Alec Butcher
For nearly two months early this season, Alec Butcher of Anchorage couldn’t buy puck luck.
The Reading Royals forward started the ECHL season with a goal and assist on opening night. But that promising debut for his new club quickly gave way to the scoring funk from hell for a guy who in three previous ECHL seasons averaged .665 points per game – pro-rated, that’s a 48-point campaign in the circuit’s 72-game regular season.
In 20 games following opening night, Butcher racked just one goal and two assists. That one goal came on 38 shots for a 2.6-percent shooting percentage after scoring 50 goals on 387 shots in three previous seasons for 12.9-percent career shooting in the ECHL.
In these last couple months, though, Butcher has exploded.
The former UAA skater on Sunday ran his point streak to six games with a goal in a 5-3 win at Wheeling. He has put up a 4-7–11 scoring line in those six games. And he’s gone 10-13–23 in his last 19 games, scoring at least a point in 16 of those games. Butcher’s shooting percentage during that run is 23.8 percent – 10 goals on 42 shots.
Butcher on Friday racked the Gordie Howe hat trick – goal, assist, fight – in a 4-2 win at Toledo. He furnished an assist Saturday in a 6-5 loss at Wheeling.
In 63 games this season, Butcher owns 19-26—45 totals, which puts him on pace for a 51-point season. In other words, his current heater has made up for that two-month funk at season’s start and put the fourth-year pro on track for another productive season.
He’s not the only former Seawolves forward producing.
Drake Glover
In the Southern Professional Hockey League over the weekend, Drake Glover of Anchorage has reeled off a five-game point streak for the Fayetteville Marksmen. Glover delivered a goal and a game-high six shots on goal in Friday’s 3-1 loss at Roanoke, then had an assist in Saturday’s 2-1 shootout win at Roanoke.
Glover has generated 3-3—6 totals in his five-game streak to give him 20-14—34 totals in 45 games. (That comes with the usual caveat – he has scored 17 goals in regulation, but the league credits his league-best three shootout-winning goals as actual goals. Whatever.)
Speaking of streaks, Fargo Force wingers, and linemates, Bret Link and Mac Swanson have savored some run in the U.S. Hockey League. Link had a goal Friday and Swanson had an assist in a 4-3 loss at Tri-City. That stretched Link’s point streak to seven games (6-3—9) and Swanson’s to six games (1-8—9). Both streaks were halted in Saturday’s 4-0 loss at Tri-City. Swanson had an assist in Sunday’s 3-2 loss at Tri-City.
Raythan Robbins
Also in the USHL over the weekend, former Anchorage Wolverines goaltender Raythan Robbins of Anchorage posted back-to-back strong performances to backstop the Muskegon Lumberjacks to victories. Robbins, who started the season in college at Omaha and recently announced he will next play college pucks for Bemidji State (Minn.), stopped 36 shots Friday in a 4-2 win over Cedar Rapids and followed with 41 saves in another 4-2 win over Cedar Rapids on Saturday.
Finally, the end of the line for Alaskans in the NCAA season came Saturday when Cornell, which includes sophomore forward Sullivan Mack of Anchorage, fell 2-1 to Boston University in the Northeast Regional final. Mack, who did not play, finished the season with 6-4–10 totals and a plus-6 rating in 26 games.
Of the 67 Alaska men and women who played this season in Division I and Division III, Mack was the last Alaskan whose team still was alive.