Devils’ Butler named Player of the Week

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that Albany Devils right wing Bobby Butler has been selected as the CCM/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Dec. 16, 2012.

In three games on the week, Butler scored six goals and tallied one assist for seven points and posted a plus-5 rating for the Devils.

On Wednesday night vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Butler tied franchise records with four goals and five points, was a plus-5 and took a game-high six shots on goal as the Devils defeated the Penguins, 6-3; he scored once in the first period, twice in the second – including the game-winning shorthanded goal – and once more in the third. On Friday, Butler scored again as Albany erased three separate one-goal deficits and defeated Connecticut, 4-3, for its fifth consecutive victory. And on Saturday, Butler scored the Devils’ lone goal in a 2-1 shootout loss to Providence.

Butler, who has 10 points during his current six-game scoring streak, has registered 10 goals and five assists for 15 points in 22 contests on the season for Albany, leading the team in goals, power-play goals (three) and game-winning goals (three). The 25-year-old Butler was MVP of the 2011 AHL All-Star Game and was a Calder Cup champion as a rookie with Binghamton in 2010-11, and spent the entire 2011-12 season in the National Hockey League with Ottawa, totaling six goals and 10 assists in 56 games. A native of Marlborough, Mass., Butler signed as a free agent with the New Jersey Devils on Aug. 9, 2012.

In recognition of his achievement, Butler will be presented with an etched crystal award prior to an upcoming Devils home game.

Also see: Past winners, AHL Player of the Week