During all the draft hoopla on Sunday, it was announced that Bryan Bickell had re-signed with the Blackhawks for four years at an annual cap hit of $4 million a year. Some may say that he could fetch somewhere in the area of $5 million a year on the open market, but that is just an asinine amount of money for a guy that performed well in the final dozen games of a three year contract. Please allow me to piss in the punch bowl, but $4 million for a guy that could most 235689 likely live his life on the Hawks 3rd line is a little steep.
For three years a healthy portion of fans and bloggers have bitched and moaned about Bickell not using his big frame and mistaking himself for Patrick Sharp. A dozen, or so, decent playoff games and all of a sudden he has become the second coming of Cam Neely or even Brendan Shanahan. Let's not all forget the frustration that led me to once brand him, One Trick Bick. For three years he chose to fire 40 foot wrist shots on net instead of throw that big frame into the opposition and create havoc in front of the net. Deceptive wrist shots are nice, but it's the rest of your game that defines you.
Fast forward to the playoff this year and maybe something finally clicked; OR he was thrown on a line with two world class players that take the focus off his big toothless face. Whatever it is, I hope it continues, and I never have to bring up his contract again. Conventional wisdom tells one that he'll be a point of contention for the next four years because, well, $4 million is $4 million. For all of our sakes I hope he turns out to be the power forward the Hawks have been waiting for. He has all the tools and the attitude the Blackhawks brass and fans like.
Welcome Back, Mr. Bickell, I hope you raise hell in Conference III for the next 4 years!
