Eric Lindros had failed to meet the expectations placed on him when we held that junior hockey rookie card in our hands and assumed we were holding a promissory note of greatness.

Lindros was second on the Flyers in 1992-93 with 41 goals and third with 75 points in 61 games, and he finished fourth in voting for the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year.

Roughly 26 years before Eric Lindros became a Hockey Hall of Famer, he was already being treated as such. He was “The Next One.” He was a player whose combination of strength, size and offensive gifts ...