After his retirement as president, he served as the AHL's chairman of the board until his death and continued to oversee the creation of the annual regular-season schedules for the league.
After leaving the University of Alberta and being wounded in action while serving as a Wellington bomber pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II,[1] and before serving as a league official, Butterfield worked for his uncle Eddie Shore's New Haven Eagles and Springfield Indians teams as a public relations executive and trainer.
This agreement would help the league survive when expansion and the World Hockey Association came into being, and Butterfield's acumen became respected enough so that his views were sought by the NHL Rules Committee.
He is a hockey legend and his contributions will forever be honored by the AHL," according to then-AHL President David Andrews, commenting after Butterfield's death.
[5] Butterfield remained active in the community in retirement, serving on the board of the Springfield Shriner’s Hospital and as vice-chairman of the local March of Dimes.