It was not the shot that won the game and sealed the deal for the Bulls when Michael Jordan retired after beating the Jazz. It was not John Elway or Peyton Manning walking into the sun set after they won another Superbowl. Everyone has a different way of leaving the game they love for whatever reasons. John Kruk when he played for the White Sox hit a single and then called it a career. He went straight to the locker room, got dressed and left the building as his way of calling it a career. Bryan Bickell was Kruk like but in a different way, two Sunday ago. Bryan Bickell ended his hockey career with the Carolina Hurricanes with a overtime shoot out goal that was his last shot in the NHL. It was also  his first career shoot out goal.

Bryan Bickell’s NHL career will always be the 2013 playoffs. He went absolutely ape shit crazy that year as he scored 9 goals and had 8 assists to help the Blackhawks win the cup in 2013. He was a part of all three of the Blackhawk’ cups but the 2013 playoffs he was playing out of his mind. He was a big guy that made his net presence known as he blocked the vision of the goalie. He boxed out opposing defenders and got the rebound of the puck and sent it into the net – that was Bickell’s game. He was awarded a big contract after that year and was never the same.

When players receive large contacts they intend not to play to their capabilities when they had the eye of the tiger. In Rocky three against Mister T, Rock lost his edge. He was living the dream and enjoying his success but lost his edge for the game. Bickell was enjoying his fame as he even had a hot dog named after him in a restaurant called Meatheads. They called it the Bickell dog. Maybe he could not get his edge back because he was dealing with injuries that he could not rebound from. He was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. He began experiencing symptoms of vertigo in 2015 from an affected tooth. Before he received the 16 million dollar contract his best regular season was 2010-2011 where he had 17 goals 20 assists. He never had that type of regular season again. He was well awarded for the year he had in the playoffs. The Hawks could use someone with that skills type this year. Injuries kept with him as his play suffered. No team wanted to take on that big of a contract as the Hawks wanted to get rid of him. He was sent down to the Hawks minor league team in the AHL. Then finally the Hawks needed to dump some salary. It was for salary cap purposes and they had to trade young star Teuvo Teravainen. The Hurricanes came along but to get the young star they had to take Bickell as well. Bickell was up and down from the minors all year and still was dealing with injuries.

The contract ran out and his body was not responding. It was time to hang up the skates. He wanted to retire to focus on his MS treatments after which people are never the same. Playing a sport especially hockey with all the movement, strength and endurance you need…MS just bleeds your body’s nervous system. It eats away the protective covering of the nerves to weaken a once invincible player like Bickell who had no fear. Number 29 leaves the game at the age of 31 years old. He will probably continue his work with wife at the Bickell foundation that helps rescue abused pit bulls. You would love to leave the game on a high note, which he did with a goal. Plus helping the Blackhawks win three cups is nothing to sneeze at. Hopefully the treatments  make him be able to do the things he loves besides playing hockey. Hopefully he will be moving around for years to come and playing with his dogs and hanging out with his family and sharing all the wonderful memories he has provided the great city of Chicago. I love the superstars on teams. But lots of my favorite players from all the sports are role players. Or the players that do the dirty work in the trenches. Bryan Bickell was your typical blue collar worker in the game of hockey.