The December message hit like a bomb: Philadelphia Flyers Swedish forward Oskar Lindblom, 23, had been hit by Ewing's sarcoma, an unusual type of skeletal cancer.

Since then, he has undergone cancer treatment, and was not present for the rest of the season he played before the series was paused due to the corona pandemic.

Smiling Lindblom on ice

But today, the club posted on Twitter two photos that gave fans hope. With the accompanying text "The best tweet you will see today", they published two pictures of a smiling Lindblom, on ice with the club's workout clothes.

However, it is not about Lindblom being back in regular training, now that the NHL clubs have rallied again in small groups and trained for the restart of the league later this summer.

- He does not practice on ice in that term. But he has been out on the ice for ten minutes or so, just to feel the smell, says his agent Patrik Aronsson at SVT Sport.

So play this summer when the NHL resumes is not relevant?

- No.

"Will be incredible"

A little later in the evening, the Flyers posted a short statement from Lindblom on their Twitter account.

- The only thing I'm waiting for now is to finish my chemotherapy treatment and come back to the team and get to play hockey. It will be incredible, to get back to real life and have fun, he says.