The injury bug strikes the Flyers yet again, but this is the worst one yet. Though he was ruled out with an upper-body injury earlier this week, the Flyers just announced that Oskar Lindblom has been diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma; he is not expected to return this season. Lindblom has been a top performer for this team as he is tied for leader in goals scored (11) and has 18 points on the season. While this is a tough loss for the Flyers as a team, it’s even tougher news to receive at the beginning of your hockey career.
What is Ewing’s sarcoma?
Ewing’s sarcoma is a rare form of cancer that forms within the bones of the legs, arms, and pelvis that typically occurs in children and young adults. There are less than one thousand documented cases in the United States per year. Those who suffer may often experience pain, swelling, tenderness, and bone fractures. Symptoms are often mistaken to be sport related injuries. The disease is an aggressive form of cancer that has the capability to metastasize to the lungs, other bones, and bone marrow and can cause life threatening complications.
Like most forms of cancer, the likelihood of a successful treatment depends on the stage in which the cancer is in when it was found. Treatment is decided on a case to case basis, but usually involves surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.
What does this mean for the Flyers?
Losing Oskar Lindblom for the season is tough as he doesn’t have easy shoes to fill. Lindblom has been arguably one of the most consistent players on a game to game basis. Depending on his play through the current road trip, the Flyers might see a little more of David Kase than expected (at least until the return of Travis Konecny and Michael Raffl).
Luckily, the Flyers do have a surplus of talent at the wing and, for a while, there will always be someone to call up for the wing in the event of injury or illness. If the door connecting the Wells Fargo Center and PPL Center wasn’t already a rotating one, it will be now. If things start to slip, fans should expect one call up after another until they make the roster click again. Chuck Fletcher has a history of doing the unexpected, but names to watch out for are Andy Andreoff, Carsen Twarynski, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel.
Thoughts to Oskar Lindblom
On behalf of myself, the Flyers Staff, and all of us that work at Philly Sports Network, we wish Oskar Lindblom a speedy recovery and we hope to see him back as soon as his recovery allows. Our thoughts are with Oskar and his family and friends during this time.
