Bobby Butler (ice hockey)
| Bobby Butler | |||
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | |||
| Born |
April 26, 1987 Marlborough, MA, USA | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) | ||
| Weight | 189 lb (86 kg; 13 st 7 lb) | ||
| Position | Right Wing | ||
| Shoots | Right | ||
| KHL team Former teams |
Medveščak Zagreb Ottawa Senators New Jersey Devils Nashville Predators Florida Panthers Modo Hockey | ||
| National team |
 United States | ||
| NHL Draft | Undrafted | ||
| Playing career | 2010–present | ||
Robert Butler (born April 26, 1987) is an American professional ice hockey player. Butler is currently a member of Medveščak Zagreb of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He is a former member of the NHL's Ottawa Senators, New Jersey Devils, Nashville Predators and Florida Panthers and won the 2011 Calder Cup championship (American Hockey League) while with the Binghamton Senators.
Playing career
Amateur
Prior to enrolling at the University of New Hampshire (UNH), Butler played three seasons with the Boston Jr. Bruins of the Eastern Junior Hockey League from 2003–2006, and five seasons with Marlborough High School from 2000–2005, making the varsity team as an eighth-grader. During the 2004–05 season, he helped both his high school team and junior team to championship titles. At Marlborough High School (MHS), Butler recorded 284 points in 116 games as well as breaking the school's record in goals scored during his junior year, tallying 58 goals in 25 games. While at MHS, he played for his father, who coached the team for 25 years, retiring in 2011. Butler's MHS hockey point totals are celebrated in a prominent banner at the Navin Rink in Marlborough, which celebrates former MHS players that accumulated more than 100 points during their high school careers. Butler's MHS career point totals are displayed with other outstanding Marlboro High School hockey players such as Shawn O'Malley, Mark Cappadona, Doug Gibbs, and Russ McKinnon.
Butler capped a standout four-year college career by being named the New Hampshire Wildcats' co-captain and finishing second among all NCAA Division I players in goals in 2009 – 10, scoring 29 for UNH, earning him a nomination as a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the top U.S. college hockey player.[1] The Wildcats went 87–49–17 with him in the lineup and also qualified for the NCAA Tournament all four seasons that he was enrolled at the school. On March 24, 2010, Butler was recognized as the 58th recipient of the Walter Brown Award, which is presented annually to the best American-born college hockey player in New England. He was also selected as Hockey East’s Player of the Year, an All-Hockey East First Team honoree, the Hockey East Player of the month for November, the Hockey East scoring champion, a Hockey East Three Stars Award winner and a 2010 Hockey Humanitarian nominee for his efforts in the community.[2] He recorded 61 goals, 60 assists and 88 penalty minutes over his four-year, 153-game collegiate career at New Hampshire.
Professional
On March 29, 2010, he signed a two year contract with the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League. He made his NHL debut with Ottawa on April 1 in a 4–3 shootout win against the Carolina Hurricanes.[3] After attending the 2010 training camp, Butler was assigned to the Binghamton Senators.
Butler scored his first NHL goal against Nikolai Khabibulin of the Edmonton Oilers on February 12, 2011, and recorded his first assist in the same game, on a goal by Milan Michalek. After spending the remainder of the season in Ottawa and recording 10 goals and 11 assists in 36 games, he was returned to Binghamton where he helped lead the club to a Calder Cup victory, notching 13 goals and 7 assists during the 23 game playoff. He is well-known by teammates and opposing players for his alluring catch phrase "That's Beast!" which he yells each time he scores a goal.
On July 14, 2011, he was rewarded for his solid 2010–11 season with a two-year, one-way contract with the Ottawa Senators. However, Butler responded with a much poorer 2011–12 season than expected, registering only 6 goals and 16 points in 56 games. As a result, in July 2012 the Senators placed Butler on waivers with the intent of buying out his contract.[4] On July 27, 2012, the Senators announced that his contract had been bought out, making Butler a free agent.
