If you listen closely you can still hear the echoing remnants of the collision. It was one of those rare hockey moments that will forever be ingrained in the memories of those who witnessed it. Future generations will ponder the ramifications of its aftermath. On Saturday, March 7, at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Darius Kasparaitis destroyed Eric Lindros with a devastating open-ice check, recording a knockout of the Philadelphia Flyer captain. Goliath was dead.

Darius Kasparaitis by Tricia McMillan

The hit occurred at 8:48 of the second period. The Flyers were leading 4-3, but had just yielded a short-handed goal to Pittsburgh's Jiri Slegr and were looking to salvage something from the power play. Lindros was barreling his way through center along the right wing boards when he lost control of the puck. He then made the cardinal mistake of putting his head down in attempt to find the elusive biscuit. Bad decision. While having your head down is always a dangerous proposition in the NHL, when Kasparaitis is on the ice it's a death sentence. The wacky Lithuanian looped to the boards and belted Lindros with a picture perfect shoulder check just inside the blue line. The impact of the collision sent Lindros' helmet soaring and shattered windows for miles. Both men were knocked backwards. One was knocked out.

As Kaspar quickly gathered himself and made his way back into the play, Lindros remained on his hands and knees in an obvious state of confusion. Not knowing exactly what happened, Rod Brind'Amour and the rest of the Flyers immediately went after Kasparaitis and a huge dog pile ensued.

Meanwhile, Lindros was still down. He barely moved at all for the first few moments. When he finally attempted to make it to his skates, he immediately crumpled back to the ice. He was in some trouble. With Philly's trainer now by his side, Lindros again tried to stand up. He remained vertical for one or two meager strides and then collapsed along the boards.

By this time the two teams had separated and gone to their respective benches. All eyes were on Lindros and his desperate plight. While the Flyers looked on in stunned silence, the Pittsburgh bench featured an entirely different tone. Most were congratulating Kasparaitis on the hit. Rookie Alexei Morozov did little to hide his enthusiasm, patting Darius on the helmet and wearing a grin from ear to ear as he watched a dazed Lindros slowly led off the ice, hanging limply from the shoulders of two teammates. The diagnosis was a second-degree concussion. He's expected to be out of action for 10 to 14 days.

Some people were criticizing Morozov for laughing, but guess what? I was laughing too. It wasn't a laugh of malice, but of amazement. Even though I had just witnessed the check with my own eyes, I still didn't believe it. It was truly beyond belief. Lindros has almost taken on a mythical stature over the years due to his physical dominance. He is, without doubt, the most intimidating presence in hockey. Watching him get knocked loopy on a clean check and then stagger off the ice seemed like a tale of battle from modern day mythology. Except instead of hurling a rock, Kasparaitis slew the giant by hurling himself.

And make no mistake about it, the hit was clean. Kasparaitis didn't leave his skates. He just planted his shoulder right into Lindros' mug. It's not Kaspar's fault that the Flyer behemoth had his head down. Lindros was also the victim of some bad timing on the play. Teammate John LeClair was straddling the blue line in an attempt to stay onside as Lindros entered the zone and ended up setting an inadvertent screen for Kasparaitis. LeClair's presence blocked Kaspar from Lindros' peripheral vision, enabling the defender to virtually come out of nowhere to deliver the blow. Yeah, that'll suck.

The hit was simply incredible. It was classic Kasparaitis. Even though he was giving up five inches and nearly 30 pounds, he didn't let up. He totally sacrificed any sense of his own well being in an attempt to score the big hit. But that's nothing new. The guy's just nuts. While the opportunity for a colossal check doesn't always present itself, Darius is willing to lay himself on the line for his club on a nightly basis. If the chance is there to belt someone, no matter who it is or how big they are, Darius will take it. And he'll make it count.

Kasparaitis' unbridled enthusiasm and physical style is a constant inspiration to his teammates. He is one of the few players in today's game, with Lindros being another, that can change the outcome of a contest with his physical play. Such was the case on this Saturday afternoon. Not only did the hit on Lindros inspire the Penguins, the sight of their lifeless leader being helped from the ice totally demoralized the Flyers. The combination allowed Pittsburgh to rattle off three third-period goals and skate away with a 6-4 win.

There was also more than a little irony involved with the whole incident. It was just last season that Lindros and the Flyers were complaining about opponents, in particular Kasparaitis, trying to hit him low all the time. When the Penguins and Flyers met in the first round of the playoffs, all the Flyer griping translated into Kaspar getting called for two clipping penalties. Yes, that's right, clipping penalties. The refs dug pretty dig to come up with that one. Never mind that Lindros nearly killed Kasparaitis in Game One by charging him into the backboards, the stripes did their best to protect number 88. Well, this time Darius proved he could hit high. He didn't go low. Lindros probably wishes he did.

