The Chicago Blackhawks’ sellout streak has officially ended at 535 games, ending a 13-year run that started March 8, 2008, against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blackhawks dropped to 0-5-1 this season with a 6-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday.
Chicago has led the league in attendance for the past 11 seasons and averaged 21,441 fans for their 34 home games at the United Center in 2019-20, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic that forced teams to play without fans in attendance.
The previous team to hold the NHL record for sellouts was the Pittsburgh Penguins, whose own sellout streak ended at 633 regular-season and postseason games on Oct. 16. Their streak began against the Blackhawks on Feb. 14, 2007.
(Photo: Bill Smith / NHLI via Getty Images)
GO DEEPER
After another embarrassing loss, when will enough be enough for Blackhawks brass?
What's the temperature of the fan base?
Mark Lazerus, Blackhawks staff writer: It's hot. Real hot. The pandemic certainly played some role in the sellout streak ending, but more than anything, Blackhawks fans are fed up with losing. The team hasn't won a playoff series since the 2015 Stanley Cup Final. This year was supposed to be different.
With all the offseason additions, hopes were higher than they'd been in years. Instead, it's worse than ever. That's three straight games the Blackhawks were booed off home ice. Only 38 home games to go.
Advertisem*nt
What's the state of the team
Scott Powers, Blackhawks staff writer: The Blackhawks built some excitement about their potential on-ice product leading into the season after a busy offseason. That was decimated before the Blackhawks even had their first home game. The Blackhawks looked awful in three road losses to start their season. They followed with two home losses. They looked better in those, but they were still defeats, and being winless in five games trumped everything else.
What followed Sunday was the low point of the season, a 6-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. The Blackhawks are off to their worst start in nearly 25 years and haven't led a single second this season. It's all-around bad for the Blackhawks.
Get all-access to exclusive stories.
Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Try a week on us.
