Bryan Bickell’s NHL story came to a close Sunday night, and it could not have ended any better.
A day after being surprised by coaches and teammates at a Walk MS event and announcing his intentions to retire from the Carolina Hurricanes following the weekend’s regular-season finale, the multiple sclerosis-stricken veteran did something he had never done before.
With the Canes knotted up 3-3 against the Philadelphia Flyers after three periods Sunday, it was Bickell who got the first call to try to lift Carolina’s offense in overtime. Before long, the three-time Stanley Cup champion with the Blackhawks was orchestrating his own dramatic sendoff, scoring his first-ever shootout goal -- on the final shot of his final NHL game -- to help the Hurricanes capture a 4-3 victory.
You can’t make this stuff up.
Bickell, 31, was said to have informed the Hurricanes earlier in the week that he would be retiring following this season. He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in November, roughly a year after he first reported symptoms of fatigue and the condition’s side effects, but returned to the ice in February en route to earning the team’s Steve Chiasson Award this season.
