Jason Botterill wins American Specialty/AHL Man of the Year award
April 5, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release
(Rochester, NY)... The American Hockey League announced today the individual team winners of the American Specialty/AHL Man of the Year awards, given to one player from each AHL member team for his outstanding contributions to his local community and charitable organizations during the 2004-05 season.
Rochester Americans left wing Jason Botterill is the Rochester Americans' American Specialty/AHL Man of the Year for the 2004-05 season.
On February 24th, the 28 year old announced his retirement from professional hockey after suffering his fourth concussion. Despite leaving the game of hockey, Botterill has remained a fixture in the locker room and in the Rochester community.
Just four days after making the announcement, he was in a tuxedo serving dinner and performing antics to benefit the local Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The 15th Annual Amerks Celebrity Waiter Dinner and Sports Memorabilia Auction raised nearly $55,000. In the following weeks, with his team fighting to clinch a playoff spot, Botterill was in the community reading to kids and signing autographs.
That commitment was not a huge surprise to his teammates or the fans. Despite undergoing rehabilitation since November, he was always at team events. In December, he attended the team's annual hospital visit to the Golisano Children's Center at Strong Memorial Hospital. The players handed out Moose stuffed animals and visited with the kids.
In late February, he participated in the Amerks Season Ticket Holders Skate. Even though he could not go on the ice, he spent an hour talking to fans, posing for pictures and signing autographs. In March, he taught kids at Crestwood Elementary School about hockey and the Rochester Americans.
This season, Botterill played in only eight games, but had six goals and two assists during that stretch. He was in his eighth season of professional hockey and spent the last three seasons in the Buffalo Sabres organization. The majority of that time was in Rochester, as he has collected 59 goals and 41 assists in 118 games. With the Sabres, he registered three goals and five assists in 36 games. His last game was on October 31st against the Syracuse Crunch. He was named one of the Amerks' alternate captains at the beginning of the 2004-05 season.
Over his career, Botterill played in 481 games as a professional, 88 of those in the National Hockey League with teams in Dallas, Atlanta, Calgary and Buffalo. He notched 132 goals and 139 assists for 271 points in his career, which spanned the NHL, AHL and International Hockey League. He made stops in Michigan (IHL), Saint John (AHL) and Rochester.
From this list of 28 finalists, representatives from American Specialty and the AHL will choose the winner of the 2004-05 Yanick Dupre Memorial Award. The AHL's annual Man of the Year award is named after the late Yanick Dupre, who died in August 1997 at the age of 24, following a 16-month battle with leukemia. Dupre, an AHL All-Star in 1995, played four seasons with the Hershey Bears, registering 169 points in 207 AHL games. He also skated in 35 NHL games with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Headquartered in Roanoke, Ind., American Specialty is the industry leader in providing risk services for the sports and entertainment industry.
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