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Deal gone dead Flyers, Leafs blame each other for calling off trade
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The Eric Lindros saga continues. And though the Flyers still have three weeks to shed their concussion-prone star before the trade deadline, it's becoming more likely that Lindros will end up sitting out the rest of the season. "If they can't get a deal done with Toronto, it would leave Eric and me surfing in Maui," Lindros attorney Gord Kirke joked Wednesday. "Reality is that Eric always knew that in dealing with the Leafs he could be sitting this year. And sitting this year is not the worst thing for his health." Attempts to send Lindros to Toronto fell apart Wednesday, when the Maple Leafs accused the Flyers of pulling out of a "done deal" in which Philadelphia would get two players and a top draft choice in exchange for Lindros. "We met what they asked for, word for word. ... As far as I'm concerned I'm not going to swap around any more," Toronto general manager and coach Pat Quinn said in Toronto. "Even the great Gretzky trade, one of the biggest in the history of our business, never had this sort of thing." Flyers general manager Bob Clarke said Philadelphia reasonably backed out because of medical concerns about defenseman Danny Markov, who has missed eight games with a back injury. Clarke said Markov might have a herniated disc, and could miss 4-6 weeks. "His interpretation and mine are totally different," Clarke said. "In my mind, we were never close because we hadn't seen medical reports on Markov [before Monday]. We had our doctors review them and they didn't like them." Lindros, at 28 a restricted free agent with limited options, continued to practice Wednesday at a suburban Toronto arena where he has skated alone since being medically cleared in November to resume his career. "Right now, there's really nothing to talk about," he said from Toronto on Wednesday. Lindros has not played since May, when he suffered his sixth concussion in 27 months during a playoff game. He rejected an $8.5 million qualifying offer from Philadelphia this past summer and said he would not return to the Flyers because of a contentious relationship with Clarke. While the Maple Leafs reportedly offered Lindros $45 million over five years, the former Flyers captain's health remained a concern. His last concussion happened just 7 minutes, 50 seconds after returning from a 10-week absence from a previous concussion. "Let's face it: a player of Eric's caliber, if everyone knew he was going to be healthy, we probably wouldn't even be talking right now, probably," Quinn said. "He'd still be signed and playing in Philly, I imagine." Though Quinn left open the possibility of Toronto pursuing Lindros again, Clarke made it clear he was through with the Maple Leafs. "If he [Quinn] wants to call us, that's up to him," he said. "We're not calling them. We wish they would just say goodbye, say they don't want Lindros." Quinn said he was mystified at how the deal fell apart. He said the teams had an agreement a week ago, which he said was confirmed over the weekend. The parties talked Monday, and Quinn said he was assured by Clarke that the deal was final and would be announced to the league Tuesday afternoon. The Leafs board of directors approved the trade and a contract agreement was hammered out with Lindros. But by midday Tuesday, the Flyers had backed out, citing Markov's health. Clarke said Wednesday he would have accepted young defenseman Tomas Kaberle instead. Also reported in the Leafs' package were center Nik Antropov and a top draft choice. Asked why Quinn would think a deal was imminent over the weekend, Clarke noted his doctors didn't see medical reports until Monday and at that point Philadelphia pulled the plug. He also said the Flyers were sensitive to back problems, having seen John LeClair sidelined by his back. Quinn said he'd entered into negotiations in good faith. "I'm not very happy with how all this transpired," he said. "It was constantly a moving target, every time we moved to their position, it moved again." The Leafs are in a six-game winless slide and have won only nine of their past 31 games. Philadelphia is two points out of first place in the Eastern Conference, has won six straight home games and is 20-7-5 since Bill Barber replaced Craig Ramsay as coach Dec. 10.
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