In what seemed to be a foregone conclusion, the Blackhawks on Wednesday canceled their annual fan convention that was scheduled for July 24-26, making it the latest sports gathering to be called off because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“As the National Hockey League continues to evaluate the future of the 2019-20 season with guidance from public health officials, the Chicago Blackhawks have decided to cancel the 2020 Blackhawks Convention,” the team said in a statement.
Full refunds for hotel room deposits and convention passes will be processed automatically by the fan’s point of purchase, either through the Hilton Chicago, Ticketmaster or Blackhawks ticketing. The Hawks advise fans to visit blackhawks.com/convention for more information.
The Blackhawks Convention, first held in 2008, was scheduled for the last weekend in July at the Hilton Chicago. But public health and elected officials have talked recently about the possibility that social distancing will extend into the fall. So the prospect of packing a convention space with thousands of guests seemed unlikely.
The state’s stay-at-home order runs through April, but Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday said she expects it to extend into May. During an appearance Tuesday on CNN, Gov. J.B. Pritzker took a conservative stance on allowing sporting events in Illinois this summer.
“We’re not going to allow sports to reopen, major-league sports, unless we have all of these preconditions set because I’m not going to have tens of thousands of people getting into an arena together and giving each other COVID-19,” he told CNN.
He took a similarly dim view on conventions and festivals in comments last week.
“From my perspective today, I do not see how we are going to have large gatherings of people again until we have a vaccine, which is months and months away,” Pritzker said Thursday. “I would not risk having large groups of people getting together, anywhere. And I think that’s hard for everybody to hear, but that’s just a fact.”
The Hawks declined to release convention attendance figures from last year.
The NHL on March 12 postponed its season as the outbreak became more widespread in North America.
Commissioner Gary Bettman on April 7 raised the possibility of not completing the regular season in order to squeeze in time to award the Stanley Cup. Bettman also said the league is considering playing games at neutral sites in the event not all teams will be allowed into their home rinks.
Bettman, however, stressed these are among myriad options being considered with nothing determined yet.