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Heads up! Lindros, Stevens back on the same ice
Updated: Wednesday October 17, 2001 11:27 PM
By Mike Zeisberger, SLAM! Sports The most hyped show in the Big Apple tonight will take place at Madison Square Garden, not on Broadway. All eyes will be on New York Rangers center Eric Lindros and New Jersey Devils captain Scott Stevens, whose crushing body check in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final on May 26, 2000 left No. 88 with his sixth concussion in 27 months. Although they faced each other during the preseason, tonight's game marks the first official meeting between the two foes since Stevens laid out Lindros, then a Philadelphia Flyer, at the First Union Center 17 months ago. Lindros holds no grudge against Stevens. In fact, Lindros claims to have joined Stevens and Ed Belfour for an afternoon of fishing during the Canadian Olympic team's evaluation camp in Alberta last month. But Lindros also is aware of the ramifications of keeping his head down while crossing the Devils blue line when Stevens is on the ice tonight. "I'm sure he'd do the same thing," Lindros said. He told reporters yesterday that the affair has been overblown. "I've been fine with everything for a long time," he said. "I said all along I had no problem with the play; it's so far in the past, I don't even want to get into it. I don't know when other people are going to let it go. "I do know, though, that the more that's written, the more that's read, the more it will be talked about. For myself, I'm over it." Lindros never has claimed it was a dirty hit. "It was what it was," he said. "I thought I could get the puck and chip it through. Scott plays hard and Scott plays well. Nobody likes to hurt anybody." Stevens, who was shaken after the hit, is more concerned about getting his 0-3 Devils back on the right track tonight. "Eric knows how I feel and I know how Eric feels," Stevens said last night from his New Jersey home. "We're both big boys, and we both want life to go on. "Eric and I have had our battles over the years, but we've also known each other a long time, through Canada Cups and all-star games. We get along well. We talked in Calgary, although not about hockey -- we talked about fishing, which we both enjoy."
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