Carchidi: Welcome Back, Oskar Lindblom, a Flyers Hero Forever

Full disclosure: Oskar Lindblom, an unassuming left winger who returns to the Wells Fargo Center with the San Jose Sharks on Sunday night, has always been one of my favorite athletes to cover.

I know. I know. Sports writers aren’t supposed to have favorites. We also aren’t supposed to get emotionally involved with stories. We are supposed to tell the story with facts.

Nearly three years ago, however, as I typed a Philadelphia Inquirer story about Lindblom — who was having a breakthrough season with the Philadelphia Flyers — it was difficult to focus on my computer screen. My eyes were too watery. Every time I thought about the ordeal in front of him, the more difficult it became to write the story.

.⁦@NHLFlyers⁩ proudly hang ⁦@oskarlindblom⁩’s jersey in their locker room before tonight’s game in Minnesota. Photo: Zack Hill. pic.twitter.com/Tg4F13uSa9

— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) December 14, 2019

Horrific day

Lindblom, then 23, was battling a rare bone cancer, we learned that December day in Minnesota, where the Flyers were preparing to play the Wild.

As a reporter, you don’t play favorites. But it was easy to gravitate toward Lindblom. On his way toward reaching the NHL, I had spent some time with him in Allentown in 2017-18, when he was playing with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

The next year, he showed great promise in his first full season with the Philadelphia Flyers, scoring 17 goals.

Lindblom had this charmingly quiet way about him. He had a smile that lit up a room. He had a two-way game that made it look like he was going to have a long, successful NHL career. The Sweden native had 11 goals in 30 games in the early part of 2019-20.

And now, as I typed that 2019 story in a quiet St. Paul, Minn., hotel room, he was fighting for his life.

Remarkable comeback

You know the rest. Lindblom made a remarkable comeback from Ewing’s sarcoma, became cancer-free, and actually returned to the Flyers during the pandemic-delayed Stanley Cup playoffs later that season.

That was the same season he had his energy zapped by chemotherapy treatments and a long rehab. The same season he lost lots of muscle mass and had a rib removed.

Fast-forward to this past July. Stunningly, the Flyers bought out Lindblom and got $3.3 million in cap space.

At the time, general manager Chuck Fletcher said it was a “painful” hockey decision, that Lindblom’s commitment to his teammates was “immeasurable,” that the left winger was “truly an inspiration to all of us, and he will always remain a special part of the Philadelphia Flyers family.”

The decision to buy him out surprised and disappointed me. Maybe I had blinders on. But I thought Lindblom — who was having the first “normal” offseason since his cancer diagnosis — was about to regain his form.

Last season, he had 12 goals and was inconsistent, but he showed flashes of his old self.

After the buyout, he became an unrestricted free agent and signed with San Jose the next day, getting a two-year deal that carries an annual $2.5 million cap hit.

Now he is returning to Philly with San Jose (1-6). Lindblom, 26, has three points, all assists, in six games for the struggling Sharks.

The Flyers (4-1) will salute him Sunday. During the first TV timeout of the first period, there will be a 60-to-90-second video shown on the scoreboard.

Unlike that awful day in 2019 when I was alone in my hotel room, I won’t be the only one with teary eyes.

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