Associated Press
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Bryan Bickell has rejoined the Carolina Hurricanes for the last few games of the regular season, five months after his diagnosis of multiple sclerosis forced a hiatus from the team and raised questions about his career.
Bickell skated with the Hurricanes on Tuesday morning in Minnesota and was expected to be in the lineup to face the Wild at night. The 30-year-old Bickell had one goal in seven games before the disease that attacks the nervous system was discovered. Bickell resumed practicing with the Hurricanes in January and began playing for their AHL affiliate in Charlotte in February. He had one goal and three assists in 10 games for the Checkers.
Bickell was acquired in an offseason trade with Chicago, where he won three Stanley Cups.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) Carolina Hurricanes forward Bryan Bickell has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
General manager Ron Francis announced the diagnosis Friday.
Bickell said in a statement issued by the team that ''during the past few weeks, it felt like something wasn't right,'' and that he's ''been struggling to understand what was going on with my body'' since the 2015 playoffs with Chicago.
Francis says the 30-year-old player will take some time to rest from the disease that attacks the nervous system. Bickell says he hopes to keep playing.
Carolina acquired Bickell in a trade with the Blackhawks during the summer.
''He's a special guy. We're thinking about him, and our thoughts and prayers are with him,'' Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. ''It's tough to hear something like that. He has a tough road ahead. He was special for us, and instrumental in us having a lot of success here. We wish him well.''
The three-time Stanley Cup winner with Chicago has one goal in seven games with the Hurricanes, but hasn't played since Oct. 30. He was scratched from a loss to Anaheim on Thursday night with what the team described as an illness.
''It's pretty shocking. What can you say?'' Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said after Friday night's 3-2 loss to Washington. ''I think everyone in this room, in this organization, as close as we all are to Bicks, our hearts go out to him. We wish him the best health possible. Hopefully he can hang in there and find ways to stay strong despite his condition.''
RALEIGH, NC – Ron Francis, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has acquired forwards Teuvo Teravainen (TAY-voh tair-uh-VIGH-nehn) and Bryan Bickell from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for a 2016 second-round draft pick and a 2017 third-round draft pick.
“This deal allowed us to use some of our collected draft picks to improve our group of forwards for the coming season by added two Stanley Cup champions,” said Francis. “Teuvo is a young, highly-skilled player still on his entry-level contract who is coming off of a strong first full NHL season, and Bryan is a veteran who has experienced great success in his career. Both players give our organization more options and flexibility among the forward ranks.”
Teravainen, 21, scored 13 goals and earned 22 assists (35 points) in 78 games with the Blackhawks in 2015-16, his first full NHL season. The Helsinki native split the prior season between Chicago and its American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs, and has totaled 17 goals and 27 assists (44 points) in 115 career NHL regular-season games. Teravainen (5’11”, 178 lbs.) raised the Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks in 2015, earning 10 points (4g, 6a) in 18 games during Chicago’s playoff run. He has represented Finland at many international competitions, and served as captain of his country’s team that captured the gold medal at the 2014 World Junior Championship. Chicago drafted Teravainen in the first round, 18th overall, in the 2012 NHL Draft.
Bickell, 30, split the 2015-16 season between Chicago and Rockford, earning two assists in 25 games with the Blackhawks, and totaling 31 points (15g, 16a) in 47 games with the IceHogs. The Bowmanville, Ont., native was a member Chicago’s Stanley Cup-winning teams in 2010, 2013 and 2015, and he has scored 20 goals and earned 19 assists in 75 career NHL playoff games. Bickell (6’4”, 223 lbs.) was drafted by Chicago in the second round, 41st overall, in the 2004 NHL Draft, and has scored 65 goals and earned 70 assists in 384 NHL career regular-season games with the Blackhawks.
The 2016 second-round pick that has been traded to the Blackhawks originally belonged to the New York Rangers and will be the 50th overall pick in the upcoming draft. Carolina acquired the pick along with New York’s 2017 second-round pick and forward Aleksi Saarela on Feb. 28, 2016, in exchange for Eric Staal. The 2017 third-round pick that has been traded to Chicago originally belonged to the Blackhawks and was acquired by the Hurricanes in the Sept. 11, 2015, trade that brought Kris Versteeg and Joakim Nordstrom to Carolina.
Hurricanes Release.
