Stuart Richard Bickel (born October 2, 1986) is an American former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

. He played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) with the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

and

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confer ...

Playing career

On July 2, 2008, the

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confere ...

signed Bickel, an undrafted free agent, to a three-year contract. In the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, on November 23, 2010, the Ducks traded Bickel to the

in exchange for fellow defenseman, Nigel Williams. After starting the 2011–12 season with the AHL Connecticut Whale, Bickel was called up to the Rangers on December 18, 2011. He made his NHL debut on December 20, 2011, in a game against the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...

at the

Prudential Center Prudential Center is a multipurpose indoor arena in the central business district of Newark, New Jersey, United States. Opened in 2007, it is the home of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL), the New York Sirens of the Pro ...

, recording an assist in the game for his first NHL point. The Rangers re-signed Bickel to a two-year contract on July 1, 2012. He started the delayed

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season with the Rangers after the

NHL lockout The NHL lockout may refer to any of the four industrial disputes in the history of the National Hockey League: * The 1992 NHL strike, which postponed 30 games of the 1991–92 season * The 1994–95 NHL lockout, which cancelled many of the gam ...

. Still, after 16 games, he was placed on waivers and assigned to their AHL affiliate, the Whale and Wolf Pack, for the remainder of his two-year contract. On July 1, 2014, Bickel signed a one-year, two-way contract with the

. Bickel was assigned initially to AHL affiliate, the

Iowa Wild The Iowa Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Des Moines, Iowa. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Wild play their home games at Wells Fargo Arena. The ...

to begin the 2014–15 season, however, he made his return to the NHL for the first time since 2012, appearing in nine games with Minnesota with one assist. As an unsigned free agent over the off-season, Bickel accepted an invitation to the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

training camp on a professional try-out. After he was unable to earn a contract with the Blues and their AHL affiliate, the

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team based in Rosemont, Illinois. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena ...

, Bickel signed a professional try-out with the

San Diego Gulls The San Diego Gulls are a professional ice hockey team based in San Diego. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Anaheim Ducks. The team plays its home games at Pechanga Arena. History On Jan ...

on October 9, 2015. Bickel, in his tenth and final professional season, made four appearances with the San Diego Gulls in the

2017–18 AHL season The 2017–18 AHL season was the 82nd season of the American Hockey League. The regular season ran from October 6, 2017, to April 15, 2018. The 2018 Calder Cup playoffs followed the conclusion of the regular season. The Toronto Marlies won thei ...

Coaching career

Having ended his professional career, for the 2018–19 season, Bickel accepted an assistant coaching role for the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

hockey team. In 2020, Bickel left the U of M and became the head coach of the

North American Hockey League The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 50th season of operation in 2024–25. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternati ...

's Minnesota Magicians, based out of

Richfield, Minnesota Richfield is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota. An inner-ring suburb of Minneapolis, Richfield is bordered by Minneapolis to the north, Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport and Fort Snelling to the east, Bloomington to the south, ...

, for the 2020–21 season. After one season with the Magicians, he initially joined the St. Thomas (Minnesota) Tommies men's ice hockey team as an assistant coach before joining the 2021–22 staff of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

Springfield Thunderbirds The Springfield Thunderbirds are a professional ice hockey team based in Springfield, Massachusetts. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's St. Louis Blues. The Thunderbirds play their home games at th ...

as an assistant coach.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bickel, Stu 1986 births American men's ice hockey defensemen Bakersfield Condors (1998–2015) players Connecticut Whale (AHL) players Elmira Jackals (ECHL) players Green Bay Gamblers players Hartford Wolf Pack players Ice hockey players from Minnesota Iowa Stars players Iowa Wild players Living people Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players Minnesota Wild players New York Rangers players People from Chanhassen, Minnesota San Antonio Rampage players San Diego Gulls (AHL) players Sioux Falls Stampede players Syracuse Crunch players Undrafted National Hockey League players