Playing in front of family, friends, and even some of the kids he teaches during the summer at Sportsplex, Matt Pope would loved to have scored his first goal of the season on Tuesday night.
Instead, he had to settle for his first fight in about six years, which came back in junior when Pope played for his hometown Langley Hornets. The play happened early in the second period when Pope leveled 6-5, 207-pound Abbotsford Heat defenceman Gord Baldwin with a solid open ice hit. The Heat’s Keith Aulie took exception to the hit and went after Pope, who obliged, despite giving up five inches and nearly 40 pounds to the 6-6, 223-pound defenceman.
“I got their guy and (Aulie) got mad and wanted to go,” shrugged Pope after the game, a 4-3 overtime victory for the visiting Manitoba Moose at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre. The teams also squared off on Wednesday night at the AESC, with the Moose completing the two-game sweep thanks to a 3-0 victory.
“I had some adrenalin going, so I thought `what the hell, I’ll give it a go’,” Pope said. “I always find I play better once I get physical and get myself in the game and the rest of the play comes with that.
“So lately I have been trying to focus on being even more intense and physical and then hopefully the points will follow, instead of just thinking about points.”
The scrap seemed to spark the Moose, who at that point trailed 2-0 in front of the packed house. The 7,000 or so fans seemed to be split evenly among Moose and Heat fans, the top farm teams of the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames, respectively.
Pope’s play did not escape the notice of Manitoba coach Scott Arniel.
“Tonight I think, bar none, that was his best hockey game,” the coach said. “If he plays like that, with a little bit of an edge, goals and points are going to come.”
This is the 25-year-old Pope’s first full season with the Moose. After junior, Pope went off on scholarship to Minnesota’s Bemidiji State University. Following four years and graduation, he turned pro with the ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors. Pope’s play earned him a shot one level up in the AHL, first with Binghamton, and then with Manitoba, where he helped the Moose get to the Calder Cup finals, before they ultimately lost to the Hershey Bears.
His play – 72 points in 54 games at the ECHL level and then 14 points in 24 AHL games – earned him a free agent contract from the Canucks. So far this season, Pope has one assist in 17 games. He was hampered in his off-season training by a hip injury, but then had a solid training camp, spending the entire two weeks with the Canucks and suiting up in five of nine pre-season games. After the season’s first 10 games, which resulted in no points, Pope suffered a high ankle sprain and missed the next ten weeks.
“It has been really tough; it is hard to keep the kind of confidence that I had last year and in Canucks camp this year,” he said. “But the coaches have been working with me and giving me opportunities.
“The coaches say that as long as I am contributing, whether it be with the hits or the checking or with the goals, then they are going to be happy with my play.”
Pope said there is no pressure to score, and he knows it is just a matter of time.
“I know they are eventually going to start going in,” he said. “I just have to keep shooting the puck and going to the net.”
In Tuesday’s game, Pope skated on a line with Marty Murray and Eric Walsky. He was on the team’s top power-play unit with Sergei Shirokov – the Moose’s leading scorer – and Marco Rosa.
Of course, with Pope in the box for his fight, his replacement on the unit, Walsky, scored Manitoba’s first goal. But Pope was on the ice for a power play midway through the third, providing a screen on Heat goaltender Leland Irving. Pope’s net presence helped Rosa notch his second of the game to force overtime.
Arniel is optimistic that Pope’s production will return.
“He was slow out of the gate (but) Matt is coming,” the coach said. “We have been waiting for him and we are starting to see some positive signs. He is a big-bodied guy who has some finish.”
“It is not an easy step (to the pro game),” he added. “And he is not the first guy to come along and struggle a lit bit out of the gate.
“For many guys it takes some time to find the pro game. He came in last year and did whirlwind stuff for us, everything he touched was going into the net. This year it has certainly been a different team, but also for his, it hasn’t come quite the same.”
While dropping his gloves did get the coach’s attention, Arniel was impressed by other facets of Pope’s game on the night.
“I was more impressed with the hit that he threw out there, the way he moved his feet and got in on the forecheck,” he said. “Also getting to the front of the net on the power play, he did a great job tying up the front of the net and going to those hard areas. That is the consistency I would like to see.”
Pope said one of the keys for him has been not to be afraid to ask for help. He now regularly talks to his goaltenders about how effective his screen is when standing in front of the net during practice. He also regularly sticks around after practice has ended to work on his deflections.
