I like to think that Garth Brooks has a special place in his heart for Chicago. I mean, he did kick off his worldwide comeback tour in the Windy City in September. Remember?

So now that he’s had to cancel his string shows in Tampa, Florida, due to “unexpected scheduling by the NHL and NBC on June 6 for the 2015 Stanley Cup Final," I kind of feel like it’s Brooks' way of making things easy on the Chicago Blackhawks. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.

“First of all, we would all like to congratulate the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Chicago Blackhawks for reaching the Stanley Cup Final," Brooks wrote on his website. "As we now know, Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final is being played on Saturday, June 6th. All parties looked into moving Saturday’s two Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood shows to Sunday. The issue of getting the network crews and their gear out of the building and getting our crews and gear into the building late Saturday/early Sunday for two shows on Sunday raises serious safety concerns. It is because of those safety concerns that the choice is being made to refund all shows and reschedule depending on finding a date that works for both the arena and the tour."

Brooks went on to explain it was a hard decision on everyone, and he thanks the people at the venue who tried to make it work.

He ends his statement with "We will be watching the series!!!"

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final will be played in Tampa Bay on Wednesday night (June 3).

Brooks’ next tour stop will now be in New Orleans on July 10.