Alec Butcher
Alec Butcher put up nice numbers in the ECHL last season, delivering 23 goals, 30 assists and 53 points in 69 games for the Rapid City Rush.
His start to this season wasn’t so savory – just 2-3—5 totals through 21 games with the league’s Reading Royals.
But the former UAA forward from Anchorage has regained his scoring touch. In his last 32 games, Butcher, 28, has generated 12-14—26 totals, much more in line with his previous pedigree.
Butcher kept up the good work Saturday and Sunday. In both the Royals’ 5-1 win over Trois-Rivieres and 6-4 loss to the same opponent, Butcher scored the first goal of the game.
He’s carved out a six-game point streak in which he has produced 4-3—7 totals.
In Butcher’s first three seasons as a pro – two seasons with the Wheeling Nailers, one with Rapid City – he averaged .316 goals per game and .665 points per game. That works out to a 23-goal, 48-point season pace when pro-rated for a 72-game ECHL regular season. In his slow start over those first 21 games this season, Butcher averaged just .095 goals per game and .238 points per game. Yet in those 32 games since, he has averaged .375 goals per game and .813 points per game. Looks like he’s back.
2nd-period action is underway!
TR 0 | REA 1 | #PaintItPurple 📸@spie_photo pic.twitter.com/axBhupDACY
— Reading Royals (@ReadingRoyals) March 5, 2023
Another Alaskan has also been money of late in the ECHL, this guy likewise with an in-season resurrection.
Goaltender Michael Bullion of Anchorage had a rough ride with the league’s worst team, the Norfolk Admirals, before they released him. He went 3-11-2 with a 4.08 goals-against average and .877 save percentage.
After a short, successful stint in the Southern Professional Hockey League, Bullion signed with the expansion Savannah Ghost Pirates, for whom he has blossomed.
Michael Bullion
Bullion, 25, on Sunday stopped 40 shots in a 4-3 win over the Florida Everblades to give him a 2-1-0 record in five appearances for Savannah. He’s also fashioned a 2.38 goals-against average and .936 save percentage. His other win for Savannah came when he stopped a career-high 47 shots in a 3-2 win over Fort Wayne.
Speaking of Alaska goaltenders, Pheonix Copley of North Pole just keeps cranking out wins for the Los Angeles Kings. He made 22 saves Monday in a 4-2 win over the Washington Capitals. That was very Copley. He’s given up exactly two goals in 12 of his 27 starts.
While his goals-against average (2.76) is solidly better than the league average of 2.95 but his save percentage (.899) is below the league average of 9.05, all Copley does is win, which is, well, important. Monday’s win improved Copley, 31, to 20-4-1, which means all three Alaskans to play goalie in the world’s best league have produced a 20-win season.
Cayden Cahill
Retired Ty Conklin of Anchorage won 25 games for the Detroit Red Wings in 2008-09 and Jeremy Swayman, 24, of Anchorage and the Boston Bruins won 23 games last season.
Lastly, in the SPHL, Peoria Rivermen forward Cayden Cahill of Anchorage didn’t register a point in two straight games after his recent 11-game point streak. But he got back on the scoresheet Sunday with a goal and an assist in a 5-3 loss to Evansville.
Cahill, 26, owns 12-23—35 totals in 41 games, and is plus-20. He’s fourth in the league in rookie scoring and tied for seventh overall in plus-minus. He’s tied for the league lead in plus-minus among rookies.