The Philadelphia Flyers are a family.
On Tuesday, the organization made sure to show love to one of its own, as forward Oskar Lindblom was the guest of honor for the team's game against the Anaheim Ducks. Lindblom was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, last week and will miss the rest of the season while undergoing treatment.
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The 23-year-old returned to the Wells Fargo Center ahead of Tuesday's contest, visiting teammates and sharing in some "pretty good energy" in the Flyers dressing room. Lindblom's No. 23 jersey was hung up in its regular stall, although his orange home Flyers sweater was flanked by dozens of purple and black "Hockey Fights Cancer" warm-ups that were worn by his teammates prior to puck drop and will be auctioned off to help support the Sarcoma Foundation of America.
One fight. One family. #OskarStrong pic.twitter.com/X6HFzDDWhG
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 17, 2019
Fans at the arena were encouraged to purchase #OSKARSTRONG t-shirts, with those proceeds also going to the Sarcoma Foundation, and every seat was adorned with an "I fight for Oskar" sign that the crowd held up in unison during the game.
In this family, we fight for eachother. #OskarStrong 💜 pic.twitter.com/XFPW5CMXl7
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 18, 2019
Up against the fight of his life, Lindblom was still tempted to take part in the Flyers' morning skate on Tuesday, according to Philadelphia head coach Alain Vigneault. While he didn't take part in the actual game, Lindblom's teammates said his presence helped boost the Flyers to a 4-1 win Tuesday night.
"It was the first time we really spent time with him since we heard what was going on," Flyers forward Claude Giroux said following the victory. "His attitude is unbelievable. It was great to see him again with the guys. We wanted to get this win for him, and every win for the rest of the season will be for him."