Bernie Nicholls isn’t in the business of giving advice, but he’ll gladly talk about one possibility for Bob Probert’s new and improved lifestyle.
“Any day now, he’ll become a father,” Nicholls said. “When he holds his baby, Bob is going to be a changed man. It changes all of us.”
Nicholls and Probert are two veteran free-agent acquisitions by the Blackhawks, who begin training camp Friday for the 1994-95 season or the NHL lockout, whichever comes first.
Nicholls, 33, has been around slightly longer than Probert, not that you would know it by this summer’s headlines. For his bouts with substance abuse, his litany of fender benders and his indefinite suspension that will lead to a rehabilitation program as soon as his wife, Dani, delivers, Probert has dwarfed scores and highlights on the local nightly news.
A few critics of his transfer from the Detroit Red Wings insist Bob Probert is the devil in skates, a poisonous influence who should be banished to some faraway place-Alcatraz, a desert island or the top row of the United Center. He’s been hired by the Hawks to sell tickets, as if that’s a misdemeanor, too.
But rational observers realize that, when tending to his duties, Probert can contribute more than left uppercuts to this soft hockey team. For tough guys possessing a certain skill level, he’s among the best of recent vintage. Besides, for all his ventures onto police blotters, Probert causes problems for nobody but himself.
“He’s a great guy,” Nicholls said. “There’s a pot of gold out there for him; he can turn the page here in a great hockey city, and there’s no doubt in my mind that he will. Plus, like I said, being a father gives a whole new meaning to responsibility. It’s all there for Bob, and he’s only 29.”
If Nicholls has been rendered virtually invisible by the Probert controversy, wait a while. Nicholls has logged 416 career goals, enough to suggest he can help the Blackhawks’ squirt-gun attack even while blindfolded. He’ll center, probably for Joe Murphy and behind Jeremy Roenick, whose supporting cast too often is slim and none.
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With his arrival here, Nicholls completes the hat trick of major U.S. markets. He began with the Los Angeles Kings, for whom he bagged 70 goals in 1988-89 before being traded to the New York Rangers. Last season, he played with the New Jersey Devils, who came this close to depriving the Rangers of their Stanley Cup in the semifinals. In between, Nicholls also worked for Edmonton, city of five championships.
“But Chicago is a franchise that always impressed me,” he said. “It’s sad in a way that I won’t get to play for the Hawks in the old Stadium, because if you couldn’t get up for a game there, even as the visiting team, something was wrong. Fans are fans, though, and Chicago has the best.
“And this is a good hockey team we have here. Defense is outstanding, and our goalie, Eddie Belfour, has to be in the league’s top three. That’s where it all starts, and, hopefully, we can score some goals. I’ve played in some great cities. This one has to be right at the top.”
If nothing else, Nicholls will help the Hawks go in style. He’s on the NHL’s short list of best dressers. The year he doesn’t spend $10,000 on clothes is the year he loses his credit card.
But behind the flash, Bernie Nicholls lost something infinitely dearer.
“Jack,” he said. “Jack died last November, just a few days before his first birthday. (Wife) Heather and I have been blessed with healthy twins, Flynn and McKenna. But our son Jack-Jack didn’t make it.”
Jack was born with Down’s syndrome. He then contracted spinal meningitis and pneumonia.
“He was brain dead,” Bernie Nicholls said. “He couldn’t see, he couldn’t hear. We think about him all the time, Jack. That’s what I meant about Bobby Probert. When he holds his first child. It changes all of us.”