After Cancer Treatment, Oskar Lindblom Is Back in the Fray

Oskar Lindblom had described his surgery and extensive chemotherapy treatment as “hell” earlier in the season. He had said he felt like a potential return to the ice was eons away after his first treatment for bone cancer and the ensuing push-and-pull of recovering from treatments that for months alternated between moderate and severe.

On Thursday, he played for the first time since December after a diagnosis of Ewing’s sarcoma. The suspension of N.H.L. competition for nearly five months because of the coronavirus pandemic made a 2019-20 return a possibility.

Early in the first period of Game 6 of the Philadelphia Flyers’ second-round series against the Islanders, Lindblom skated his first shift. Both teams and the on-ice officials later saluted Lindblom with stick taps and applause.

That warmth will have long faded by Saturday night, when Philadelphia will face the Islanders in Game 7 of their second round playoff series with a trip to Edmonton, Alberta, to face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference final on the line.

After not having played since Dec. 7, Lindblom has jumped into the fray of the postseason. On Thursday, he reflected on the process with optimism and relief.

“I was trying to think positive thoughts during the whole chemo,” Lindblom said. “I knew I was going to play one day, but I didn’t know when. Today was the day, and I was lucky to be out there with these guys.”

Flyers Coach Alain Vigneault said he had discussed a return for Lindblom, 24, if the Flyers made the conference finals, but injuries to center Sean Couturier and the rookie forward Joel Farabee hastened the pace of the return of Lindblom, who had scored 11 goals in 30 games this season. Claude Giroux, the Flyers’ captain, said Lindblom’s presence gave the team “a huge boost” as it scored two goals on three shots early in Game 6.

The Flyers are one of three teams in this year’s conference semifinals to have forced a Game 7 after trailing 3-1. Both of the other rallying teams lost on Friday, as the Colorado Avalanche fell, 5-4, in overtime to the Dallas Stars and the Vancouver Canucks were shut out by the Vegas Golden Knights.

Philadelphia has had to survive with practically no momentum from a power play with an 8 percent conversion rate, the lowest of any of the 24 teams in the modified postseason except the Rangers, who were the first team eliminated.

Vigneault managed two such comebacks behind the bench for the Rangers, in 2014 against Pittsburgh and in 2015 against Washington, which was led at the time by the current Islanders coach, Barry Trotz. And the Flyers have two players, Giroux and wing James van Riemsdyk, who played on their team in 2010, when they defeated Boston after trailing 3-0 in both the series and the decisive Game 7.

But none of those series featured the emotional charge that Lindblom’s return has given the Flyers.

Goalie Carter Hart said that there was no way to articulate what Lindblom, who signed a three-year extension with the Flyers earlier this summer, meant to the organization. Wing Jakub Voracek said that if not for Lindblom’s hair loss, there would have been no tell that he had battled cancer. Center Kevin Hayes called Lindblom “a true warrior.” Even medical professionals have marveled at Lindblom’s rapid recovery.

“That is pretty incredible that he would be able to return to such a high level of competition so soon after completing therapy,” said Dr. Mark Fluchel, a pediatric oncologist at the University of Utah Hospital who was not involved in Lindblom’s treatment. “Short-term side effects during therapy would include nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, fatigue, decreased fitness, often weight loss and loss of muscle mass, along with periodic susceptibility to infection.”

“Oskar Strong” became a mantra within the Flyers’ dressing room and throughout the sport as Lindblom had chemotherapy and a recovery that took him from Philadelphia to his hometown, Gävle, Sweden, to Toronto and now potentially to Edmonton.

Derek Settlemyre, the Flyers’ equipment manager at the time, approached a local business, Biscuit Tees, to make T-shirts with “Oskar Strong” and his No. 23 printed on them.

Kim Parent, who is a co-owner of Biscuit Tees with Jodi Smith and is the daughter of the former Flyers goaltender Bernie Parent, said the company’s initial goal was to raise $5,000 for the charity initiative Hockey Fights Cancer. As of Thursday, it had raised more than $200,000, with a torrent of orders yet to be filled since Lindblom’s first game back.

Rangers center Mika Zibanejad, who, like Lindblom, is a Swede, ordered shirts for him and his teammates. And the Flyers’ arch nemeses, Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins, took to social media sporting the shirts.

“Jodi joked that for one day, everybody in Philly didn’t hate Sidney Crosby,” Kim Parent said.

Wayne Simmonds, who played in Philadelphia for eight years, ordered the shirts for his Devils teammates soon after Lindblom’s diagnosis. Simmonds said he gained esteem for Lindblom’s desire for personal and professional growth when they were teammates, particularly on an informal team trip to the Bahamas.

“It was a show of solidarity,” said Simmonds, who was traded to Buffalo in February. “New Jersey and Philly, that’s a rivalry, that’s a battle. I thought it would hold a lot of weight for our team to be able to show that support for Oskar. When you chop it up and dissect it, it’s a humanity thing. At that point, hockey wasn’t important.”

The former Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen, who was part of the rally against Boston in 2010, called Lindblom’s saga “the comeback story of the year.” Timonen would know: His own career was threatened by blood clots and his close friend and Finnish national team teammate Saku Koivu learned that he had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2001 (Koivu returned to the ice and played until 2014.) Timonen recalled meeting Koivu in Montreal during a road trip while he was playing for Nashville.

“It’s like your family member getting sick,” Timonen said. “He had no hair, he was so pale and sick-looking. It’s really hard to see with all they go through during treatments.”

Another Flyer from that 2010 team, forward Daniel Briere, said he was touched by Lindblom’s return even watching from home.

“I have goose bumps just thinking about it, I can only imagine how it was for the guys in the locker room with him,” Briere said.

As for Game 7, the ad nauseam analysis, statistics to date and the odds will mean little once the puck drops. Lindblom, though not a lock to dress, will likely be back in the lineup. Even though his role was limited in Game 6, he will have an opportunity to make an impact in the decisive match.

“The beauty of hockey is that anybody can be a hero in one game,” Briere said.