Hayes inspired by Flyers teammate Lindblom finishing cancer treatment

Kevin Hayes said "chills ran through my body" watching Philadelphia Flyers teammate Oskar Lindblom celebrate the end of his treatment for a form of bone cancer.

Lindblom, who had been diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma in December, rang a ceremonial bell July 2 to mark the completion of his treatment.

"Us players and fans and people around the world think we have some problems every single day," Hayes, a center, said Wednesday. "None of that means anything when you battle stuff like Oskar went through. He did it like a warrior. He did it professionally. He didn't take any shortcuts, he didn't want anyone feeling bad for him. He attacked it head on. When he rang that bell, chills ran through my body. It was a really cool video."

Cancer is a personal issue for Hayes. His mother, Shelagh, survived colon cancer, and his father, Kevin Sr., survived throat cancer. When the Flyers celebrated their Hockey Fights Cancer night in November, the lining of Hayes' blue suit jacket featured the familiar lavender "I Fight For" signs honoring his parents stitched inside.

Lindblom, who has skated a few times since the start of voluntary small group workouts June 8, won't play for the Flyers during the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, which start Aug. 1 when the NHL moves to Phase 4 of the Return to Play Plan at two hub cities to be determined.

Philadelphia was 41-21-7 (.645 points percentage) and will play in the round-robin portion of qualifiers in the Eastern Conference against the Boston Bruins (44-14-12, .714), Tampa Bay Lightning (43-21-6, .657), and Washington Capitals (41-20-8, .652) to determine seeding for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"We'll see (what's next)," Lindblom said the day of his final treatment. "I'm going to try to get back from the chemo and take it from there. Haven't planned anything yet, just trying to get back in shape and we'll see how far it goes."

The Flyers said more than 1 million people have watched the video of Lindblom's bell-ringing ceremony since it was posted to the team's Twitter feed, making it their most-viewed video since the account was created in January 2009.

Hayes, in his first season with the Flyers, played 30 games with Lindblom, but it was enough to know what kind of person and teammate the 23-year-old forward is.

"For those people who don't know Oskar, he's an unbelievable person, perfect teammate," Hayes said. "It's a tough situation he was in, but when he rang that bell I'm sure he was the happiest person on earth. A lot of the guys in this organization were just as happy for him."