Hawks reward Bickell with $16M, four-year deal
Peterborough-based player preparing for wedding with fiancée he met while playing with Ottawa 67’s
Bryan Bickell may have left money on the table by opting not to test the open market of NHL free agency.
But for the Orono native, who now calls Peterborough home, some things are more important than money. Not that he wasn’t rewarded handsomely for his breakout performance in helping the Chicago Blackhawks win their second Stanley Cup in four years. The 27-year-old signed a four-year, $16million deal.
Bickell, 27, was the second highest playoff goal scorer with nine goals and second i n Blackhawks scoring, behind Conn Smythe MVP Patrick Kane, with 17 points. He scored the tying goal in the final game on a set-up by Jonathan Toews followed 17 seconds later by David Bolland’s winning goal. All this after the Hawks set an NHL record with the longest winning streak to start a season on their way to a first place overall finish.
“I was happy to be back with the Blackhawks. It’s like a second home to me and I love playing there and the city,” said Bickell, sporting a cast on his left hand where he had surgery to repair damage to his thumb, after participating i n the Fishing For a Cure fundraiser Thursday on Rice Lake.
While many hockey pundits speculated Bickell might test the open market, where he may have earned a bigger paycheque, he said he was content to take a little less to stay in Chicago.
“I’m not a guy who wants to go around to every team. I like to stay in one spot. I have a house there. They have a good fan base. I have friends there and my family love coming down to that city. It felt right to take a cut to play with the hawks. I know what I have there. I know who I’m going to be playing with. I know the coaches. Everything is top notch in that organization.”
While he was a member of the 2010 Cup winners, Bickell didn’t play every game that playoff run. He was a key component this year.
“Seeing what it took to win the Cup was a learning experience come this playoff to bring it every night and every shift,” he said.
Bickell says the final 90 seconds when he tied the game and Bolland won it was an amazing experience.
“I was sitting on the bench with two minutes left thinking ‘ OK, we’re going to go home for Game 7,’” he said. “I hopped over the boards and saw another centreman out there so I knew we had pulled our goalie. We had a good battle in the corner and (Toews) found me in front. I was just happy to put that in and tie it.
“It didn’t even feel real when Bolland scored 17 seconds later. We were still celebrating after the tying one thinking we were going to go to OT. I think (Boston) was thinking we were going to OT. To do what we did with that much time left was unbelievable.”
The new contract and security of an NHL job means a lot to Bickell as he prepares to marry his longtime girlfriend Amanda who he met while playing junior hockey with the Ottawa 67’s.
“I’ve worked really hard for what I got. Being in the minors for three years and travelling on the bus and taking all the beating down there before finally cracking the NHL. Now being here and doing well I’m just happy to have this opportunity.”
Bickell points to a move by the coaches to reunite him with Toews and Kane in the Detroit series as a turning point.
“Being down 3-1 kind of gave us a slap in the wrist to wake us up and spark our team,” Bickell said. “We juggled our lines around and it worked and we just rolled from there.”
With a lockout delaying the start of the season, Bickell went to Austria to play. He credits that decision with helping him be in peak form when the NHL resumed.
“With the games in a short matter of time kind of played into my favour,” he said. “Every game meant something and it was high intensity and more physical. I think it carried over into the playoffs.”