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Oskar Lindblom kicked Cancer’s butt, traveled to Sweden to be with his family and friends, and enjoyed his 24th birthday in the bubble with his team, the Flyers. His everlasting affect has made an imprint on the Flyers locker room, “I look at that and I look at how our players responded to the Oskar situation,” Vigneault said a few weeks ago, “I’m so proud of this group and everybody associated with it. That was a very challenging time for our group and we responded by doing our jobs, staying focused, players being supportive to Oskar, organization and fans being supportive of Oskar. This nomination for me considering what could have happened is extra special. Oskar is healthy now, our team did well, so this is very special for me.”
Lindblom brightens everyone’s day, as Alain Vigneault loves the kid. The young man in Lindblom paid a visit to the Flyers in practice back in January. He gives them a sense of hope, and is a ray of sunshine. Lindblom is so strong, and mentally tough. Vigneault calls him “Sunshine.”
This young man in Lindblom skated today at the morning skate. He brings a sense of joy, and gives the team a morale boost. The team gave him stick taps today at morning skate, and it was a thing of beauty:
Vigneault and his experienced coaching staff has done a great job with this young group, and they just love Oskar, “Coaches were almost in tears,” Vigneault said when they surrounded Lindblom while giving him stick taps on his return during morning skate today, “I think he was really nervous, but excited. The group was ecstatic to have him back. Great young man beautiful smile.” Vigneault says there is no timetable on his return, he will return when he feels as though it’s the right time.
“Once we found out the severity of the cancer that Oskar had and the amount of fight that he would have to put himself through to be able to beat this, there’s no doubt this will be a morale boost,” Vigneault said a month ago, “Seeing him every other week come in in between treatments and being the positive individual that he could be, that had a huge effect on our group and our focus on supporting. When it came time for hockey, staying in the moment and doing what we were supposed to do. This was obviously a different year for all of us, but it’s not over. We still have a lot of work to do. We’re all very fortunate that Oskar came out on the winning side for us.”
“My goal was to get back with the team,” Lindblom said today, “It’s been everything (Stick taps). They (Team) called me, texted me, it helped me get through the tough moments.” Lindblom thanked everybody at the hospital once again after he rung the Bell, “It meant a lot. They helped me every step of the way. Great hospital, and people there.” Oskar also stated, “I just wanted to get back home to see my family and friends,” before he entered the bubble.
Lindblom also said that “A few” players reached out to him in the beginning stages of his diagnosis, “That was more in the start of the whole thing,” Lindblom said, “I talked to Mario Lemieux and a couple other guys in the league that had something similar and reached out to me. That helped a lot too.”
Athletes are human too. Lindblom is always happy, upbeat, and in good spirits daily. This young Flyers team will enjoy an extended playoff run for Oskar. We are in this fight together with Lindblom. That bell being rung a few weeks ago, was the most beautiful noise I have heard.
