The Rapid City Rush have announced that Coach and General Manager Scott Burt will not be returning for the 2025-26 season.
Burt joined Rapid City for the 2021-22 ECHL season. He was able to help lead the team to a 36-25-6-5 record, earning the Rush their first playoff appearance since the 2014-15 season. Rapid City was able to making it through the first round, eliminating the Allen Americans in five games. But the Rush ultimately saw their season end in the Mountain Division finals where they lost in six games to the Utah Grizzlies.
After just his first season in Rapid City, Burt added the role of General Manager on with his Head Coach role. The Rush finished the 2022-23 season with a record of 33-34-5-0, missing the playoffs by three points. Then finished the 2023-24 season with a record of 30-38-4-0 and five points out of the playoffs. Both seasons, the Rush were able to make late season pushes towards earning a playoff spot, but ultimately fell just a few wins short of playoff appearances each year.
In the 2024-25 season, Burt and the Rush started their season 5-9-2-2 before Burt had to take a medical leave of absence. When Burt returned to the Rush in February, he helped the team to a record of 12-11-1-0 to end the season. Despite the end of season push, the Rush were unable to make a full comeback and saw themselves end their season 17 points out of a playoff spot. This was the furthest Rapid City has seen themselves out of a playoff spot since the 2017-18 season where they finished 20 points out.
After four seasons in Rapid City, Scott Burt’s time comes to a close with him putting together a 130-129-29 record through his four seasons with the Rush. Burt was able to bring Rapid City to their first playoff appearance since the 2014-15 season, Rapid City’s first season in the ECHL.
The Rapid City Rush have announced that they have immediately started their search for a new head coach.
Scott Burt was the fourth head coach for the Rapid City Rush. Prior to Burt, Daniel Tetrault coached the Rush from 2017-2021 where he led the team to a 116-134-25 record throughout four seasons, missing the playoffs all four years. Mark DeSantis took over as head coach of the Rush February 18, 2016 and coached the team through the 2016-17 season notching a record of 38-47-11. Joe Ferras was the first head coach for Rapid City, coaching the team from their start in 2008-February 18, 2016. Ferras finished his time as head coach of the Rush with a record of 415-298-67. Ferras led the Rush to their first CHL championship in the 2009-10 season.
ITR 47: Then There Was Nothing – Inside The Rink
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