EX-HUSKIE MOURNED
Craig Butz killed in tragic crash
Friends and former teammates are still in shock while mourning the sudden loss of Dr. Craig Butz, who was killed in a tragic jet ski accident during the weekend in Florida.
Butz was 52.
Born and raised in Swift Current, Butz played five seasons for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies under head coach Brent McEwen. He was employed as the executive director and principal for the Pepin Academy charter schools, which serves students with learning disabilities in the Tampa Bay region.
Butz and his four-year-old daughter, Teagan, were on their watercraft near Clearwater Beach when it crashed into a 10-metre console boat, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Teagan Butz remains in critical condition.
Butz — who was selected by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1983 National Hockey League entry draft after leading the Western Hockey League and Portland Winterhawks in penalty minutes — is being remembered as the ultimate teammate.
An enforcer on the ice, he was an influential leader off the ice who had a profound impact in education once he left hockey.
His former teammates were hit hard by news of his passing.
“Brutal,” summed Danny Leier, who played five seasons together with Butz on the Huskies.
“I knew Butzy inside out, that’s for sure. Everybody did. You couldn’t ask for a better teammate. He’d do anything for you. He was the perfect Huskie.”
Butz is a past winner of Huskie Athletics’ Rusty McDonald award for leadership, academics and ability.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Butz racked up 366 penalty minutes in 91 games with the Kelowna Wings and 255 penalty minutes with Portland during the 1983-84 regular season and playoffs. Butz was drafted by the Red Wings the same year as Steve Yzerman, Lane Lambert, Bob Probert, Petr Klima, Joey Kocur and Stu Grimson.
McEwen, a Saskatoon-based scout for the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, fondly remembers Butz as a player and person with a lot of passion who went on to accomplish a lot in a specialized and “real caring” field in education.
“He had to work hard to play at the level he did,” recalls McEwen, who coached Butz for his entire career with the Huskies.
“He was such a good guy, a really popular guy. He was a friend of everybody.”
Butz took a job teaching physical education to students with learning disabilities in Los Angeles.
He earned a master’s degree from California State University and a doctorate in special education at the University of NevadaLas Vegas.
Former Saskatoon Blades coach Kevin Dickie, now athletic director at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, grew up with Butz in Swift Current and counts Butz as one of his closest friends.
“It’s shocking and difficult,” said Dickie.
“He was honestly one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met.”
Dickie says Butz’s death will definitely “rock” the community of Swift Current where the prominent Butz family is well known and loved.
Saskatoon Contacts coach Marc Chartier was captain of the Huskies when Butz first came on board.
“He was a great-big gregarious guy,” points out Chartier. “He was larger than life and very competitive. He was just a great guy. He looked after the guys on the ice. He had all those penalty minutes for a reason. He was just a great teammate; the team was always first for him. What he lacked in skill, he made up for it in his effort and compete level.
“Other guys get better when you have guys competing that hard. There were no shortcuts with Butzy. He hated to lose. You couldn’t ask for a better team player.”
Chartier chuckles when he recalls one of Butz’s first games with the Dogs.
“He actually two-handed an Alberta player and he bent his aluminum stick on a guy.”
As a fellow educator teaching in Saskatoon’s school system, Chartier is even more impressed with what Butz accomplished off the ice.
“He got his masters and doctorate in education. You talk about a caring person. Going into special needs (education), it takes a special person to do that. He found his niche. They’re going to miss him down there. He made everybody else around him better.”
Larry Korchinski, now a Saskatoon-based lawyer for Cameco, was another one of Butz’s teammates.
“You’re talking about a tough defenceman who played a physical game who did it all for his team,” said Korchinski.
“He was very supportive of his teammates, cared for them deeply. He was caring, compassionate and a great teammate.”
Current U of S head coach Dave Adolph says Butz was a lifelong supporter of the Dogs.
“He was a lifer,” said Adolph, who grew up in Swift Current where Butz’s dad, Herb, was his barber.
“He was a special guy. We all loved him.”
You couldn’t ask for a better teammate. He’d do anything for you. He was the perfect Huskie.