Former Spokane Chiefs assistant coach Scott Burt diagnosed with a brain tumor, takes medical leave from Rapid City

Former Spokane Chiefs assistant coach Scott Burt has been diagnosed with a brain tumor and has taken a medical leave of absence from his duties as head coach and general manager of the Rapid City (South Dakota) Rush minor league pro hockey club.

“I have been a fighter my whole career, and I am preparing for what could be the fight of my life,” Burt said in a Rush press release.

Burt’s wife, Audrey, said in a Facebook post that her husband has a high-grade Glioma brain tumor. A post on the Cincinnati (Ohio) Children’s hospital website said such tumors “are fast-growing and they spread quickly through brain tissue, which makes them hard to treat.”

Audrey wrote, “We appreciate all the support while we navigate this nightmare. Please keep us in your prayers.”

Burt, 47, was a Chiefs assistant coach from 2013-14 through 2018-19.

A Chiefs post on the X social media platform (formerly Twitter) said, “The Spokane Chiefs are thinking about Scott and his family, all the best.”

Burt played major junior hockey in the Western Hockey League with Seattle, Swift Current (Saskatchewan), Edmonton (Alberta) and Red Deer (Alberta) from 1994-95 through 1997-98. He spent 14 seasons playing in the pro minor leagues, much of his time spent with Boise’s Idaho Steelheads in the ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League). Burt is in his fourth year as head coach of Rapid City and his third year as general manager of the Rush.