Bryan Bickell in Game 3 after vertigo scare, looks to snap Kane slump
CHICAGO – Bryan Bickell has had his share of injuries. This one was different.
It was a dizziness that he couldn’t shake. It wasn’t from a concussion. It was something else.
“The day before Game 7 in Anaheim I was just like, ‘What’s going on? What’s going on?’ I thought maybe the travel. I was talking to a couple of guys and they were saying, yeah, I feel the same. Then come game time I was like … I couldn’t go,” he said.
Bickell played in Game 7, but only eight shifts. He then missed Games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Blackhawks were vague on what was affecting him.
“Yeah, it was vertigo. Tough playing when you’re dizzy,” said Bickell. “No, it’s one of those things that’s going to take time. You do different things to help it. In the week I had, from where I was to where I am now, I’m ready to play.
“I feel 100 percent ready to come back into the lineup.”
Bickell is expected to return for the Blackhawks on Monday night in Game 3 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He was on a line with Patrick Kane and Brad Richards during the morning skate.
Bickell will be tasked with getting Kane going, after the Blackhawks sniper went without a shot in Game 2 and is scoreless in the Final.
“I’ve played with him before, in the previous series. I open up ice for him, get him the puck, go to the net. I’m sure that slump will break soon. He’s an elite player for a reason,” said Bickell.
But the hulking forward has a slump of his own to deal with: He hasn’t scored a goal in the 2015 postseason in 17 games, after scoring 16 in his previous 42 playoff games with Chicago.
“It would be nice to see the puck go in more than it has,” said Bickell. “But hopefully I’m saving them for the finals.”
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