Put dots in the loops of the Double-Eights, make them look like targets. Ah, the Devils won’t need any reminding.
If Eric Lindros has any illusions what the Devils intend for him, he should ask Pat LaFontaine how Scott Stevens slammed him when he was trying to keep his concussion-shortened career going.
Or ask Stevens.
“Yes, if I can hit him, I’m going to hit him if he’s got the puck,” Scott Stevens said. “It’s a very sensitive issue, concussions. No one’s going to put a player out there who isn’t 100 percent ready.
“I’m not going to go out of my way to hit him, and I’m not going to hit him dirty, but I know if he gets the chance, he’s going to hit me.”
Bobby Holik will probably see plenty of the defrocked Flyer captain, who expects to return to action tonight at the Meadowlands in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals.
“You don’t try to hit him where he’s vulnerable. I hope nobody in the NHL plays like that. I don’t. But you play him. Once you step on the ice, you’re fair game,” Holik said. “If he’s not 100 percent, he shouldn’t be out there.”
Lindros has been out since March 12 with his fourth and fifth concussions, and was only cleared to practice Monday. Yet, he plays tonight, despite the controversy that surrounds his relation with his bosses and teammates.
“If you want to know how he’ll feel, ask Steve Brule, who didn’t play for three weeks, and couldn’t go out [due to fatigue] for his fourth shift,” Larry Robinson said. “Is he going to make an impact? If he was on my team, probably.”
Robinson’s players will be trying to prevent Lindros from doing that for Craig Ramsay’s team. That will mean hitting him, even though a career is at risk.