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Surprise inclusion Lindros reportedly on Canada's Olympic short list
Updated: Monday July 23, 2001 8:49 PM
TORONTO (CNNSI.com) -- Eric Lindros will likely be back on the ice in September. Whether it's with an NHL team or not remains to be seen. No progress has been made in his stalemate with the Philadelphia Flyers on a possible trade, but Lindros is expected to be among 34 players invited to Canada's Olympic preparation camp in Calgary in September. Two sources confirmed to the Canadian Press that Lindros will be among the 34 players on Canada's preliminary list when it is announced to Wayne Gretzky on Tuesday. The list will be released at 11 a.m. EDT by Canadian Hockey followed by a 1 p.m. EDT conference call with Gretzky, the team's executive director. The eight players already selected in March for Team Canada are Colorado center Joe Sakic, Detroit center Steve Yzerman, Pittsburgh center Mario Lemieux, San Jose right wing Owen Nolan, Anaheim left wing Paul Kariya, St. Louis defenseman Chris Pronger, Colorado defenseman Rob Blake and New Jersey defenseman Scott Niedermayer. Gretzky has previously stated that Lindros won't be on the final 23-man team in December is he doesn't play in the NHL this fall. Lindros captained Canada's team in the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan, leading Team Canada to a disppointing fourth-place finish. Lindros, a restricted free agent, sat out last season after rejecting an $8.5 million qualifying offer from the Flyers. He refused to return to Philadelphia because of a contentious relationship with general manager Bobby Clarke. Lindros, 28, hasn't played since a check from New Jersey's Scott Stevens in Game 7 of the 2000 Eastern Conference finals gave him his sixth concussion 14 months ago. Once he was cleared to resume skating last November, Lindros said he only would play for his hometown Maple Leafs. Days before the trade deadline in March, Lindros added St. Louis, Detroit and Washington to his list. He added the Rangers to the list earlier this month. Clarke, who has said he doesn't care if Lindros ever plays again, is in no hurry to deal the star center. Philadelphia's acquisition of centers Jeremy Roenick and Jiri Dopita has put Clarke in position to wait for the best possible offer for Lindros. In eight injury-filled seasons with the Flyers, Lindros scored 290 goals and had 369 assists.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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