Matt Pope

Matt Pope (born August 5, 1984) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who last played with the Cardiff Devils of the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League. Pope joined Cardiff from the Tohoku Free Blades in the Asia League Ice Hockey (AL).

Matt Pope
Born (1984-08-05) August 5, 1984
Langley, British Columbia, Canada
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shot Right
Played for Binghamton Senators
Manitoba Moose
San Antonio Rampage
Aalborg Pirates
HC Valpellice
HC Bolzano
Tohoku Free Blades
Cardiff Devils
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 20082020

Playing career

After a one-year stint on Junior A in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) with the Langley Hornets, in which he recorded 71 points in 60 games, Pope began a four-year career with Bemidji State University of College Hockey America (CHA), a conference in the NCAA's Division I circuit.

Undrafted by a National Hockey League club, Pope turned pro in 2008–09 with the Bakersfield Condors. He made an immediate impact in his professional rookie season, appearing as a starter in the 2009 ECHL All-Star Game.[1] Pope's early success in the ECHL earned him a tryout contract with the Binghamton Senators of the American Hockey League (AHL) in early March.[2] However, he was released later that month by Binghamton after just 4 games with the club and signed another tryout contract with the Manitoba Moose.[3][4] He remained with the Moose for the remainder of the season, having left the ECHL with 30 goals and 63 points in just 54 games with the Condors. In addition to having set team rookie records for points and assists (surpassing Mark Derlago's 57-point campaign the previous season and Lars-Peder Nagel's 31-assist effort in 2004–05), Pope was named to the starting line-up of ECHL All-Star Team and selected to the All-rookie team as well.[5]

Going into the 2009 Calder Cup playoffs, however, Pope had the option to remain with the first-place Moose as a spare or return to Bakersfield for their playoff run. He opted to stay in the AHL and was soon added to the lineup in lieu of injuries to several Moose forwards. Playing in the opening round against the Toronto Marlies, Pope scored the game-tying goal in the sixth and deciding game, then assisted on the game winner by Ray Sawada to advance to the second round.[6]

On July 2, 2009 Pope signed an entry level deal with the Vancouver Canucks. However, Pope never made the starting lineup and spent the majority of the 2009-10 season with Manitoba Moose and played six games with the Bakersfield Condors of the ECHL.

On August 4, 2010, Pope was left un-signed by the Canucks, but signed with ECHL affiliate, the Victoria Salmon Kings. Before playing a game with the Kings in the 2010–11 season, Pope was then signed to an AHL contract with the San Antonio Rampage. He appeared in 55 games, scoring 4 goals and 11 points.

In the following 2011–12 season, Pope was signed to the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL before he was signed to a two-year AHL contract with the Hershey Bears on December 31, 2011.[7] After a season with HC Valpellice of the Serie A, Pope joined his second Italian club, HCB South Tyrol, who compete in the Austrian EBEL, on August 24, 2015.[8]

Pope spent two years based in Italy before leaving as a free agent to sign a one-year deal with Japanese club, Tohoku Free Blades of the Asian League on July 27, 2016 and then led the Asian League in points for the 2016-2017 season.[9]

On 14 July 2017, Pope completed a move to the Cardiff Devils - the reigning UK Elite Ice Hockey League champions.[10]

After three years with Cardiff, Pope announced his retirement from hockey on September 17, 2020.[11] He had initially planned on returning for a fourth season in Cardiff, however the 2020-21 Elite League season was suspended due to ongoing uncertainty and restrictions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.[12][13]

Records

  • Bakersfield Condors club record; most points, rookie - 63 in 2008–09 (surpassed Mark Derlago; 57 points in 2007–08)
  • Bakersfield Condors club record; most assists, rookie - 33 in 2008–09 (surpassed Lars-Peder Nagel; 31 assists in 2004–05)
  • Holds record for most points in your first division 1 NCAA game played while at BSU in 2005.

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2001–02Langley HornetsBCHL6011182935
2002–03Langley HornetsBCHL5717163349
2003–04Langley HornetsBCHL6027447192
2004–05Bemidji State UniversityCHA37771428
2005–06Bemidji State UniversityCHA377142144
2006–07Bemidji State UniversityCHA33581314
2007–08Bemidji State UniversityCHA371492340
2008–09Bakersfield CondorsECHL5430336372
2008–09Binghamton SenatorsAHL42134
2008–09Manitoba MooseAHL82356123362
2009–10Bakersfield CondorsECHL64482
2009–10Manitoba MooseAHL4035823201110
2010–11San Antonio RampageAHL55471135
2011–12South Carolina StingraysECHL18712194
2011–12Hershey BearsAHL4574112450000
2012–13Hershey BearsAHL482571730110
2012–13Reading RoyalsECHL61564
2013–14Aalborg PiratesDEN40182341611333632
2014–15HC ValpelliceITL372340634452138
2015–16HC BolzanoEBEL5014203424603310
2016–17Tohoku Free BladesAL463335686050330
2017–18Cardiff DevilsEIHL522136575444260
2018–19Cardiff DevilsEIHL601430444640446
2019–20Cardiff DevilsEIHL4012183012
AHL totals 200 20 25 45 109 22 3 5 8 12

Awards

  • Played in the ECHL All-Star Game in 2009 (starter).
  • Named to the ECHL All-Rookie Team in 2009.
  • Named to the ECHL All-Star Team in 2009.
  • Named rookie of the year is 2002 for Langley Hornets (BCHL).
  • Scoring leader 2016-2017 Asian Hockey League

References

  1. "Off to Vegas for three-game series". OurSports Central. 2009-01-26. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
  2. "B-Sens announce roster moves". OurSports Central. 2009-03-09. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
  3. "Bakersfield Condors vs. Utah Grizzlies". OurSports Central. 2009-03-20. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
  4. "Pope gets in the mix". Winnipeg Sun. 2009-04-01. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
  5. "2009-09 Condors made their mark on team history". OurSports Central. 2009-04-29. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
  6. "Pope answers challenge". Canadian Online Explorer. 2009-04-30. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
  7. "Bears sign Matt Pope to two-year contract". Hershey Bears. 2011-12-31. Retrieved 2011-12-31.
  8. "Next signing for HCB South Tyrol: Matt Pope" (in Italian). HCB South Tyrol. 2015-08-24. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  9. "2016-17 roster announcements" (in Japanese). Tohoku Free Blades. 2016-07-27. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  10. "Pope is a Devil".
  11. https://www.cardiffdevils.com/news/matt-pope-retires-professional-hockey
  12. https://www.eliteleague.co.uk/article/927-eihl-board-suspend-2020-21-season
  13. https://www.cardiffdevils.com/news/matt-pope-retirement-statement/
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