Eric Lindros

Amid congratulations and handshakes from his teammates, Eric Lindros went through yesterday's morning skate wearing an impossible-to-miss grin. Perhaps more significant, the Flyers' captain took the smile with him to the dressing room, where he had been downcast and quiet for much of the season. "I'm just so happy this is over," Lindros said, unstrapping his shin guards. "Just real happy. " Lindros agreed to a one-year, $8.5 million contract extension late Wednesday and also received a $3.8 million signing bonus, which raised his pay this season to $7.5 million.

Eric Lindros scored the first goal in Team Canada's 6-3 Canada Cup victory over Team USA last night at Copps Coliseum, but it appears more likely than ever that the junior-hockey sensation will not play in the NHL this season. Instead, Lindros, the best player to come out of junior hockey since Mario Lemieux in 1984, probably will go back to the Ontario Junior Hockey League and play for the Oshawa Generals. Rick Curran, Lindros' agent, was quoted in the Toronto Star yesterday as saying, "Eric has one option, and that's to play another year of junior in Oshawa.

If you think Eric Lindros has created a stir in Quebec, you should see what he's done to hockey-crazed Toronto. The Toronto Sun, known almost as much for its Page 3 SUNshine pinup girl as for its hockey coverage, featured a picture on the front of Wednesday's paper that had Lindros' head superimposed on Wendel Clark's body. The photo showed what Lindros would look like in a Maple Leafs uniform, and it wasn't bad. Wednesday's SUNshine girl also got into the spirit. She wore a Lindros T- shirt and called herself his "No. 1 fan. " "We want Lindros," the Sun cried out in a big red headline on the top of Thursday's front page, and the paper offered readers a chance to vote on how far the Leafs should go in trading for the junior superstar.

Quickly putting that ticket-price increase behind them, the Flyers yesterday extolled the virtues of a player they don't have and may never get. Daydreams are fun for everyone, and a lot cheaper than those $35 seats. The player in question was Eric Lindros, whose very name sends some NHL clubs into such a tizzy, they contemplate trading away their mothers, aunts and uncles, their arena and a few bridges to get him. The Flyers tried to hold a news conference to discuss their plans for the forthcoming NHL draft, but Eric Madness quickly broke out. Speculation around the NHL is that the Quebec Nordiques, who drafted the junior superstar with the No. 1 pick last year but have been unable to sign him, will trade Lindros before the June 20 draft or, at the latest, before training camp opens in September.

Flyers general manager Bob Clarke met with Eric Lindros' lawyer and with agent father Carl Lindros yesterday in Toronto, with no immediate resolution to the impasse over the playing rights to the former Flyers captain. "It was a very open and cordial meeting," said lawyer Gordon Kirke, who said the lines of communication between the parties will remain open. "I can't discuss the details of the meeting," he said. "We've been exploring possibilities with other teams and we will continue to do that.

Those excitable Tampa Bay Lightning fans may not recognize some of their heroes when they return to the ThunderDome tomorrow night for Game 6 of this increasingly contentious opening-round series against the Flyers. After all, stitches, lumps, welts and bruises have a way of altering a player's appearance. The first hint that there would be a bitter, angry tone to last night's 4-1 Flyers victory at the Spectrum came during the pregame skate-around when the Lightning's Alexander Selivanov and the Flyers' Shawn Antoski engaged in some kind of stare down from opposite ends of the ice long after their teammates had filed into the dressing rooms.

It isn't clear exactly what Bill Dineen might have to do to keep Eric Lindros out of tonight's Spectrum game between the Flyers and the Penguins - hide the rookie star's skates, lock him in the training room, tie him up with adhesive tape and assign someone to sit on him - but whatever it takes, Dineen says he'll do it. Yesterday, Lindros practiced at full speed for the first time since injuring his left knee back on Nov. 22. Dineen, the Flyers'...

Contract talks between the Flyers and Eric Lindros, in limbo since early fall, will resume today against the backdrop of a deadline announced last night by Lindros' side. Carl Lindros, Eric's father and agent, said that if the Flyers' captain did not have a new contract by tomorrow, there would be no more talks until after the season, when Lindros would become a restricted free agent other clubs could bid for. "Ed Snider is leaving for an extended vacation on Thursday," Carl Lindros said, referring to the Flyers' chairman.

Among the 82 games in the NHL's seemingly endless regular season, some stand out like road markers. They tell where a team is, and which direction it's heading. With the season winding down to 10 games, tonight's expected war in New Jersey against the Devils is one such marker. The Devils have unquestionably played the best hockey in the Eastern Conference since the all-star break (17-4-8) and appear destined for a rematch with the Flyers in the playoffs, much like two years ago. "With this few to go, each one is bigger than the one before, but this one has big implications," said Flyers winger Shjon Podein.

