After seeing a few articles about this today and being a student at CC,
I'm putting my two cents in.  Here's an article from today's (Feb. 4) Colorado
Springs Gazette Telegraph:
        "A second breach of NCAA violations in five months did not cost
Colorado College coach Brad Buetow his job.  At least not immediately.  It
will, however, end Buetow's tenure at the school after the season.
        CC interim president Michael Grace said Wednesday that Buetow has
resigned - effective at the end of the season, his fifth at CC.  The move
follows Buetow's admission of three NCAA violations in an unsuccessful bid to
land junior-college goaltender Jason Jiskra of North Dakota State University-
Bottineau.  Wednesday's announcement came two weeks after Jiskra practiced with
the team.
        "The deal is, I resign at the end of the year," Buetow said after a
belated arrival at Wednesday's practice.  "There was no selfishness or malice
intended.  I'm dealing with it, the school's dealing with it in proper fashion,
and we'll go forward."
        For Buetow, that means the rest of the season.  CC is last in the nine
team Western Collegiate Hockey Association at 6-18 and is 7-18 overall.  The
Tigers have eight league games remaining - beginning with this weekend's two-
game series at the University of Minnesota - and a nonleague contest Feb.23 at
Air Force.
        Since Alaska-Anchorage will join the WCHA playoffs as an associate
member, all 10 teams are guaranteed a spot in the first round of the conference
postseason.
        Grace said with this investigation concluded, the school soon will
conduct a nation-wide search for a new head coach.
        A key point in the school's investigation was Buetow's admitted use
of frequent-flyer coupons to transport Jiskra to and from Colorado Springs.
"What the bottom line is, regardless of any way you sift this, there have been
violations of NCAA regulations," athletic director Max Taylor said.  "What we
don't know at this point is how seriously the NCAA is going to consider those
violations.  So we'll wait to see their reaction."
        The NCAA took no action after CC suspended Buetow for 60 days at the
start of the season for diverting athletic department funds to pay volunteer
assistant Dave Westby.  That suspension also changed the status of Buetow's
contract with CC to "probationary."  That pact would have expired June 30.
        Grace said Buetow's assistants will not be punished.  Greg Cronin and
Scott Owens are on one-year appointments to the school.  "We're not holding
anything against any of the assistant coaches," Grace said.  "We looked at this
is as actions Brad was responsible for."
        CC also said Buetow violated school policy by not involving Taylor in
establishing Jiskra's eligibility to participate in the program.  According
to Taylor, Buetow told him two days before Jiskra's arrival on the campus that
Buetow was not going to try to bring in a goaltender.  And then Buetow did not
tell Taylor of Jiskra's presence.
        "I would have discovered the problem as soon as I got the details on
who this person was and where he was enrolled," Taylor said.  "We have an
athletic handbook, that I wrote, that cautions all coaches, that instructs
them, and instructs me, to look at chapter 14 in the NCAA manual when
recruiting a transfer student.  That would have brought all these things out."
        Grace said a desire for continuity within the program played a role in
the school's agreement to let Buetow remain.  "While we want to show clearly
that we don't condone NCAA violations - I think that's been shown by Brad's
departure - we also felt that maybe something much more dramatic would upset
that (continuity)," Grace said.
        Buetow has a 67-108-11 record at CC, including the 3-4 record the
Tigers posted while he was serving the 60-day suspension earlier this season.
His club finished fourth in the WCHA last year and fourth in the league's
tournament.
        The NCAA rules Buetow violated prohibit practicing while a student
remains enrolled at his previous institution, furnishing transportation to a
campus for enrollment, and using discounts or freebies, such as the frequent-
flyer coupons given to Jiskra.
        Buetow, who turns 42 this year, came to Colorado Springs after head
coaching stints of six years at his alma mater, the University of Minnesota,
and three years at U.S. International.  Buetow succeeded Herb Brooks at
Minnesota when Brooks left to coach the U.S. Olympic team to the Gold Medal in
the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.  He lettered three times as a hockey defenseman,
three times in track and field, and once in football at UM before playing one
year of professional hockey with the Cleveland Crusaders of the now-defunct
World Hockey Association."
 
        This is my first article, so please don't flame me if it ended up
being too long!
 
Karen Heasley
Colorado College
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