Butler leads East past West at AHL All-Star Game

Some of the future's brightest young stars were on display in Hershey, Pa., on Monday night.

Bobby Butler of the Binghamton Senators had a goal, three assists and a plus-4 rating as the Eastern Conference earned an 11-8 victory against the Western Conference at the 2011 All-Star Game at the Giant Center.

Butler, an undrafted 23-year-old from Marlborough, Mass., has 21 goals and 11 assists in 44 AHL games this season. He's also appeared in eight games for Ottawa, which signed him after he racked up 53 points during his final season at the University of New Hampshire in 2009-10.

He was one of 34 first-time All-Stars on Monday. Five-time AHL All-Star Corey Locke, also from Binghamton, had two assists and now has a league-record 11 career All-Star points.

"It was a fun day and a fun game," Butler said. "I'm pretty excited to be here. It's been awesome. They did an awesome job here the last two days. It feels good to win a game here."

Bridgeport rookie Rhett Rakhshani joined Butler in posting a goal and three assists; Charlotte's Jerome Samson had three points (1-2-3); and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton defenseman Robert Bortuzzo chipped in a pair of goals for the Eastern Conference.

Manchester goaltender Martin Jones (15 saves) and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton counterpart John Curry (27 saves) combined for the victory in net.

Former second-round draft pick Michal Repik (Florida) of the Rochester Americans paced the Western Conference's offense with a goal and two assists, while Texas' Francis Wathier netted a team-best two goals.

Oklahoma City's Alexandre Giroux, who won back-to-back Calder Cup titles with Hershey in 2009 and 2010, recorded a goal and an assist for the West. Giroux, who was a seventh-round pick by Ottawa back in 1999, had 50 goals in 69 games for Hershey last season and is 25-33-58 in 50 games this time around.

"This weekend was unbelievable, coming back here," Giroux said. "It means the world coming back here."

The road to the 2011 Calder Cup Playoffs resumes on Thursday when the AHL's 75th anniversary season continues.

Material from broadcast media was used in this report.

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