The Blackhawks’ season was put on hold indefinitely Thursday as the NHL announced the 2019-20 season is “paused” due to coronavirus concerns.
“Following last night’s news that an NBA player has tested positive for coronavirus — and given that our leagues share so many facilities and locker rooms and it now seems likely that some member of the NHL community would test positive at some point — it is no longer appropriate to try to continue to play games at this time,” commissioner Gary Bettman said Thursday in a statement.
The Hawks had been scheduled to play 12 more games — seven at home, five on the road — leading up to the regular season finale at the Rangers on April 4. A home game Friday against the Senators and road game Saturday against the Capitals were next up.
Those games are now definitely not going to happen on their scheduled days — and given that no details are available about how long the postponement may last or whether the regular season will be eventually resumed in full, it’s fair to question whether they will ever happen at all.
“Our goal is to resume play as soon as it is appropriate and prudent, so that we will be able to complete the season and award the Stanley Cup,” Bettman said. “Until then, we thank NHL fans for your patience and hope you stay healthy.”
If they don’t, the Hawks at least went out on a high note — defeating the Sharks 6-2 at home on Wednesday — despite a disappointing season. They’ll be stuck at 32-30-8, six points out of a playoff spot, for the time being.
Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith and coach Jeremy Colliton were all visibly shaken after the game Wednesday night, having not learned during it that the NBA (whose lead the NHL eventually followed) had postponed their own season.
“This is a first for us to be in this situation,” Keith said Wednesday. “You kind of have to leave it up to some of the people in charge to make those decisions on what they feel is best and have faith that they know what they’re doing. You never want to see anybody — let alone an athlete or an NBA player — have to go through it. Seems to be more and more people seem to be getting affected by it.”
