Brad Buetow
Bradly Buetow (born October 28, 1950) is a 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.
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 28, 1950 Saint Paul, Minnesota |
| Playing career | |
| 1970–1973 | Minnesota |
| 1973–1974 | Cleveland Crusaders |
| 1973–1974 | Jacksonville Barons |
| Position(s) | Left wing |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1974–1979 | Minnesota (assistant) |
| 1979–1985 | Minnesota |
| 1985–1988 | U.S. International |
| 1988–1992 | Colorado College |
| 1995–1996 | Quad City Mallards |
| 1996–1997 | Waco Wizards |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 299-236-19 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1976 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 | |
| Awards | |
| 1980 WCHA Coach of the Year 1992 WCHA Coach of the Year | |
Career edit
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] 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.[3]
The next season Buetow returned to the Twin Cities to serve as an assistant under Herb Brooks[4] who had taken the Golden Gophers to the first National title the year before.[5] 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.[6][7]
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.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10]
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.[11] While Buetow would continue to coach he would never again have a chance at an NCAA school.[12]
Career statistics edit
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1970–71 | Minnesota | NCAA | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1971–72 | Minnesota | NCAA | 18 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1972–73 | Minnesota | NCAA | 28 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1973–74 | Cleveland Crusaders | WHA | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1973–74 | Jacksonville Barons | AHL | 37 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 69 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| WHA totals | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
Head coaching record edit
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Golden Gophers (WCHA) (1979–1985) | |||||||||
| 1979-80 | Minnesota | 26-15-0 | 18-14-0 | 2nd | NCAA Quarterfinal | ||||
| 1980-81 | Minnesota | 33-12-0 | 20-8-0 | 1st | NCAA runner-up | ||||
| 1981-82 | Minnesota | 22-12-2 | 13-11-2 | 3rd | WCHA Semifinals | ||||
| 1982-83 | Minnesota | 32-12-1 | 18-7-1 | 1st | NCAA consolation game (loss) | ||||
| 1983-84 | Minnesota | 27-11-2 | 16-9-1 | 3rd | WCHA Semifinals | ||||
| 1984-85 | Minnesota | 31-13-3 | 21-10-3 | 2nd | NCAA Quarterfinals | ||||
| Minnesota: | 171-75-8 | 106-59-7 | |||||||
| US International Gulls (Great West) (1985–1988) | |||||||||
| 1985-86 | US International | 20-13-0 | 9-3-0 | 1st | |||||
| 1986-87 | US International | 17-17-1 | 7-8-1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1987-88 | US International | 23-13-0 | 4-4-0 | 2nd | |||||
| US International: | 60-43-0 | 20-15-0 | |||||||
| Colorado College Tigers (WCHA) (1988–1993) | |||||||||
| 1988-89 | Colorado College | 11-26-3 | 9-23-3 | 8th | WCHA first round | ||||
| 1989-90 | Colorado College | 18-20-2 | 10-17-1 | 7th | WCHA first round | ||||
| 1990-91 | Colorado College | 13-26-1 | 9-22-1 | 8th | WCHA first round | ||||
| 1991-92 | Colorado College | 18-18-5 | 14-14-4 | 4th | WCHA third-place game (loss) | ||||
| 1992-93 | Colorado College | 8-28-0 | 6-26-0 | 9th | WCHA first round | ||||
| Colorado College: | 68-118-11 | 48-102-9 | |||||||
| Total: | 299-236-19 | ||||||||
| National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
References edit
- ^ "University of Minnesota Gophers Hockey". Vintage Minnesota Hockey.com. from the original on January 8, 2013. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
- ^ "Minnesota Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
- ^ "Brad Buetow". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
- ^ "Hockey Savvy Gophers eye Maine series". Bangor Daily News. 1984-10-24. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
- ^ "NCAA Division 1 Tournament". College Hockey Historical Archive. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
- ^ "Brad Buetow Era: 1979-1980 through 1984-1985". Vintage Minnesota Hockey. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
- ^ Reusse, Patrick (2014-03-31). ""The Don" again deserving of his respected title". The Star Tribune.
- ^ "United States International University Statistics and History". Hockey DB. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
- ^ "Great West Standings". College Hockey Historical Archive. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
- ^ "Hockey Dropped by USIU". LA Times. 1988-04-23. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
- ^ . Colorado College. Archived from the original on 2010-05-29. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
- ^ "Brad Buetow Year-by-Year Coaching Record". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
- ^ "Brad Buetow". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
- ^ (PDF). Minnesota Golden Gophers. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-07-28. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
- ^ "2013-14 Colorado College Media Guide" (PDF). Colorado College Tigers. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
External links edit
- Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
- The Complete World Hockey Association, 9e by Scott Surgent, Xaler Press, ISBN 1-4909674-0-0