The Blackhawks totally entertained a season-high crowd of 20,634 of their house finale Saturday, though they finally didn’t ship them house blissful.
The Hawks went toe-to-toe in opposition to the Jets, the possible President’s Trophy winners, earlier than falling 5-4 in a shootout. The end result locked them into thirty first place within the NHL standings, guaranteeing a top-four draft choose.
“We did lots of good issues,” interim coach Anders Sorensen mentioned. “Margins are small, proper? For the group we had, all people battled as laborious as they might. It was an emotional recreation in lots of methods, however all people did their best possible.”
Frank Nazar gave the Hawks a short-lived lead with 5:55 left in regulation, however Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey rapidly evened the rating. Goalie Spencer Knight, who racked up 37 saves, then saved the Hawks alive with some additional time heroics earlier than Jets ahead Cole Perfetti tucked in a stunning shootout winner.
The massive turnout on the United Middle raised the Hawks’ ultimate 2024-25 attendance common to 18,585. That’s going to finish up ranked eighth within the league, with the Canadiens, Panthers, Crimson Wings, Lightning, Maple Leafs, Canucks and Hurricanes forward of them.
That marks a slight lower from last season, when the Hawks’ common attendance was 18,836, nevertheless it’s a quantity their enterprise division is nonetheless more than happy with.
Contemplating the group’s place within the standings, the very fact the Connor Bedard novelty issue — which powered final season’s gross sales — has worn off and the group’s drastically decreased TV visibility (because of Chicago Sports activities Community not being carried by Xfinity), it’s a testomony to the dedication of Hawks followers that attendance remained this respectable.
All seven of the groups forward of them had been far more aggressive; most made the playoffs. For distinction, the last-place Sharks are going to complete thirty first in attendance, having averaged 14,139 up to now. That’s forward of solely Utah, which ranked thirty second solely as a result of they’ve simply 11,131 unobstructed-view seats to promote.
There’s a distinction between tickets distributed — which is the introduced quantity — and precise followers within the constructing, however gross sales do matter most.
The rebuilding Geese and futile Sabres may also end within the backside 5. And the Penguins, who’ve a strong fan base however have now missed the playoffs three straight years, have predictably been one in every of this 12 months’s largest fallers attendance-wise.
Hawks advertising initiatives to attract extra non-hockey followers and youngsters to the United Middle have confirmed profitable, however loyal season-ticket holders stay the bedrock of the sizable crowds.
“It’s been unbelievable,” mentioned Bedard, who tallied two factors Saturday. “I say it a lot: We’re so fortunate to play right here and play in entrance of them. Win or lose or no matter, they’re popping out and cheering us on [to the] finish of the video games.”
After an April 2 loss to the Avalanche, veteran Connor Murphy gave a extra trustworthy rendition of that quote: “Tonight was a full crowd for an 8:50 puck drop in Chicago on a Wednesday night time. Lots of people are nonetheless cheering us on that we’re nonetheless attempting to play laborious for. We really feel dangerous, all of the losses that we’re giving them, however…I need to give my greatest to them.”
The Hawks completed 15-20-6 at house. That’s considerably higher than their 8-26-5 street file, nevertheless it’s nonetheless the second-fewest house wins within the league.
One fascinating development in the course of the 2025 portion of the season was the distinction in crowd sizes for weekend versus weeknight video games. After New 12 months’s, the Hawks’ common attendance was 17,020 for Monday-through-Thursday video games and 19,452 for Friday-through-Sunday video games.
They introduced fewer than 17,000 5 instances; all got here in weeknight video games throughout 2025. They exceeded 20,000 4 instances, three of which got here after March 22.
