Oskar Lindblom’s Long Road Back to the Flyers
Over the past year, Flyers’ forward Oskar Lindblom has been in the battle of his life.
Diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that targets the body’s bones and tissues, the hockey world was hit hard upon hearing the news last December.
No one was sure if we would ever see his return to the ice, but the 23-year-old defied all odds.
With the 2020-21 season hopefully on the horizon, let’s look back at Lindblom’s incredibly courageous journey back to the Flyers.
December 13, 2019
After an auspicious start to the 2019-20 season with 11 goals in 20 games, Lindblom’s’ season came to a screeching halt in mid-December with the diagnosis.
Needless to say, it hit the Flyers hard. While they were losing a gifted player on the ice, it was incomparable to his health’s genuine worry.
Whether it was Alain Vigneault, Claude Giroux, or Lindblom’s close friend Robert Hagg, they all spoke on just how great a young man was that Lindblom was off the ice.
January 2020 // Treatment Begins and the Hockey Community rallies
After returning home to Sweden for Christmas, Lindblom returned to Philadelphia to begin treatment in early January.
But he was not alone in his battle.
Even though Lindblom was a lesser-known player in the league, the amount of support he got from all over the world from the hockey community was unimaginable.
Whether it was all other 30 teams wearing their ‘Oskar Strong’ shirts or former cancer survivor and NHL player Eddie Olcyzk reaching out with a phone call, the hockey community made sure that Oskar knew he had millions by his side as he embarked on an undoubtedly brutal six-month radiation treatment.
Photo: TW/Penguins
July 2, 2020 // Final Treatment
Over 7 months after his diagnosis of Ewing’s Sarcoma, Lindblom completed the first step of his recovery as he underwent his final treatment at Penn Medicine on July 2nd.
While it still seemed like a longshot that Lindblom would return to the Flyers, especially during the NHL bubble’s odd circumstances, Chuck Fletcher and Alain Vigneault never closed the door on a Lindblom return.
Initially, the buzz around Lindblom was that if the Flyers made it to the Conference Finals in the Edmonton bubble, there may be a chance that he could play.
But for the young man that kept defying the odds, Lindblom once again showed just how resilient he was.
August 16, 2020 // Back in Practice
As the Flyers were battling with the Canadiens in round one, Lindblom joined the team for practice.
After a brutal 5-0 loss in Game 2, Lindblom’s return certainly gave the team a much-needed morale boost.
Needless to say, the Flyers would go on to shut out Montreal 1-0 later that night.
September 3, 2020 // Return to the Ice
Just 9 months after being diagnosed with cancer and two months after completing his treatment, Lindblom made his way back into the Flyers’ lineup for a pivotal Game 6 tilt with the New York Islanders.
The news came as a delightful shock to Flyers fans, and all of the hockey community as an incredibly resilient Lindblom had made it all the way back. And for a critical elimination game, no less.
December 2020 // Cancer-Free
A year after a potentially career-ending diagnosis, Oskar Lindblom has made a miraculous recovery and is now in remission.
He’s seemingly defied all odds during his journey back to the Flyers and has reported to training camp with the team this week.
With a new three-year contract extension and his battle with Ewing’s Sarcoma hopefully in the rearview mirror, Lindblom is back on the ice and looking to build off the great start he had in 2019.
Featured Image: NHL.com
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