He was a star with the Regina Pats, a junior team sponsored by the Montreal Canadiens. He played for them for four seasons (1954-58) and they made it it the Memorial Cup finals in 1954-55 and 1955-56. Hicke turned pro in 1958-59 AHL season with the Rochester Americans. He won the John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the leading scorer, the Les Cunningham Award as the most valuable player, and the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award as the top rookie. He was promoted to the Canadiens that year and won Stanley Cups in 1959 and 1960, He was the brother of Ernie Hicke.