Blackhawks announce Bobby Hull to no longer be team ambassador

The Chicago Blackhawks have announced that Hall of Fame forward Bobby Hull will no longer serve as a team ambassador for the franchise.

In a statement released Monday, the team said the two parties mutually parted ways earlier this season, and Hull would “retire from any official team role,” the Associated Press reported.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the team said they’d be redefining the team ambassador role after two former team ambassadors – Stan Mikita and Tony Esposito – died.

Mikita passed away in 2018, and Esposito died in August.

The newspaper reported that Chris Chelios and Denis Savard are left serving.

Hull was named ambassador in 2008, but according to the news outlets, Hull’s behavior off-the-ice, which included allegations of domestic abuse and racism, may have been the reason the team re-evaluated the role, especially in the wake of the team settling a sexual assault lawsuit by former player Kyle Beach.

The 83-year-old was inducted in 1983 into the Hockey Hall of Fame and had his No. 9 retired by the team that same year, the AP reported.