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Growing up in South Carolina in the 60s & 70s ice hockey was not something on my radar. I can’t even remember if we had an ice rink anywhere along The Grand Strand. I did however, play roller hockey at the Crescent Beach Skating Rink almost every Sunday from 11 to 13 yrs old.
So when Philip said Bryan Bicknell’s wife Amanda wants to do the podcast I had to do some research. Chicago Blackhawk, Carolina Hurricanes & Charlotte Checkers fans forgive me, I mean after all, he is a 2 time Stanley Cup winner.
Now, his wife Amanda is a firecracker and an awesome person to have a conversation with. She has so many stories, from being raised by a single mom and girls bullying her in school, to dating Bryan in school and breaking up because of family drama. I may have to do a part 2 to cover the stories we didn’t talk about.
When she and Bryan split up, she ran off to British Columbia to pursue a wild child life, modeled in NYC at 18 and was accepted into the Stella Adlers acting school. However she had to come back to Canada to get her paperwork in order and never returned to to pursue her dreams.
Upon returning home she soon became Bryan’s wife and started living the life of a professional hockey player’s wife. They were young, he was a pro hockey player, parties were wild and crazy, life was fun. That’s when people they thought were friends took them for a lot of Bryan’s hard earned income.
Those are some of the circumstances the led to Amanda’s depression and feeling her life had no purpose. She couldn’t work in the US, the girls were young and she needed something in her life. So they started their foundation, The Bryan & Amanda Bicknell Foundation which helps rescue abused Pit Bulls. Link is below.
After the 2015 Stanley Cup win, Bryan started to not feel well and was diagnosed with MS. She said after he retired there was some dark times with Bryan’s depression and life with beginning stages of MS. She said life was tough for them during those times, so Amanda started acting again and soon wanted to venture into producing. This is when she started feeling life was good and there is a purpose. That helped lift her out of the darkness and she was able to help Bryan see some light in his life.
They bought some property and are building cottages where they will start hosting retreats for people with MS. This is a big dream and huge undertaking and that is why they are always looking for donors and underwriters.
Oh yeah, she and Bryan are also very active and proud parents of 2 beautiful daughters. And if all that is not enough to keep them busy, Amanda convinced Bryan to become part owners of the Durham Hawks Hockey Team in the NPHL league.
You’ll love Amanda Bicknell, wife of Bryan Bicknell. She is honest, raw, full of life, energy and loves her pit bull rescues.
https://www.instagram.com/abickell/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/bickellfoundation/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/bickellspoint/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/durhamhawks_nphl/?hl=en
#nhl #durhamhawks #blackhawks # icehockey #Stanleycup #pitbulls #MS