Chicago Blackhawks chairman Rocky Wirtz needs to be removed

It is time for Danny Wirtz to take on the chairman title as well.

There have been calls for Rocky Wirtz to sell the team during this whole scandal but that does not appear to be happening. The team’s decline on and off the ice along with this tirade should lead to Rocky no longer being formally involved with the team.

The alternative is Danny Wirtz, the Blackhawks CEO, and Rocky’s son takes on the chairman title.

It may have to be something out of an episode of Succession to wrestle away the chairman title, but the Chicago Blackhawks cannot truly move forward until Rocky is no longer is officially associated with the team.

Rocky Wirtz may have said they got rid of all those in charge in 2010, but the truth is they have not. Not as long as Rocky wears the crown.

Rocky Wirtz’s actions indicate he does not want to acknowledge what happened in 2010. As long as a person associated with that era acts in this way, there is no way for the Blackhawks to move forward and say they have changed for the better.

Wirtz did nothing to remove any doubt of being absolved in the cover-up. His actions still leave that elephant in the room that Wirtz may have known something because while the Jenner & Block report said he was not aware, Wirtz himself paid for the report.

As long as that doubt remains and Rocky has outbursts on these types of questions, the Blackhawks will never be able to have a new start and earn back the fans’ trust.

During this scandal and the Hawks decline on the ice, Danny Wirtz has been the one person at least willing to make statements regarding the allegations. He has also put together an impressive way of going about getting a new general manager. He seems genuine in wanting to move the Blackhawks forward in a positive manner.

Dad went ahead and ruined any progress the son has made.

Also, the question Mark Lazerus was asking was meant for Danny Wirtz anyway because Danny Wirtz has slowly become the face of Blackhawks senior leadership.

Danny Wirtz even offered to go over what the Chicago Blackhawks have done to make sure a Kyle Beach scandal never happens again.

Danny Wirtz, along with the team’s president of business operations, Jamie Faulkner, was trying to convey a positive message in the town hall as they attempt to move the franchise back towards positive relevancy. Rocky ruined all that in a few sentences.

That is why he, along with the rest of the Wirtz family, must do what is necessary to get Rocky out of the Blackhawks. If giving Danny Wirtz too much power is necessary to remove Rocky, so be it. The Blackhawks could also promote Faulkner to CEO if Danny takes the chairman title.

Rocky has become a stain on the franchise. Whether it is giving Rocky a ceremonial chairman emeritus title or convincing him to go back to his first love of running the family’s beverage business, they need to figure out how to get Rocky out of the picture.

Rocky Wirtz admitted in his apology that it overshadowed all the work being done by the franchise’s current leadership. As long as Rocky remains at the top of the leadership chain, his shadow will cast nothing but darkness on the Blackhawks.