Since playing in the national title game in 2010, the Badgers have twice failed to make the 16-team NCAA tournament field. In addition, they have finished in the lower half of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings the last two seasons and seen attendance at the Kohl Center fall from 13,226 per game to 11,772, which is their lowest average since 2003-04 (11,701).But UW athletic director Barry Alvarez said recently that he has no concerns about the work of Eaves and his staff. “I’ve coached long enough to know that (when) you lose the players we’ve lost, you’re going to have a dip,” Alvarez, the former Badgers football coach, said. “You can’t depend on just freshmen and that’s a fine line in hockey.”
Office of Strategic Communication