June 08--The night before Blackhawks faced the Anaheim Ducks in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals, winger Bryan Bickell didn't feel right. Neither did some of his teammates.
"I was like, 'What's going on? What's going on?' I thought it was maybe the travel," Bickell said. "I was talking to a couple of guys and they were saying, 'Yeah, I feel the same.' "
For his teammates, at least, the weird feeling went away. For Bickell, it would persist. He would play in only one period of Game 7 because he felt dizzy and missed the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final.
But he is expected back in the lineup for Game 3 after recovering from what Bickell said Monday was vertigo, a rare revelation in the secret world of hockey injuries and ailments.
"Yeah, I had vertigo. Yep. It came out," Bickell said. "I talked to everybody in the city and everybody on the phone as to what I could do," Bickell said. "It was tough sitting out and just saying that you had vertigo and can't play.
"It's passed. It's one of those things that could take two weeks or it could take four or five days so I'm happy it's gone and I'm ready to go tonight."
Bickell was back skating on the second line in the Hawks' morning skate alongside center Brad Richards and winger Patrick Kane, who was taken off the Jonathan Toews' line Monday.
Bickell was one of the first off the ice, an indication he will play, while Kris Versteeg, who had taken Bickell's place in the lineup was one of the last off the ice.
Bickell said this was the first time he ever had vertigo.
"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."
It also appears Trevor van Riemsdyk will make his playoff debut. Van Riemsdyk was one of the first off the ice while David Rundblad would appear to be the odd man out of the blue-line rotation for Game 3.
"I've definitely come a long, long way since I first got called up, just being back out there on the ice and just going through everything helped a lot," van Riemsdyk said.
chine@tribpub.com
