Eric Lindros and John Leclair were one of the most dominating duos throughout the late 1990s. Along with Mikael Renberg, the Legion Of Doom put up some incredible numbers during some of the best years that the NHL has ever seen.
With generational talents like Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, as well as many other talented starts it seemed that Lindros and Leclair flew a bit under the radar. All of that will end tonight, at least in Philadelphia, as they will be enshrined in the Flyers Hall of Fame.
Lindros and Leclair put up some great numbers during their time in Philadelphia. From 1994 to 2000 the duo combined for 465 goals (including three 50-goal season for Leclair) and 519 assists, many on each others goals, for a total of 984 points during their overlap in Philadelphia. Leclair went on to play for the Flyers for three more seasons, while Lindros was on the team for two seasons prior to Leclair’s arrival to save the Flyers during the lockout-shortened 1995 season.
From 1992 to 2000 this pair put up points like none other. Unfortunately a lot of Eric Lindros’ career in Philadelphia was hindered due to injuries, never playing a full 82 games and only playing one full season of 46 games due to the lockout. In order to show just how dominant Lindros and Leclair were, I took their goals, assists and points on a per-game basis and multiplied them out over a full 82 game season. I compared these numbers to those of the league leader in points, which was always one of the big 3 (Gretzky, Lemieux, Jagr) except when Lindros tied for the league lead with 70 points in just 46 games during the shortened season.
*All statistics for Lindros & Leclair are pro-rated to a full 82 game season except the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season.
Lindros in orange, Leclair in black, League Leader in green.*
Lindros’ pace of 55 goals in the 1993-94 season dwarfed the 38 that were scored by Gretzky. As time went on, Lindros continued to put up goals very comparable (if not better than) to those of the winner of the Art Ross Trophy for most points in a season. Lindros and Leclair both matched Lemeiux’s total of 50 goals in the 1996-97 season, which of course ended with a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. This trend continued throughout the rest of their time here, besting Jagr’s goal totals the next 3 seasons if they were to play a full season at their regular pace.
It is hard to compare anyone’s assists numbers to those of the great one, but Lindros and Lecair certainly gave it their best shot. Yet again you can see how these two dominated the league in the late 1990s, unfortunately the Flyers had no hardware come from it.
These two never managed to solely lead the league in points, but it would have been close if Lindros didn’t have injury troubles. Injuries robbed us, and the world, of possibly seeing one of the most dominant forces in the game play at his best level.
There is no doubt that these two deserve the recognition that they will be receiving tonight.
Eric Lindros was a force to be reckoned with during the 1990s. It really is a shame that we won’t ever know what he could have accomplished if he was playing at full strength for more parts of his career.
John Leclair posted 3 straight 50-goal seasons, from 1995 to 1999, with 51 in 95-96 and 97-98 and an even 50 in 96-97. This truly is a rare feat, no one has accomplished this in recent history. He continued to play for the Flyers for many years after Lindros left, helping them in the playoffs in the early 2000s.
The end-result was never there for these two, but they provided memories to last a lifetime.
Ryan Gilbert is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia, he can be found on twitter @RiskyBryzness
