Butcher signs with Condors
Chad Butcher is officially a professional hockey player.
The five-year Medicine Hat Tigers veteran fell short of the junior dream in a Game 7 overtime loss to the Lethbridge Hurricanes on April 18 — effectively ending his career in the Western Hockey League — but Butcher achieved a much larger aspiration just before his final series by signing his name to an American Hockey League contract with the Bakersfield Condors.
“A goal of mine coming into the year was to get a pro contract and be playing pro hockey next year,” said Butcher, whose signing was announced Tuesday. “To be able to do that, and with the Oilers organization, it’s definitely exciting.”
Butcher’s speed, hand-eye coordination and playmaking abilities made him a standout with the Tigers, especially over the past two seasons. Butcher’s 103 points were a team-high this year and good enough for fourth in the league, bringing his career total 82 goals and 177 assists in 301 games. The Kamloops product also tallied 20 points in 35 career playoff games.
While the 5-foot-10, 172pound playmaker went overlooked at the NHL entry draft, he earned an invitation to training camp with the Edmonton Oilers last summer and will now skate for their AHL affiliate in California.
“I think the experience with Edmonton was very good for me. It kind of helped me elevate my game moving forward throughout the year and I think I was definitely on their radar after the camp,” said Butcher, who led the Tigers in scoring for back-to-back seasons to close out his WHL career. “I think I made an impression there and they were a team that was watching me closely.”
Butcher isn’t the only WHL draft graduate joining the Condors, as the team also announced the signing of former Red Deer Rebels forward Evan Polei on Tuesday. Polei led the Rebels with 33 goals this season while adding 104 penalty minutes. Given Butcher’s recent successes with Tigers offensive enforcer Zach Fischer, he should fit right in alongside Polei.
“It’ll be different. I’ve been going up against him for a few years now,” said Butcher. “He’s a veteran player and a pretty tough guy so it’ll be cool to play with him and get to know him.”
The Condors — formerly the Oklahoma City Barons — relocated to Bakersfield, California in 2015. They have yet to reach the Calder Cup playoffs despite posting a plus-500 record in each of their two seasons as the Condors.
Butcher will have the chance to help forge a new history in Bakersfield when the puck drops on the AHL season in October, but the outgoing Tigers assistant captain says he’ll never forget his roots.
“Those five years were the best years of my life. They helped shape the person and the player I am today. I took pretty big strides every year and improved in all categories,” he said. “It’s definitely sad that it came to an end a little earlier than we wanted there but I wouldn’t change a thing, really.”
“A goal of mine coming into the year was to get a pro contract and be playing pro hockey next year.”
– Chad Butcher