SVEN Butenschon swears he is not doing anything differently this season in the AHL.

Maybe, then, it's just the home cooking.

The 29-year-old defenceman has been the Manitoba Moose's most effective blue-liner so far this season and one of the rewards is his starting spot in Team PlanetUSA's lineup for Wednesday night's Rbk Hockey AHL All-Star Game at MTS Centre.

"I honestly don't think there's been anything different," said Butenschon, who was born in Germany, but played his youth hockey in North Kildonan until he was 11, and then after that for Eastman while living just outside the city in Oakbank. "At this level, I always seem to be able to put up good numbers and contribute on the power play.

"When you get to the NHL (he has played 135 NHL games for Pittsburgh, Edmonton, the Islanders and Vancouver), your role changes and your ice time is different so you try to play mistake-free hockey and to do that, you might give up offensive opportunities. "But in the AHL this year, honestly, I haven't done anything different than any other year."

Butenschon's 6-foot-4 frame has produced a booming shot and 13 goals for the Moose so far this season. The 1994 Pittsburgh draft pick scored a career-high 19 for Wilkes-Barre in the 1999-2000 season.

And when he was one of the few regular Moose blue-liners that didn't go down with injury in this season's first month, he became a rock for the team's fine start.

"You want to help the team any way you can," he said. "At the beginning of the year, the coaches, I guess, could see I was a big guy and that I can play good defence and they just assume that's my style.

"But I knew I could help offensively."

Opponents have caught on quickly, often trying to take away Butenschon's boomer from the point.

"When the coaches want to simplify the power play, they want to generate shots from the point but you know at same time, (opponents) are trying to take my shot away," he said. "It's a little bit frustrating not getting some shots through."

The analysis brought a chuckle, too.

"You know, my shooting percentage is up there (one of the best in the AHL at 15.9 per cent), which basically means I haven't had that many shots," he laughed. "Other the years, I've been at the point on the power play and I'm among the leaders in shots." The former Brandon Wheat King did say that this season's redrawn rink, leaving a few extra feet in the offensive zone, has helped create more space for attackers and has helped his output.

And offense will be just what Team PlanetUSA and all-star game fans will be looking for this week from Butenschon's second AHL all-star game appearance.

As a member of the Hamilton Bulldogs in 2002, he played in the game in St. John's, Nfld., but thinks location and a better schedule will mean more fun this year.

"I know for me, having this in Winnipeg, makes it much more special," Butenschon said. "I remember that other one as a tough week, the travel and the schedule we had at the time. This is in my home city and it's going to be great, especially the fun that the skills competition is."

The only obstacle in the way of Butenschon's fun this week, it would seem, is a minor shoulder injury he suffered last Wednesday in Rochester, but he was hoping to be back in the Moose lineup today in Hamilton.

"If I can play Sunday, I'll probably be fine for the game," Butenschon said. "If I don't, then it'll be a week of rehabilitation, I'm afraid."

He'd still be present to watch the fun, but it just wouldn't be the same as being part of the attraction in one's hometown.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca