The University of Wisconsin announced today that freshman defenseman Keegan Ford has left the hockey program.
In a statement from the school, head coach Mike Eaves said:
"Keegan came in to see me and told me he wasn’t having much fun. He said it wasn’t one thing specifically. He said he just wasn’t having fun coming to the rink and it wasn’t in his heart to stay any longer.
"He thought it was right for him to find another place to play. At this time, I think he is going to go back and play junior hockey and go from there.
"We wish young Keegan the best of luck in the future."
It's hard to imagine anyone is having much fun at Wisconsin these days.The Badgers are languishing with a 1-10-1 overall record, which is the worst winning percentage in college hockey. Ford has played in all 12 games for the Badgers this season--the Badgers have had to skate freshman forward Cullen Hurley at defense at times this year due to a lack of healthy options on the blue line--and registered two assists in those two games.
Losing Ford is particularly difficult because he's a Madison-native with strong family ties to the program. His father Pat was both a player and an assistant coach at Wisconsin, and his older brother Jason is also a freshman on the team. Seeing a player with that type of legacy and ties to Wisconsin walk away couldn't come at a worse time for Mike Eaves and the Badger program as a whole.
The Badgers play an exhibition game against the US NTDP team this coming Friday, but don't play another official game until 2015, when they host a home series against Michigan Tech January 2nd and 3rd.