After spending a week rolling around on a giant, blue rubber ball, doing all sorts of abdominal work to strengthen his back and promote flexibility, center Eric Lindros is eager to do something else. Like play hockey. The Flyers' captain will return to the lineup today against the Boston Bruins. Joining him will be center Keith Primeau (fractured rib) and defenseman Ulf Samuelsson (injured left rotator cuff). All three practiced yesterday at Northeastern University. Lindros and Primeau both say they're not 100 percent but they're close enough to play.

TORONTO - The hulking body looked familiar, in a way, with his oversized shoulders and a few unpretentious threads of white cloth tape wrapped around his stick. At first glance in the bright Air Canada Centre, it appeared as if the Flyers added a giant to their lineup overnight. The only thing that stood out for Eric Lindros on Thursday was his black helmet, the one contrast between himself and the rest of the Flyers' white domes. Everything else looked the same as it ever did, in an orange jersey with the crest he helped make iconic.

Visit our special Winter Classic section of Philly.com, with exclusive multimedia, video, photos and everything you need to enjoy the game: www.philly.com/winterclassic   Along with a chance to appreciate hockey nostalgia at its highest, one of the most remarkable aspects of the alumni game between the Flyers and New York Rangers was the renewed appreciation fans displayed for Eric Lindros. It could be argued that Lindros drew the loudest pregame ovation on the applause meter from the crowd of 45,808 as the Flyers alumni defeated the New York Rangers, 3-1, Saturday at an emotion-filled Citizens Bank Park.

A few weeks ago, Flyers icon Bob Clarke said he was looking forward to playing in the Winter Classic alumni game Dec. 31 and having Eric Lindros as one of his teammates. The two had a very public feud before Clarke, then the Flyers general manager, dealt Lindros to the New York Rangers in 2001. Clarke said the feud was over. On Monday, in an interview on 97.5 The Fanatic, Lindros also said he was ready to move on. Lindros, who said he has not been to Philadelphia in "a long time," acknowledged he was "disappointed" in how his Flyers career ended, "but that's in the past . . . There's going to be disagreements in life, and that's what the case was. But like I said, that's in the past.

Nick Luukko was only 5 years old, but he'd been around long enough to know where his hockey loyalties lay. That's why he was wearing a long face when he and 29 other children were handed jerseys to wear during a ceremony for the World Cup of Hockey in 1996 at what was then the spanking new CoreStates Center. "They gave me a Devils jersey, and I didn't want to wear it," Luukko said with a smile Thursday after the second day of workouts at the Flyers' prospect camp at the Skate Zone in Voorhees.

The Flyers will have a favorable early-season schedule - nine of their first 13 games are at home - when they open defense of their Eastern Conference championship in 2010-11. It will be the Flyers' first full season under coach Peter Laviolette, who took over Dec. 4 and directed the team to within two wins of their first Stanley Cup since 1975. The team released its schedule Tuesday for its 44th season, and it includes one matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks, who defeated the Flyers, four games to two, in the Stanley Cup Finals.

AN 18-MEMBER committee meets today to decide this year's inductees for the Hockey Hall of Fame. The bad news for Eric Lindros is that neither Bonnie Lindros nor Carl Lindros are one of the 18, from which 14 votes are required for election. Geez, how did they miss that one? The good news is that, just maybe, enough time has passed to dull some of the feelings toward them, and by extension, their kid. Because whether they do it by numbers, fame or even achievement, "E" should stand for "easy" here.

THE FLYERS ARE in the Stanley Cup finals, which can only mean one thing: The Craigslist crazies are on the power play. Remember the female Phillies fan who tried to trade sex for World Series tickets? Well, she either isn't into hockey, or she learned her lesson. As of last night, no such offers had been made. However, someone in Phoenixville posted the following: "Help! I am a dedicated Flyers' fan and my wife will not let me buy tickets. I am willing to trade her washer and dryer for two tickets to Games 3 or 4 in Philadelphia.

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. phoned Paul Holmgren yesterday to wish the Flyers luck in the Stanley Cup finals. Having represented the National League in the last two World Series, Amaro knows what it's like to have the weight of the city on your shoulders. "The Phillies' success over the last few years has motivated our guys to be better," Holmgren told Amaro on the call. Multiple Flyers players have wondered aloud at what it would be like to be the center of a parade like the one the Phillies received in 2008 after capturing the city's first title in 25 years.

With Simon Gagne and Danny Briere sidelined by injuries, the Flyers need others to pick up the scoring slack. In the last two games, that formula has been perfectly executed. Centers Mike Richards and Jeff Carter snapped slumps with two goals apiece, and rookie right winger David Laliberte added his second goal in two games to highlight the Flyers' 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning last night at the Wachovia Center. Laliberte became the first Flyer to score in his first two NHL games since Eric Lindros did so in 1992.