About six hours before his iconic No. 88 was raised to the rafters in front of an ear-splitting sellout crowd Thursday, Eric Lindros grabbed the tiny hands of his three-year-old son, Carl, and they skated around the Wells Fargo Center ice.
The Flyers’ arena, which had No. 88 T-shirts on the seats for the fans who would arrive later, was empty at the time, but the moment will be forever etched in the elder Lindros’ mind.
Father and son. In the House That Eric Built. The place where he revitalized the franchise and laid the foundation for his Hall of Fame career.