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Report: NHL will honor Bickell at awards show

Chicago Blackhawks Victory Parade And Rally

Chicago Blackhawks Victory Parade And Rally

Getty Images

Bryan Bickell retired in April, ending his playing career after he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in November.

After coming back and then scoring a shootout goal for the Carolina Hurricanes in his final NHL game, Bickell will be honored at the NHL Awards on Wednesday, according to CSN Chicago.

“[The league] called me up to come here and I said, ‘why not?’ I had time to make it out here and enjoy some festivities,” said Bickell.

“It’s kind of a finale where the respect of what I went through and the story I had this year, they’re going to do it [Wednesday] and it’s just the icing on the cake. It’ll be emotional but I’m going to try to keep it together.”

Bickell played 395 regular season games in the NHL, rising to prominence with a 17-point performance in 23 playoff games in 2013, as the Chicago Blackhawks claimed the Stanley Cup.

However, after battling his way back onto the ice and into the Hurricanes lineup toward the end of the season, Bickell decided in April to retire.

“It was really tough,” Bickell told the Washington Post. “For me, I think about my family. I have two young girls, and you always want to think about family first. Hockey is a luxury. There is always life after hockey.”