Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in November, Bryan Bickell is set to make his return to the NHL on Tuesday. https://t.co/23hrJBfKrM
— NHL (@NHL) April 3, 2017
Forward Bryan Bickell, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis last November, was recalled by the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday.
The 31-year-old Bickell is expected to play when the Hurricanes visit the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night. It will be the first NHL game for the veteran forward since Oct. 30 against Philadelphia.
"It's going to be emotional," Bickell told NHL.com. "After getting diagnosed and that first month not knowing if I was ever going to play hockey again, it was tough to do every-day stuff and stuff like that. But to see the progress from where I was to where I am now is definitely special."
Bicknell experienced numbness and dizziness during a practice session with Carolina on Nov. 8 and was diagnosed with MS three days later following an MRI exam.
Although there is no cure for the disease, which affects the body's central nervous system, Bickell reported improvement following intravenous drug treatments and began skating again in January.
Bickell was assigned to the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League on Feb. 24 and produced one goal and three assists in 10 games.
In his first season with the Hurricanes, Bickell scored one goal in seven games before he was placed on injured reserve following his diagnosis.
Carolina has four games remaining in the regular season and is on the brink of elimination from the postseason hunt, sitting seven points out of the final wild card in the Eastern Conference.
The Bowmanville, Ontario, native was acquired by the Hurricanes on June 15, 2016, from Chicago, where he was a member of the Blackhawks' Stanley Cup-winning teams in 2010, 2013 and 2015.
The 6-foot-4, 223-pound Bickell was selected by the Blackhawks in the second round (41st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft. He owns 136 points (66 goals, 70 assists) in 391 NHL career regular-season games with the Blackhawks and Hurricanes.
Carolina on Monday also recalled forward Andrew Poturalski from Charlotte and reassigned forwards Phil Di Giuseppe and Lucas Wallmark to its AHL affiliate.
Poturalski, 23, a former standout at the University of New Hampshire, will be making his NHL debut. He recorded 48 points, including a team-high 32 assists, in 69 games with the Checkers this season.
A finalist in 2015-16 for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, given annually to the nation's top collegiate hockey player, Poturalski amassed 22 goals and 30 assists in 37 games with the Wildcats in his final season.