On August 9, 2012, Butler signed a one-year, two-way contract with the New Jersey Devils organization.[5] With the 2012 NHL lockout in affect, he was directly assigned to AHL affiliate, the Albany Devils. Upon commencement of the shortened 2012–13 season, Butler was recalled to New Jersey and made his Devils debut against the New York Islanders at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on February 3, 2013. Butler scored his only goal with the Devils against the Pittsburgh Penguins on February 9. After registering 2 points in 14 games with the Devils Butler was placed on waivers by the Devils and claimed by the Nashville Predators on March 4, 2013.[6]
On June 14, 2013 he was traded to the Florida Panthers in exchange for T.J. Brennan.
On July 15, 2015, Butler signed his first contract abroad in agreeing to a two-year contract with Swedish club, Modo Hockey of the SHL.[7]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2002–03 | Boston Jr. Bruins | EJHL | 13 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Boston Jr. Bruins | EJHL | 59 | 15 | 18 | 33 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | Boston Jr. Bruins | EJHL | 49 | 18 | 14 | 32 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Boston Jr. Bruins | EJHL | 44 | 22 | 22 | 44 | 42 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | ||
| 2006–07 | University of New Hampshire | HE | 38 | 9 | 3 | 12 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | University of New Hampshire | HE | 38 | 14 | 12 | 26 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | University of New Hampshire | HE | 38 | 9 | 21 | 30 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | University of New Hampshire | HE | 39 | 29 | 24 | 53 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Binghamton Senators | AHL | 47 | 22 | 11 | 33 | 35 | 23 | 13 | 4 | 17 | 6 | ||
| 2010–11 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 36 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 56 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | Albany Devils | AHL | 37 | 16 | 11 | 27 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 20 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | 69 | 22 | 25 | 47 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | 68 | 27 | 32 | 59 | 37 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Modo Hockey | SHL | 49 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 130 | 20 | 29 | 49 | 28 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Representing the United States
| ||
| Ice hockey | ||
| Ice Hockey World Championships | ||
.svg.png){kind=icon} | 2013 Sweden/Finland | |
International
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | United States | WC |  |
8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | |
| Senior totals | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | ||||
Awards and honors
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Hockey East All-Tournament Team | 2008 | [8] |
| All-Hockey East First Team | 2009–10 | |
| AHCA East First-Team All-American | 2009–10 | [9] |
| Finalist Hobey Baker Award | 2010 | |
| MVP AHL All-Star Classic | 2011 | [10] |
References
- ↑ Love, Noah (March 29, 2010). "Senators sign NCAA standout Butler". NationalPost.com. National Post Inc. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
- ↑ "Senators sign forward Bobby Butler". OttawaSenators.com. MarketWire. March 29, 2010. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
- ↑ "Senators clinch playoff spot with shootout win". Sports Illustrated. 2010-04-01. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
- ↑ "Sens place Butler on waivers". Canoe.ca. 2012-07-03. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
- ↑ "Devils sign former Senators forward Butler to contract". The Sports Network. 2012-08-09. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ↑ "Devils' Bobby Butler claimed off waivers by Nashville Predators". Nj.com. 2013-03-04. Retrieved 2013-03-05.
- ↑ "Bobby Butler ready for two seasons in Modo" (in Swedish). Modo Hockey. 2015-07-15. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
- ↑ "2013-14 Hockey East Media Guide". Hockey East. Retrieved 2014-05-19.
- ↑ "Denver puts 3 on All-American Team". collegehockeynews.com. 2010-04-09. Retrieved 2011-01-02.
- ↑ "East earns 11–8 win in AHL All-Star Game". American Hockey League. February 1, 2010. Retrieved February 1, 2010.
External links
- Bobby Butler's career statistics at EliteProspects.com
- Bobby Butler's player profile at NHL.com
- Bobby Butler's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
- Bobby Butler's profile page at TheAHL.com
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Brad Thiessen |
Hockey East Player of the Year 2009–10 |
Succeeded by Paul Thompson |
| Preceded by Brad Thiessen |
Hockey East Three-Stars Award 2009–10 |
Succeeded by Paul Thompson |
| Preceded by Colin Wilson James Marcou |
Hockey East Scoring Champion (with Gustav Nyquist) 2009–10 |
Succeeded by Paul Thompson |