Keegan Ford leaves Wisconsin hockey program

	Name	Position	Shoots	Height	Weight
	Keegan Ford	Defense	Left	5'8	185
	Previous Team		Hometown		DOB
	Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL)		Waunakee, Wis.		5/30/1996

Wisconsin hockey coach Mike Eaves announced on Tuesday the departure of Keegan Ford from the program. The freshman defenseman had played in all 12 games for the Badgers this season, registering two assists.

"Keegan came in to see me and told me he wasn't having much fun," Eaves said. "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.

Ford is expected to re-join the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the USHL, where he spent the previous two seasons before coming to Madison.

A native of Waunakee, Wisconsin, Ford is the son of former Badger Pat Ford, who skated for Wisconsin from 1984-88, and who served as an assistant coach for UW from 1994-2002. Ford's older brother, Jason, is a freshman forward for the Badgers that has skated in eight games this season.

Ford's departure leaves Wisconsin with just six healthy defensemen, including freshman Cullen Hurley, who was recruited as a forward. Junior Eddie Wittchow has missed the previous eight games with a broken finger.

It's very possible that the Badgers add another defenseman for second semester. One option would be Peter Tischke, who signed his National Letter of Intent with Wisconsin last month.

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