Eric Lindros files defamation lawsuit against former NHL referee Paul Stewart

Eric Lindros is striking back in a more civil way.

The former NHL superstar has filed a $250,000 defamation lawsuit against Paul Stewart and the Huffington Post. The retired referee wrote a column for the news website that Lindros took exception to, according to Rick Westhead of TSN.

In July of 2014, Stewart shared stories about interactions he had with Lindros both on and off the ice, highlighted by allegations that Lindros ripped up a collection of posters the referee had asked to have signed for a charity auction.

A statement released by Lindros's lawyer, Geoff Shaw, outlines his client's position on the matter:

It was both intended and foreseeable to Stewart and the (Huffington Post) that the article would receive widespread public attention and readership. Lindros is a well-known public figure, particularly in Canada and the United States and other countries where ice hockey is popular.

(Lindros) has suffered aggravated damages as a consequence of the republications. The republications reported that 'Eric Lindros was apparently an enormous (bleep)' and that 'Lindros angrily tearing up charity posters is a high point in athlete dickhead behaviour.'

The statement that Lindros refused to sign posters intended for a charity auction, and more shockingly, tore them up because they were solicited by Stewart is false and makes Lindros out to be unfriendly, hostile, rude, insulting, vindictive, cruel, uncharitable and generally a despicable person

Lindros originally asked an Ontario court to award him $2 million in general damages, and $1 million in aggravated damages. He and his lawyer later changed the amount of damages to $250,000.