Heading into his first training camp with the Vancouver Canucks, BCHL graduate Matt Pope was not under any illusions.
His goal was to get into an exhibition game with the NHL team before they sent him down to their farm club, the Manitoba Moose and the AHL.
But the 25-year-old who finished his Junior A career with the Langley Hornets exceeded his own modest expectations, playing in five of the team’s nine pre-season contests, and sticking with the club until Monday.
“I knew I was not in the best shape and not at 100 per cent, so my goal was to get into one exhibition game, get some experience and then come back to Manitoba,” Pope said on Monday afternoon, sitting in his hotel room in Winnipeg.
He began the day in Vancouver before getting word he was one of eight players being sent to the Moose.
The whole training camp was a positive experience.
“It was amazing and great,” he said. “It definitely exceeded my expectations.”
Pope spent much of his summer rehabbing a hip injury, which meant he was well behind where he wanted to be in his conditioning.
But the team carried him through right until the end of training camp.
“It was definitely a lot of fun and really great getting to know all the guys and how the organization works and what the staff is like, what the travel is like,” Pope said.
Pope played road games in Anaheim and Edmonton, and three home contests at GM Place against Edmonton, San Jose and Anaheim.
In his first game, on the road in Anaheim – and with his parents in attendance – Pope got his stick on a Kevin Bieksa point shot for a Canucks goal. While Pope is adamant the puck hit his stick, the referees ruled it was Bieksa’s goal.
That doesn’t bother Pope at all, especially considering three games later, against the Ducks again, Pope went to the dirty part of the ice, right in front of the goal, and jammed home a loose puck and into the net.
“That was an unbelievable experience,” he said about scoring on home ice.
“I was trying not to smile but all my friends and family said I had a big smile on my face sitting on the bench after the goal.
“It was great to be able to do it with my family there.”
For the pre-season, Pope averaged about 13 minutes a game, including some power-play time. He finished with a plus/minus rating of +1.
Pope said having spent the entire two weeks with the club at training camp gave him a taste of what is required, on and off the ice.
“There is not going to be any surprises if I get called up,” he said.
“I learned a lot about developing my game and I got a lot of confidence that I can play. It was a really positive experience.”
Pope heads to the Moose knowing what he has to work on as the Canucks coaching staff told him he needs to add more sandpaper to his game.
“They said I need to be a little bit more gritty and make the other team hate playing against me,” he said. “Get in the face of guys and make it so the other team hates me but my team loves me.”
Story by Gary Ahuja, Photo by John Gordon — Langley Times
