lindros on Thursday signed with the Maple Leafs, coached by Pat Quinn, right. (CP File Photo)
The six-foot-five-inch, 245-pound centre agreed Thursday to a one-year contract with the Maple Leafs.

According to one report, the deal is worth $1.55 million US.

RELATED: Free Agent Frenzy
The Columbus Blue Jackets reportedly made Lindros a one-year, $1.5 million offer but dropped out of the bidding on Wednesday.

"Teams were still calling this morning, the interest really picked up, it's interesting how it worked out," said Carl Lindros, Eric's father and agent. "But this is a good situation for him. It's what he wanted."

Lindros's arrival in Toronto has been rumoured since 2001 when the Maple Leafs and Philadelphia Flyers apparently came close to consummating a trade.

The 32-year-old returns to southern Ontario, where he was raised and played junior hockey.

Though injury prone throughout his 11-year NHL career – he has suffered eight concussions – the Big E remains a dominating force.

He had 10 goals and 22 assists in 39 games for the New York Rangers in the 2003-04 campaign before Washington Capitals defenceman Jason Doig put an end to his season with a thundering bodycheck.

Lindros, who had his right shoulder surgically repaired in March, reportedly passed a physical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam earlier this week.

"On average, in the past three years, Eric has missed five games a year with concussions," said Lindros's father and agent, Carl. "That's fewer than Peter Forsberg or Jeremy Roenick. The bulk of Eric's concussions came in one year."

On the downside, Lindros's goal total has dwindled from 37 to 19 to 10 over the past three seasons.

With the Leafs, he will provide some offensive punch and give Toronto a big body to park in front of the opposition's crease, something the team has desired for years.

Lindros, a seven-time NHL all-star, won the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player in 1994-95. He also took home the Lester B. Pearson Award as the most outstanding player as voted by the players.

Lindros, who won gold with Team Canada at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics, has scored 356 goals and 461 assists in 678 career games.