Tuesday night news broke that Bryan Bickell will sign a one-day contract so he can officially retire as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks. He was drafted in the second round in 2004 and spent nine seasons with the organization, capturing three Stanley Cups and the fans hearts.
Bickell started to have medical problems during the Blackhawks 2015 Stanley Cup run that continued into the 2015-2016 season. For months doctors had trouble diagnosing his symptoms and even diagnosed it as vertigo at one point. Following that season he was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes where he was officially diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and spent most of the year on the injured reserve.
He returned to the lineup for the Hurricanes in early April but subsequently announced he would retire following the season. Bickell received all kinds of great gestures from his teammates and organization but it didn’t end there. Bicks would go out in dramatic fashion and score during a shootout in his final NHL game.
Bickell will always be remembered by Chicago Blackhawks fans for scoring the tying goal in the now infamous “17 seconds” on the way to their 2013 Stanley Cup championship. He is a classy individual who does a lot of charity work through the Bryan & Amanda Bickell Foundation to create awareness for pit bulls and working with them to assist formerly abused children. He moved back to Ontario following the season where he now contributes to awareness for MS by making appearances and speaking publicly on the matter.
It is only right that Bickell will get to retire as a Blackhawks player after he enjoyed so much success and admiration in Chicago. The only thing left is to get him “One More Shift” with the organization and you can help get this done by signing the petition I created a few months ago.
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