Blackhawks: With 5 Hub Cities Left, Chicago Remains A Favorite

On July 10th, the NHL will start training camps back up. The Chicago Blackhawks could have the chance for their city to host one side of the playoffs.

The city of Chicago is now one of the last five teams left to be chosen as a Hub City for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Whether or not the Chicago Blackhawks would be playing there or not is still left to be seen, as I would assume Chicago would host Eastern Conference teams, with another city hosting the Western Conference teams, to not create a home-ice advantage.

Chicago’s Mayor Lori Lightfoot has spoken out and pitched for Chicago to be a Hub City for the playoffs, something that I believe would benefit the city as a whole. The reason for that is each team gets to stay in a hotel, there are local businesses and restaurants who will need customers, a ton of NHL players helps the city make money.

There has been a spike in COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles and “the favorite” Las Vegas, so choosing Chicago would be a good idea on the NHL’s side of things.

Either way, a spike in cases could be enough to remove a city from the conversation of being chosen, even if it’s one month away.

Another question that’s been asked a lot is what will happen if a player tests positive for COVID-19? For starters, the player will be removed from the current series. The rest depends on the circumstances. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told this to TSN in April:

"“Everything depends on the facts and the entire set of circumstances,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told TSN in April. “But, no, we do not believe that one positive test, even multiple positive tests, [would] necessarily shut the whole thing.”"

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