Bryan Bickell talks life after hockey nearly one year after MS diagnosis
As a 31-year-old unrestricted free agent with three Stanley Cup rings on his resume, Bryan Bickell was in position to cash in this past summer.
Instead, he chose to retire after a 10-year career, and nearly a year to the date he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis - an unpredictable disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body - it's a decision he's clearly at peace with.
"I don't know how many more years I could've played but I wanted to finish and worry about my health," Bickell said in a recent interview with theScore. "Not get injured anymore. To be around the kids. There's an upside compared to last year to move on."
After winning the 2014-15 Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks, Bickell spent much of the next season in the American Hockey League, as he battled injuries, unexplained health problems, and a level of play far below the standard he'd set during his career.
He continues to deal with those recurring health issues in retirement, which he now knows stem from the relapsing-remitting form of MS he's been diagnosed with.
In that form of the disease, Bickell's symptoms come and go, often taking different shapes every time they rear their ugly head. Like a lot of MS patients, he's often left in the dark as to what struggles can be blamed on the disease, which currently has no cure.
"We don't really know exactly when it started, it could've started five years ago. Nobody can really pinpoint it," he said, while admitting to feeling "exhausted" about once a month.
(Photo courtesy Getty Images)
Before stepping away, Bickell opened the current NHL season back in Chicago, where he played the majority of his career after being selected 41st overall by the Blackhawks in 2004. He signed a one-day contract in early October, and then retired as a member of the team.
"It was an honor to do that, not every player gets to do it," Bickell said. "The nine years I was with the 'Hawks and getting the opportunity to come back to retire there was special, 'cause of the memories and the friendships and fans."
It was an honor that helped Bickell put to bed a season in which he played only seven games for the Carolina Hurricanes and scored just one goal before taking a much-needed leave from the NHL level. He was diagnosed with MS soon after, on Nov. 14, 2016.
Bickell would eventually return to the playoff-eliminated Hurricanes for four games to end the campaign, and provided one last on-ice memory with a shootout winner against the Philadelphia Flyers in his career finale.
Long known as a grinder, and with a history of success throughout tough postseason battles, Bickell is now carrying on that persona in retirement as he helps others fight the debilitating disease he's living with.
He and his wife, Amanda, have partnered with Manantler Brewing Co. to raise funds for a new MS service dog program they run via the Bryan & Amanda Bickell Foundation. The program currently has one fully-trained dog, a pit bull, that assists those diagnosed with MS, with plans to add more.
"It's not just for the person; it's for the family as well. That's what we're doing. We'll keep this going and see how it goes," Bickell said.
Per the foundation's website, the dogs "will be specifically trained for the individual that it is going to serve."
In helping others affected by the disease, Bickell is preserving those same principles from which he derived so much on-ice success.
"That's one thing I wanted to do, push on," he added.
The 2017-18 season means different things for the Blackhawks and Hurricanes, who are at opposite ends of the competitive spectrum. But for Bickell - who hasn't ruled out returning to the sport one day in some capacity - his focus is now elsewhere for the first time in more than a decade, and he's OK with that.
"Just being a dad, really. I have two young girls, that are 3 and 1 who are keeping me pretty busy."