"The first couple of years, we had some moments, but we never made the playoffs," he said. "And then my third year, we knew we had a shot [at a Stanley Cup], and that realization did a lot to practices and games. It was a wonderful feeling."
Two years later, Lindros helped the Flyers reach the Stanley Cup Finals, collecting 26 points in 19 playoff games.
Concussions forced Lindros to retire after he spent the 2006-07 season in Dallas. He played 13 seasons - eight with the Flyers - and accumulated 865 points, including 372 goals, in 760 games.
Lindros was the NHL Players Association's ombudsman for two years before eventually working with several start-up companies as a consultant.
"I'm not a nine-to-fiver," he said, "but I have enough on my plate to keep busy and enjoy life. It's a nice balance."
Three months ago, he helped start a "virtual" store online (shop.ca), which sells more than 15 million items - from clothing to electronics - in Canada.
"I set up the connections to get more product on our shelves," he said, adding that the company soon will expand to the United States (shop.us).
When he's not involved in the business world, Lindros enjoys being on the golf course - his handicap is 7 - or spending time with family and friends at an eight-cabin fishing camp he owns in Lake Kipawa in Quebec.
Next month he is marrying a woman named Kina, a Montreal native whom he met through mutual friends in Toronto.
For Lindros, life is good. He is far removed from his final Flyers years and his very public feud with then-general manager Bob Clarke.
As for the NHL and its lockout, Lindros supports the players and says the owners have changed the language from the last collective bargaining agreement as it pertains to hockey-related revenue. (The owners' leaders disagree.)
Team fined. The Czech Republic ice hockey federation said it fined a club after its fans aimed racist chants toward Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds, who is playing in the top Czech league during the NHL lockout, the Associated Press reported.
In a statement Tuesday, the federation said the Chomutov Pirates were fined 30,000 koruna ($1,554) by its disciplinary committee for the chants directed at Simmonds, who is playing for the Liberec White Tigers.
The chants came during a game Sunday. Fans chanted "opice," which means monkey, according to reports.
Contact Sam Carchidi at scarchidi@phillynews.com. Follow on Twitter @BroadStBull.
