It goes without Chuck Fletcher having to say it that fixing Oskar Lindblom dwarfs the necessity of repairing the slumping Flyer power play. “Twenty-three year-old kid,” said the general manager. “It’s been tough on all of us.”

The shock wears off, life goes on, and Oskar’s should too; there being a 70 per cent five-year survival rate to Ewing’s sarcoma. Especially on a team consisting of 11 members under the age of 25, an illness suddenly suffered by an entirely likable and increasingly valuable teammate probably is the worst emotional pain these particular players have yet to suffer in their lives. The franchise, however, certainly has responded through worse.

Heavily favored in a 1977 first-round series against Toronto, a disclosure on the day of Game One of a leukemia diagnosis of Barry Ashbee, a beloved assistant coach and former teammate of virtually all of the Flyers, buckled their knees to consecutive home losses. They came back to win the next four. The 1985-86 team had won 10 straight when Pelle Lindbergh, the goalie who had just taken the Flyers to the previous Stanley Cup final, was killed in an automobile accident and they still beat the champion Oilers in the next game, then extended the winning streak to an eventual 13.

There are countless examples of players in all sports elevating their games through illnesses and deaths of close family members or playing through divorce. The games and practices actually become the easy part of the day; an escape from their troubles. The Flyers knew of Lindblom’s diagnosis when they took the ice Wednesday night in Denver and, though losing to a good Avalanche team, generally played with energy, as they did Sunday night in Winnipeg, only to get picked apart by some uncanny sniping by the skilled Jets and an absence of able-bodied penalty killers.

Sports pale in importance to life, but they are life in microcosm. Stuff happens and these guys are paid to win, so soon even the best of excuses wear thin to the media, fans, and more importantly, the leaders of strong teams. It’s how we handle the setbacks that make us heroes in whatever we do. And boosted by morning and post-game visits by Lindblom and the return of Travis Konecny, the Flyers beat the Anaheim Ducks, 4-1, Tuesday night to keep their slim hold on the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

“For me and the team seeing Oskar was the best thing that could happen for us since we found out in Denver,” said Coach Alain Vigneault.

We’re told that the Flyers are close. Largely we have trust them on that since beat reporters long ago stopped being allowed to travel with pro teams and locker room access became so much more limited. The stereo was cranked up high as the room opened to the media following the game. In release after a badly-needed win? To drown sentiment?

“It was pretty emotional ” described Claude Giroux of the appearance of Lindblom, for the second time in the day the captain appearing about to add a thought before apparently deciding not to open his spigot in front of the cameras.

The Flyers spoke with their play. Travis Konecny, who missed the winless three-game trip with concussion symptoms, returned to relay a tic-tac-toe pass that Giroux buried and callups David Kase, who scored his first NHL goal and Nicolas Aube-Kubel played well in the continued absences of regulars. After members of smallest home crowd in our memory-a quarter of the seats were empty–held up, “I fight for Oskar” signs as the ongoing Hockey Fights Cancer campaign hits home where it really hurts, the team responded to Coach Alain Vigneault’s demand for a “must win.”

The Flyers coped, like the teammates that they want to be for Lindblom, like the pros they will have to be following the loss of a second member of their young nucleus to an indefinite prognosis.

Despite the ongoing absence of Nolan Patrick, things had been looking so good. The Flyers had avoided the bad start that has been their MOs for more of the about-to-close decade. Their franchise young defenseman, Ivan Provorov, was playing like it again. Carter Hart, who struggled early, has shown self-correcting ability well beyond his years and Brian Elliott has made either choice of goaltenders a good one for Vigneault.

The power play has hit a rough spot recently, but the overall special team upgrading is a feather in a veteran coaching staff’s hats, as is improved zone entry denial, particularly noticeable as the Flyers nursed a lead Tuesday night. All three veteran pickups – Matt Niskanen, Justin Braun and Kevin Hayes–have lengthened the lineup that has added enough skill in rookies Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost to drop a $7 million a year player, James van Riemsdyk, out of the top six.

But the hold on a playoff spot remains tenuous. It is difficult to conceive that the three clubs holding the guaranteed playoff spots in the Metropolitan Division – the Caps, Islanders and Hurricanes–will be scrambling to get in and it is just as hard to be convinced that two teams chasing–Tampa Bay and Toronto–will be left out, or that Buffalo and Montreal also won’t have a chance into the final weeks.

In other words, any time allowed for the Flyers to feel bad for themselves expired with their winless trip. After the sweet public pick-me-up on Tuesday night, their fears for Oskar will become more private. When Lindbergh died, a lot of the players ‘emotions were an open book, but in the social media era teams are more protective and athletes more cautious.

“The road trip was incredibly disappointing from a points perspective but I think our group spent a lot of time together,” said Fletcher. “We had lots of meetings and we’ll keep a lot of stuff in house.

“I don’t think much needs to be said right now. We’ll do the best we can.”

The Flyers’ outlets will be each other. The only score able to be kept on their ability to cope will be in their place in the standings. After the shock of this wears off, the public will of course, want to know how Oskar Lindblom is doing at the same time having no interest in hearing how his sudden misfortune has killed a promising season.

The sports business is cruel that way. No more so than life, as Oskar and the young Flyers have learned.

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