all the way to the Finals). Quinn was gone from the team shortly after the playoff disappointment. The Butcher trade (together with a later lopsided deal favoring the Canucks) was regarded by media and fans as one of the top 5 heartbreakers for the St. Louis Blues. Butcher was expected to provide leadership. He was named team captain, but a broken left foot cost him the end of the 1991–92 NHL season and the start of the playoffs. After the Blues were eliminated, Butcher was selected to the national team for the 1992 Ice Hockey World Championships. He played three games and scored a goal. The team placed eighth. Butcher played in the NHL All-Star Game in 1993, but as an injury replacement for Jeff Brown. The same year, Butcher scored a rare goal, the game-winner, against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 3 of the 1993 Norris Division Finals. Towards retirement As Butcher aged, he became a less important player but still figured in trades for star players. Midway through the 1993–94 NHL season, on January 23, 1994, Butcher was one of three St. Louis players traded to the Quebec Nordiques for star defenceman Steve Duchesne. In 1994, Butcher was moved from Quebec to the Toronto Maple Leafs as part of the multi-player blockbuster trade of Mats Sundin for Wendel Clark. Butcher was released by Toronto on October 2, 1995. He was unable to catch on with another team and chose to retire at age 32. Butcher played in 897 career NHL games, scoring 48 goals and 158 assists for 206 points, as well as adding 2,302 penalty minutes for the Canucks, Blues, Nordiques, and Maple Leafs. Off-ice activities During his career with the Canucks, Butcher worked as a car salesman and leasing agent in Vancouver during the off-seasons. Butcher eventually owned and operated several businesses, including a bar in Mississauga, Ontario. A woman at the bar accused Butcher of sexual assault after an after-work sexual encounter in 2002. In court, Butcher testified that the sex was consensual, and he was acquitted by a jury in 2004. Butcher lives in Bellingham, Washington, and is director of hockey operations for the Bellingham Sportsplex. He is also active in coaching for the Whatcom Warriors Amateur Hockey Association. Butcher married the sister of former NHL players Doug Morrison and Mark Morrison. Butcher has five children; his son, Matt, was drafted by the