Keep That Head Up, Lindros A Leaf

Just as earlier in the week when it seemed the Eric Lindros – Toronto Maple Leaf saga was about to hit yet another road bump, a deal that seemed to be three or four years in the making was finally completed yesterday afternoon at the home of none other than the Toronto Maple Leafs surrogate general manager, Tie Domi.

Yes, that’s right my friends. Eric Lindros is finally a Leaf after signing a one year deal worth $1.55 million plus incentives and we have Tie Domi to thank.

Quite the busy guy Domi has been this year. After trying to take the labour strife into his own hands and broker a deal with the Leafs big boss, Larry Tannenbaum and Mario Lemieux in January, Tie went onto complain that he is taken for granted and underappreciated when it came time to discuss his contract earlier this month. That, however, was not before he expressed concern that Gary Roberts and Joe Nieuwendyk had been allowed to leave town in favour of the Florida Panthers.

For a couple of days at least, it seemed Domi had indeed played his last game as a Toronto Maple Leaf and was bound for Pittsburg but at the last second his “true” Maple Leaf spirit came through and he decided to stay with the Leafs for a little less money than he was offered elsewhere. What a guy eh! Now for his latest trick, it seems he had pushed hard since signing his own deal (which I’m fairly sure stipulates player and not general manager although I could be wrong) to see Lindros put on a Leaf jersey. You know it almost reminds me of the good old days in Raptor Land when Vince Carter was the general manager. Though I am sure Domi means well, I have never seen a player of such marginal ability exert so much control over an organization. It would probably be best if Domi stuck to trying to improve his game rather than his managerial skills.

As for the acquisition of Lindros, it could prove to be a coup for the Leafs if he manages to stay healthy for the majority of the season. His contract is very low risk but his potential, as has been seen throughout portions of his career is very high. In fact not more than three years ago, Lindros recorded an impressive thirty seven goals in a season where goals where found at a premium.
This is the kind of low risk – high reward player that could benefit the Maple Leafs this season, a year in which will be largely spent trying to renegotiate their long term game plan going forward under the new collective bargaining agreement. Let’s hope Eric keeps his head up or the enforcer will have to protect him. I think Tie wears that hat too.