Quick Hits: Bryan Bickell’s battle and Anthony Mantha’s opportunity

The Big Story

Hurricanes forward Bryan Bickell diagnosed with multiple sclerosis - By Pete Blackburn: Fox Sports

This is indeed some very sad and unfortunate news coming out of the hockey world. Bryan Bickell’s diagnosis is something I wouldn’t wish on any person and/or athlete. It’s stories and news like this that tend to put what’s most important in life into perspective, even more so considering Bickell is only 30 years old. We wish Bryan Bickell and his family all the best as they face this new challenge head on.

In Red Wings Land

Stronger Anthony Mantha looks to have offensive impact for Red Wings - By Ansar Khan: Mlive.com

If there’s a bright-side to Andreas’ Athanasiou being sidelined with a lower-body injury for the next two weeks, it’s that Anthony Mantha will once again get called up to Detroit. It’s a shame that we wont be able to see AA, Mantha, Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi all on the same bench at once, but we will take what we can get right now.

If Mantha didn’t have a chip on his shoulder after the last time he was sent down to Grand Rapids, he certainly will have one now. There’s never been a better time for Anthony to make his case to stay in Detroit and be the elite prospect we all expect him to be and what better team to do it against than the Montreal Canadiens.