Picture, if you can, a fleeting journey to the outer limits of Eric Lindros' career with the Philadelphia Flyers; a hypothetical step back on what otherwise was an ordinary Tuesday afternoon at the team's practice facility, coincidentally called the Skate Zone, but for the moment something closer to a Twilight Zone.

	Clarke: "You never expect players to have any animosity against an ex-teammate."

Meet Bob Clarke, team president and renowned Lindros antagonist. He's sitting in his upstairs office in this building on this day, pondering the next night's game in New York between his Flyers and the team their exiled captain plays for now, the Rangers.

The hype surrounding this game is understandable, if not quite welcome, Clarke said, because of who Eric Lindros is and how his prolonged divorce from the Flyers played out so publicly before the trade was struck with New York last Aug. 20.

Clarke was right in the middle of that extended act of angst, of course, yet he speaks about it in almost disembodied fashion. Verbally separate from blame and praise while adopting a classically third-person defensive stance.

It is from this perspective that Clarke is asked to take a cerebral step back to when he was a Flyers captain, and imagine what it would be like to play a game against an exiled comrade. Or, better yet, be that exiled Eric playing his first game against the team for which he spent eight seasons.

Naturally, Bob Clarke never will be Eric Lindros, and he didn't try to imagine what that must be like. But as for putting himself in the shoes of one of his players who will be lining up against Lindros tonight, Clarke found it familiar territory to speculate on.

"It's no different for them," Clarke insisted. "If you play in the league, you'll end up going through this, and probably a lot of times, no matter who the player is. It's even more so now, because there's so much movement with free agency and trades.

"So you know this is made into a big thing just because it's the Flyers and Lindros, but for the players I don't think it makes any difference. They're there to play the game."

But then, this is hardly just any meeting between old friends. Lindros' departure was preceded by more than a year of strife with management, public attacks on player and parents, counterclaims by the Lindros family against team medical officials and many a media missive against its most popular target, that third-person Bob Clarke.

When it became mutually obvious that a trade would take place, it would only take another 15 months to complete, along with wild trade rumors with several teams and other juicy moments.

Now it's built to this, a day in a hockey Twilight Zone that the principals are sworn by pride to characterize as just another night.

	“	The addition to it in this situation is that there was so much animosity that built up between management and Lindros, it makes it more than it is. But it has nothing to do with the players. ”
		— Bob Clarke

"If anything, because of the interest that's been built around it, I think both teams will be more than ready to play," said Clarke. "But that's all. You never expect players to have any animosity against an ex-teammate. If they did they'd spend whole games running at players on different teams, because players are so mobile (in the league). I think they're smart enough to realize they have to look out for their own teams."

That, Clarke said, is how any one of his players -- even the old competitor still dwelling deep inside him -- is and would be approaching this reunion at the Garden. No mystery, no scientifically altered state of reality.

No matter the opponent, a game is a game. For the Flyers, the Rangers, and their man in the spotlight, the real Eric Lindros. Yesterday, he didn't find it so difficult to take a step back into the past.

"I think what was going on off the ice outweighed everything that was (happening) on the ice," Lindros said. "Hockey is tough enough to play as it stands. There just seemed to be so much more off the ice than what was supposed to be occurring. It just wasn't a game anymore.

"For a couple of years it just made it impossible to go out and feel good about the situation. Even before that, it was some tough times. But let's just leave it at that. Everybody goes through a situation once in a while (where) they have to defend themselves. And that's what happened. And I don't second-guess what I did. But I certainly don't want to bring it all back up and go through it all again. It's in the past. It's over and it's not worth talking about again."

Lindros, of course, has had time to prepare for this. He spent nearly a year after being medically cleared to play in the NHL waiting for Clarke to cut a deal. One day, the anxious Lindros knew, he'd have his chance to prove himself again.

Alas, the hype surrounding this first opportunity is bound to surpass any sense of satisfaction Lindros can hope to create for himself tonight. As Lindros himself said when asked how he's approaching the Flyers game, "Just one of 82 regular-season games, boys."

No head games, no metaphysical steps back into time, and certainly no regrets. It's just another game for Eric Lindros against another group of boys. His renowned antagonist even concedes that's a proper pregame posture.

Oh, and if it doesn't make for good TV ... too bad.

"It's probably a similar situation now for (Jaromir) Jagr, when Washington is playing Pittsburgh," said Clarke. "The addition to it in this situation is that there was so much animosity that built up between management and Lindros, it makes it more than it is. But it has nothing to do with the players."

Rob Parent of the Delaware County (Pa.) Times is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.