Islanders Are Example of What Can Go Wrong

The partnership between right wing Brett Lindros and the New York Islanders was expected to be an enduring, magical one when the franchise made him its first-round draft selection in 1994.

Instead, the younger brother of Philadelphia Flyer center Eric Lindros was out of professional hockey by 1996. He suffered three severe concussions at the NHL level and at first found himself unable to sleep at night or to dial the telephone, according to his father Carl.

Although he is well enough now to co-host a hockey television show, the younger Lindros was forced to retire from the game.

His loss affected the Islanders on and off the ice. Despite carrying an insurance policy covering Lindros’ contract, the team could not collect on a $4.3-million claim. According to the policy, once a deductible is met and an insured player missed 30 consecutive regular-season games, the policy reimburses the team for 80% of the player’s salary.

But the Islanders failed to reveal relevant information--three previous concussions suffered by Lindros before he joined the NHL franchise--on their insurance application to Boston Mutual Insurance Co., court papers said.

The Islanders, who declined comment, reached an agreement with Lindros in 1998 to pay him $5.6 million, the remaining three years of his contract. Boston Mutual moved to rescind the policy, the Islanders sued, and U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock ruled in favor of the insurance company.

On Jan. 19, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston ruled in favor of Boston Mutual. The eight-page ruling by the three-judge panel used some unusually harsh language in regard to the Islanders’ conduct, writing in its decision:

”. . . Turning to the present facts, we agree with the district judge that the Islanders’s conduct was indisputably reckless in the sense that it was careless in the extreme.”