Lindblom’s Release From Flyers in a Different Light

I beleive that Lindblom was released to save him from Tortorella, which may be legitimately saving his life. Playing in the NHL is a physical job that stresses the body. Playing under Tortorella heightens that strain dramatically, both physically and mentally. I believe Chuck Fletcher knows this and knows that Ewing‘s Sarcoma has a 30% relapse rate under normal conditions.

I believe that Fletcher knew that Oskar Lindblom would not listen to his body, not wanting to let down his team and ask no quarter from the league’s toughest coach. Fletcher also knew that Tortorella would try his best to protect Lindblom, but still it was far from a guarantee of a good environment for his continued recovery. Further it would not allow the coach to do what he does best, drive players beyond what they should be capabale of doing. In the end the leadership made a caring, decisive and humane decision. It is the right one, as much as it hurts them and the club.

It is hard for me to be complimentary of Dave Scott and Chuck Fletcher. They are wholly responsible for the circumstances of the team, and the events that ultimately led to their need to release Oskar Lindblom. But to their credit, they have put human life over business, over hockey, over winning.

This was a bold and decisive move, unlike the bandaids and half measures that have been all to common under their leadership. While this hurts the team from a hockey perspective, I believe that these are decent and caring people, who looked beyond their job and took a stand to protect someone’s life, knowing that they would be slaughtered for it.

While we all cheered when Oskar rang the bell, and we were all Oskar Strong, Fletcher and company made a decision, which will likely be to his professional detriment all to protect Oskar’s future health. There will be consequences for the leadership team, they knew this, and they still did the right thing.

Doing the right thing is seldom easy and even unpopular in this age.  Fletcher has shown me he rates as exceptional in the most important metric, that of being a good person. He is someone who cares for his people and will protect them from harm, even at his own expense. For this, dinner is on me Chuck, anytime, anywhere you want it. Kudos to you for doing the right thing for Oskar Lindblom, and kudos to the fans who understand that.