Bryan Bickell

Bryan Bickell (born March 9, 1986) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played for the Chicago Blackhawks and the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). He won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013 and 2015, and played in four early playoff games during the team's run to the 2010 Stanley Cup championship. Bickell spent nearly 10 years with the Blackhawks organization before being traded to the Hurricanes before the 2016–17 season. He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis later that year and retired from playing at the end of the season.

Early life
Bickell was born to Bill and Anne Bickell. He was raised in Orono, Ontario with an older sister, Ashley. In addition to hockey, Bickell was also interested in playing baseball during his youth. He was an outfielder and pitcher for the Kendal Royals, where he was scouted by the New York Yankees. Bickell ultimately choose to focus his career on hockey, and traveled to Ottawa to play for the Ottawa 67's. Bickell had several jobs prior to becoming a full-time hockey player. He was a construction worker and worked as a clubhouse assistant to the Ottawa Senators, where he cleaned laundry, performed custodian duties and met future Chicago Blackhawk teammates Antoine Vermette and Marián Hossa, who were both playing on the Senators.

Amateur career
Bickell grew up playing minor ice hockey with the Orono Leafs program, before playing AAA for the Central Ontario Wolves. He played in the 2000 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Toronto Red Wings.

For his Bantam season, Bickell was moved to the Toronto Red Wings of the GTHL for one season before being drafted in the second round (36th overall) in the 2002 OHL Priority Selection by the Ottawa 67's. Bickell was a member of the Bantam All-Ontario champions Toronto Red Wings with future Chicago Blackhawk teammate Dave Bolland.

Professional
The Chicago Blackhawks drafted Bickell in the second round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft with the 41st overall pick.

Chicago Blackhawks (2006–2016)
After signing a three-year, entry-level contract in 2006, Bickell left the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) to play for the Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League during the 2006–07 season. Bickell later made his NHL debut on April 5, 2007, where he scored his first goal against Chris Osgood of the Detroit Red Wings.

Bickell spent the majority of the next three seasons playing in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs.

On December 27, 2009, Bickell recorded his first NHL assist on a goal scored by John Madden in a 5–4 against the Nashville Predators. The Blackhawks recalled him for the 2010 playoffs after he had played 16 regular season games and recorded three goals and one assist for four points (followed with 65 games with the IceHogs where he recorded 16 goals, 15 assists for 31 points) and became a mainstay for the Blackhawks onwards with no Calder Cup playoff games played for the IceHogs. Bickell appeared in four postseason games with one assist, making his Stanley Cup playoff debut on April 22, 2010, in Game four of the first round against the Nashville Predators while playing on the first line with Patrick Kane and captain Jonathan Toews and recording an assist on a goal scored by Jonathan Toews in that game. After defeating the Predators, Vancouver Canucks and the top-seeded San Jose Sharks in the first three rounds, Bickell and the Blackhawks eventually defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals in six games for the Blackhawks first Stanley Cup championship since 1961. He received a ring from the Blackhawks, was in the team picture at center ice in full gear after the sixth game and had a personal day with the Cup over the summer but his name was not inscribed on the Cup.

On July 23, 2010, Bickell signed a three-year extension to stay with the Blackhawks. In the 2010–11 season, his first full season in the NHL, Bickell had a breakout season and finished with a career-high 17 goals and 20 assists for 37 points in 78 appearances while spending the bulk of the season on the teams third line with Dave Bolland and Troy Brouwer. On April 19, 2011, in game four of the first round of the 2011 playoffs against the Presidents' Trophy-winning Vancouver Canucks, Bickell recorded his first Stanley Cup playoff goal against Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo. After Bickell and the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks rallied back from a 3–0 series deficit to force a seventh game, it was announced on April 25 that Bickell had undergone surgery to repair two torn tendons in his wrist that was initially sustained on April 15 in Game 2 after getting stepped on by Canucks defenseman Sami Salo causing him to miss Game 7 the following day where the Blackhawks would fall in overtime 2–1 for a 4–3 defeat in the series (with Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows scoring both goals in the Canucks Game 7 victory). Bickell ended the playoffs with two goals, two assists and four points in five games.

Bickell's offensive production dropped during the 2011–12 campaign, where he only tallied nine goals and 15 assists for 24 points in 71 games while continuing to be a staple on the Hawks' third line with Dave Bolland and Michael Frolík. He followed up by two goals and no assists for two points in all six playoff games in the Blackhawks first round exit to the Phoenix Coyotes.

After playing all 48 regular season games in the 2012–13 lockout-shortened season and recording nine goals and 14 assists for 23 points to help the Blackhawks win the Presidents' Trophy as the regular season champions, Bickell was highly productive during the 2013 playoffs. He scored nine goals and eight assists for 17 points in all 23 games during the postseason. He recorded the game-tying goal against Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask during Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals on June 24, 2013. Teammate Dave Bolland scored the go-ahead goal on Rask 17 seconds later to give the Blackawks a 3–2 victory in the game and a 4–2 victory in the series to win the Stanley Cup for the second time in four seasons. Bickell's productivity throughout the playoffs made him as a potential candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP (which was eventually awarded to teammate Patrick Kane). After the playoffs were over, Bickell revealed he had played through a torn MCL that was originally sustained in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals on June 8 against the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings. The Blackhawks awarded Bickell's strong postseason performance with a four-year, $16 million contract that goes through until the 2016–17 season.

