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There are multiple reasons why the University of Wisconsin decided to move men's hockey games to LaBahn Arena for the 2020-21 season, senior associate athletic director Jason King said.
A primary one was that UW, in a COVID-19-related budget crunch, can save money by not having to change the Kohl Center from a hockey rink to a basketball court and back multiple times over the next five months.
It costs between $4,000 and $5,000 to staff each conversion, said King, who oversees the Badgers hockey programs. With the athletic department in cost-cutting mode because of revenue losses during the coronavirus pandemic - and with no fans allowed at games at least to start the season - that was an avoidable expense.
Another factor, King said after conversations with Badgers men's hockey coach Tony Granato, was a more intimate atmosphere at LaBahn than the Kohl Center.
"Obviously, when we have fans and can have that capacity, we all love playing in the Kohl Center," King said. "But it just made more sense as we moved into this season to play the games in LaBahn."
If fans are allowed to attend men's hockey games later in the...