After the game, the only subject of conversation was the hit. To his credit, Flyer GM Bobby Clarke admitted that it was clean. Some of Clarke's players weren't so sure. For his part, Kasparaitis simply wished Lindros a "good recovery." Darius also said that Morozov's obvious delight at the time was due to the fact that the young Russian had never seen such a huge hit and thought that it was unbelievable. He wasn't the only one.

If the Flyers were looking for revenge, they didn't have to wait long. The two teams met again the very next day, this time in Philadelphia. The Philly faithful were out in full force calling for Kasparaitis' head. Yet Darius wasn't about to back down. He was the first Penguin on the ice for the pregame skate, giving the raucous crowd an easy target. He was in danger every minute... and loving it.

The Flyers were clearly fired up for the game. They came out hitting everything that moved, whether it had long stringy hair and an 11 on its back or not. Kaspar survived his first shift, but then all hell broke loose on his second. The Flyers were buzzing around the Pittsburgh net when Darius got called for holding. The accompanying whistle then triggered a massive scrum in front with everyone trying to get a piece of Kasparaitis. Chris Gratton was especially aggressive, causing Jiri Slegr to step in and drop the gloves. When things got cooled down and Gratton was being ushered to the penalty box, he skated past Kaspar who was already in the bin, pointed to him, and seemed to say, "You're next." Aw, it's nice to see Gratton could take time out from his busy schedule of counting his undeserved riches and failing to score goals long enough to spew a meaningless threat. Because a lot of guys just wouldn't have made the effort. Keeping track of misbegotten funds can be tiresome. Yet Gratton went the extra mile. That's swell.

Kaspar wasn't out of the box long before he once again in the middle of things. Colin Forbes had pressured Darius behind the Pittsburgh net and held him along the boards long after the play was heading the other way. Kasparaitis wrestled free and exchanged a few shoves before drilling Forbes in the jaw with his right glove. Forbes immediately dropped his mits and started throwing. Kaspar just grabbed a hold of Forbes and held on while the Philly winger leveled punch after punch into his shoulder pads. Not much, if anything, connected. Both men got two-minute minors for roughing to go along with fighting majors.

After that minor disturbance, the rest of the game was pretty peaceful. Gratton never did make good on his threat. Wow, what a shock. He even had a golden opportunity late in the second period. Darius skated up to Gratton after a whistle and pushed him in the chest, but good ol' Chris kept silent. Maybe he was thinking about the upcoming tax season and whether or not the Flyers could claim his salary as a charitable contribution? Aw, I just tease in fun.

Anyway, lost in all the hype about getting even with Kasparaitis was a damn good game. The two clubs were tied 2-2 late in the third when Shjon Podein crashed the Pittsburgh net and pushed a shot over the goal line as he was sliding on his stomach. The goal came with just 45 seconds remaining on the clock and gave the Flyers what seemed like a sure win. At least that is until the Penguins pulled Wregget for an extra attacker and Ron Francis worked some magic. As the puck was sent around the boards behind the Flyer net, Francis made a remarkable touch pass, between his own legs no less, to Jaromir Jagr alone in front. Jagr snapped the pass behind a startled Ron Hextall to knot the score at 3-3 with just 15 seconds left. That's some wild, wild stuff.

But the Flyers would have the last laugh on the Penguins. And wherever there's laughter, Alexandre Daigle is usually around somewhere. Except this time Daigle wasn't the punch line. The supposed superstar-in-waiting made a marvelous individual play to split the Pittsburgh defense with his speed and then chipped a forehand shot over Wregget's glove for the game-winner just as he was being hauled to the ice. It was Daigle's first goal as a Flyer and his first tally in 22 games. At least he timed it well. The Flyers also got a bit of revenge on Kasparaitis after all, since Darius was one of the defenders Daigle split. Of course, it was Darius' partner Brad Werenka that actually screwed up, but Kaspar gets the minus nonetheless.

Both of the games were tremendous exhibitions of hockey. In fact, they could have been the two best games of the season to this point. But even a Game Seven would take a back seat to the Kasparaitis-Lindros confrontation. Considering the players involved, and the outcome, it could very well be the greatest hit in the history of the sport. Had Lindros knocked Kasparaitis all woozy, it really wouldn't have been that big a deal. That's what's supposed to happen. But this was like an O'Henry novel. The twist was that the little guy came out on top. That's not usually the case when Lindros is involved.

Watching the NHL's premier open-ice hitter do what he does best was a memorable experience. One that no one will soon forget. And rest assured, next time Lindros will have his head up. But the cool thing is... Kasparaitis won't care.

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