Bickell plays first game since MS diagnosis, helps Checkers win

Bryan Bickell has played another hockey game.

The Carolina Hurricanes forward, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in November, returned to the ice Saturday with the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League, earning an assist in a 6-1 victory over the Cleveland Monsters.

Bickell, who last played in a game Oct. 30 against the Philadelphia Flyers, was assigned to the Checkers on Friday by the Hurricanes.

“It feels pretty good," Bickell told the Checkers website after the game at Charlotte’s Bojangles Coliseum. "It was a long wait to get that game, but that first game's over with. It was a rough one to jump back in. … It was kind of rough, but we got that through and we got the win, which…