Brad Buetow
Birth dateOctober 28, 1950 (age 75)
Birth placeSaint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Player years 11970–1973
Player team 1Minnesota
Player years 21973–1974
Player team 2Cleveland Crusaders
Player years 31973–1974
Player team 3Jacksonville Barons
Player positionsLeft wing
Overall record299-236-19
Championships1976 NCAA National Champion (assistant)
1979 NCAA national champion (assistant)
1980 WCHA tournament champion
1981 WCHA regular season champion
1981 WCHA tournament champion
1983 WCHA tournament champion
1986 Great West regular season champion
Awards1980 WCHA Coach of the Year
1992 WCHA Coach of the Year

Bradly Buetow (born October 28, 1950) is an American retired ice hockey player and coach. In college, he played for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. He played 25 regular season games in the World Hockey Association for the Cleveland Crusaders and 37 games for the Jacksonville Barons of the American Hockey League in 1973–74. Following his playing career, Buetow was head coach at Minnesota,[1] US International University, Colorado College, the Quad City Mallards, and the Waco Wizards.

Career

Brad Buetow began attending the University of Minnesota in the fall of 1969 and started playing under head coach Glen Sonmor the following year. Buetow's playing career coincided with an unstable period in the program's history as Sonmor left in the middle of Buetow's Junior year and was replaced by Ken Yackel who lasted only the remainder of the season in his position before being succeeded by Herb Brooks.[2] While at Minnesota, Buetow was also an All-American high jumper for the Minnesota Golden Gophers track and field team, finishing 5th at the 1971 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.[3]

Buetow tried to put the upheaval of his time at Minnesota behind him with a professional career when he signed on to play for the Cleveland Crusaders of the WHA, but he went scoreless in 25 games before finishing out the season with the AHL's Jacksonville Barons and hung up his skates when the season finished.[4]

The next season Buetow returned to the Twin Cities to serve as an assistant under Herb Brooks[5] who had taken the Golden Gophers to the first National title the year before.[6] Under Brooks Buetow was part of two more national champion teams. When Brooks accepted the position of head coach/GM for Team USA at the 1980 Winter Olympics, Buetow stepped in as interim coach for the 1979–80 season. When his old boss opted not to return, Minnesota removed the interim tag from his title. Buetow was incredibly successful in Minnesota, providing three 30-win seasons and four NCAA tournament berths in six seasons, including two WCHA regular-season titles, two WCHA tournament titles and two Final Fours. His best team was the 1980-81 unit, which swept the WCHA regular season and tournament titles and advanced all the way to the 1981 national title game. However, Gopher fans had gotten used to winning national titles, and when Buetow was unable to deliver one, he was fired by his alma mater after the 1984–85 season.[7][8]

Buetow moved west to take over at U.S. International which was set to begin play in the newly formed Great West Hockey Conference the next season.[9] The Gulls won the first conference title, going 9–3 against the competition, but immediately the conference was in trouble when Northern Arizona dropped their program at the end of the year.[10] U.S. International managed to hold on for the next two seasons but after 1987–88 both the conference and the school's Division I hockey program ceased to exist and Buetow was out of a job.[11]

Fortunately a position at Colorado College opened up and Buetow stepped in to take over for Mike Bertsch. As with many coaches in CC's recent past Buetow had a difficult time getting the team to win games but managed to get the team its first non-losing season in over a decade in 1991–92 and received the WCHA Coach of the Year for his efforts. Unfortunately, he was forced to resign after the following season when an NCAA investigation revealed that Buetow had committed recruiting violations.[12] While Buetow would continue to coach he would never again have a chance at an NCAA school.[13]

Career statistics

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPGAPtsPIMGPGAPtsPIM
1970–71MinnesotaNCAA70000—————
1971–72MinnesotaNCAA1810114—————
1972–73MinnesotaNCAA2823512—————
1973–74Cleveland CrusadersWHA250004—————
1973–74Jacksonville BaronsAHL379101969—————
WHA totals250004—————

[14]

Head coaching record

[15][16]

References

  1. ^ "University of Minnesota Gophers Hockey". Vintage Minnesota Hockey.com. Archived January 8, 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
  2. ^ "Minnesota Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
  3. ^ "High jump at the NCAA Division I Men's Indoor Track and Field Championships". USTFCCCA. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  4. ^ "Brad Buetow". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
  5. ^ "Hockey Savvy Gophers eye Maine series". Bangor Daily News. 1984-10-24. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
  6. ^ "NCAA Division 1 Tournament". College Hockey Historical Archive. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
  7. ^ "Brad Buetow Era: 1979-1980 through 1984-1985". Vintage Minnesota Hockey. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
  8. ^ Reusse, Patrick (2014-03-31). ""The Don" again deserving of his respected title". The Star Tribune
  9. ^ "United States International University Statistics and History". Hockey DB. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
  10. ^ "Great West Standings". College Hockey Historical Archive. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
  11. ^ "Hockey Dropped by USIU". LA Times. 1988-04-23. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
  12. ^ ""Miracle Worker" Rescues Tiger Hockey Team". Colorado College. Archived from the original on 2010-05-29. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
  13. ^ "Brad Buetow Year-by-Year Coaching Record". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
  14. ^ "Brad Buetow". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
  15. ^ "2013-14 Minnesota Golden Gophers Media Guide". Minnesota Golden Gophers. Archived from the original on 2014-07-28. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
  16. ^ "2013-14 Colorado College Media Guide". Colorado College Tigers. Retrieved 2014-07-21.