When William Nylander woke up from his nap on Friday, he began scrolling through Instagram.
“Somebody posted a picture, and I just read it,” Nylander says. “I couldn’t believe it.”
His friend and regular teammate on Sweden’s national club, Oskar Lindblom, had been diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare cancerous tumour that grows in the bones or in the tissue around bones.
Lindblom was in the throes of a breakout NHL season (11 goals and 18 points in 30 games) and has been a significant contributor to the Philadelphia Flyers’ surge into the playoff hunt.
Suddenly, his season is over and his future in hockey is uncertain.
As a couple of 1996-born forwards making noise in their early teens, Lindblom and Nylander found themselves sharing many a Team Sweden dressing room.
They starred on both the 2015 and 2016 world junior championships and linked again as recently as the 2019 world championships, totalling eight goals and 14 points in eight games.
“We played together like the entire time through the national team,” Nylander says.
The Maple Leafs winger texted Lindblom right away and fired off a tweet of encouragement, joining the flood of players and teams rallying around the 23-year-old.
“He’s a great guy. It’s obviously sad when anybody gets diagnosed like that. It’s tough. I hope he can fight through it.”
The Flyers hung Lindblom’s sweater in his stall during Saturday’s game, and the hashtag #OskarStrong got trending as the team has been vocal in its support.
A hockey fan and Reddit user, u/arahn17, came up with the idea to rally enough fan votes to get Lindblom nominated as the Metropolitan Division captain at the 2020 All-Star Game.
“I think he’ll battle through it. He’s a very down-to-earth guy — one of the best guys, honestly,” Nylander says.
“Obviously it’s tough for him, this news, but he’s for sure a fighter.”
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