On November 19, 2013, Bickell suffered an undisclosed lower-body injury in a 5–1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche after sliding feet first into the net. After missing 14 games, he returned to the lineup on December 17 against the Nashville Predators. Bickell then missed six more games after sustaining an undisclosed upper body injury on March 19, 2014 against the St. Louis Blues before returning to the lineup on April 3, against the Minnesota Wild. He finished the 2013–14 season playing in 59 games with 11 goals, four assists and 15 points recorded. Despite the injury-filled regular season, in the 2014 playoffs Bickell replicated his productivity from a year prior on another lengthy playoff run while playing on the first line with Jonathan Toews and Marián Hossa which saw the Blackhawks go to the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Kings for the second straight year, which would see the eventual Stanley Cup champion Kings win the series in seven games, one win short from another appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. Bickell played all 19 playoff games with seven goals, three assists and 10 points.

Bickell tallied 14 goals and 14 assists for 28 points while appearing in 80 games in the 2014–15 season. The 80 games he played in the season was a new career high in regular season games played from the 78 played in 2010–11. However, his production declined in the postseason, where he recorded no goals and only five assists for five points in 18 games. After playing every game in the first three rounds against the Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild and the top-seeded Anaheim Ducks, respectively, Bickell was scratched from the team's lineup for the first two games of the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning due to health-related issues. Bickell returned to the lineup on June 8, 2015 for the third game and played on the second line with Brad Richards and Patrick Kane only to be scratched again for the final three games. The Blackhawks eventually defeated the Lightning in six games, giving Bickell his third Stanley Cup (second with his name engraved on the cup) and the Blackhawks third Stanley Cup title in six seasons.

The Blackhawks unsuccessfully attempted to trade Bickell prior to the 2015–16 season to alleviate cap space. The team initially waived Bickell but reinserted him into their roster as the season started. Bickell was unable to consistently perform due to health-related issues and spent much of the season with the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League. Bickell skated in 25 games for the Blackhawks and was goalless but recorded two assists and points while playing mostly on the fourth line. He also played in 47 contests for the IceHogs where he scored 15 goals and 16 assists for 31 points. Bickell would also play three playoff games for the IceHogs with an assist recorded and wouldn’t play any playoff games for the Blackhawks for the first time since 2009 as the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks would lose their first round series in the 2016 playoffs in seven games to the St. Louis Blues.

Carolina Hurricanes and retirement (2016–2017)
During the 2016 off-season, Bickell's $4-million salary cap-hit posed a serious problem to the Blackhawks, who were struggling to stay below the NHL's salary cap. The team again shopped Bickell to other teams, but few teams seemed to be interested in him and his $4 million cap hit. The Blackhawks eventually traded Bickell along with Teuvo Teräväinen at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a 2016 second-round pick and a 2017 third-round pick on June 15, 2016. The Hurricanes also agreed to accept Bickell's cap-hit and remaining contract. Bickell scored one goal in seven games for the Hurricanes, before experiencing health issues again. The Hurricanes announced that Bickell had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and placed him on injured reserve on November 11.

Bickell began practicing with the Hurricanes again on January 17, 2017. The Hurricanes assigned him to the Charlotte Checkers for a conditioning stint on February 24. Bickell returned to the Hurricanes on April 4 in a 5–3 loss against the Minnesota Wild, and skated in his first NHL game since leaving for MS treatment in mid-November. Bickell played the final game of his career on April 9, scoring the only shootout goal of his career in the Hurricanes' 4−3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers. He concluded the 2016–17 season, his only season with the Hurricanes playing in 11 games and recording one goal. He concluded his NHL career with 66 goals and 70 assists over 395 NHL games. He also tallied 20 goals and 19 assists in 75 postseason games.

The NHL honored Bickell's career on June 21, 2017, at the 2017 NHL Awards ceremony and commended him for showing perseverance while battling multiple sclerosis. On October 4, Bickell signed a ceremonial one-day contract with the Blackhawks to retire with the team. The Blackhawks honored Bickell at the United Center before their 2017–18 season opener on October 5 against the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, which saw the Blackhawks win 10–1.

Health issues
Bickell began experiencing symptoms of vertigo that forced him to miss the first two games of the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals. He initially believed the ailment was caused by an infected tooth. Bickell's agent later commented that Bickell had developed vestibular issues, which hindered his performance during the 2015–16 season. In early-November 2016, shortly into the 2016–17 season, Bickell began experiencing an unexplained pain in his shoulder and leg that caused him to miss multiple games. Doctors then diagnosed Bickell with multiple sclerosis on November 11, 2016. Bickell commented on his health by stating, "Since the 2015 playoffs, I've been struggling to understand what was going on with my body. Again during the past few weeks, it felt like something wasn't right." Ron Francis, the Hurricanes' general manager, stated that Bickell would take an indefinite amount of time off from hockey to receive treatment for his condition. While Bickell ultimately returned to Hurricanes towards the end of the 2016–17 season in April 2017, he announced he would retire from playing to focus on his MS treatment.

Personal life
Bickell and his wife have two daughters. Bickell and his wife established the "Bryan & Amanda Bickell Foundation", which helps rescue abused pit bulls.