After 3 years as a Devil and 12 years of professional hockey, Matt Pope is calling it a career.
After 3 years as a Devil and 12 years of professional hockey, Matt Pope is calling it a career.
He announced his retirement today with a message to the fans and his former teammates.
READ MATT POPE'S STATEMENT – CLICK HERE
Pope originally signed with the Devils prior to the 2017-18 season and instantly became part of the core of a team that was coming off of their first League Title in 20 years. He became a goal-scoring machine tallying 32 goals in all competitions that season on route to a League Title and a Playoff Championship.
Pope scored another 17 goals and won another Playoff Championship in 2018-19 before completing his Devils career in 2019-20 finishing with 15 goals before the season was cut short due to Covid-19.
In total, Matt Pope iced 205 times for the Cardiff Devils and won 3 major titles in 3 seasons, but at the age of 36 and with the 2020-21 EIHL season being put on ice, he decided to hang up the skates for good and move on from the sport he loves.
Speaking about the impact Matt Pope had on the Devils, Managing Director Todd Kelman said:
“Matt has played a big part in our success over the last 3 seasons and he will be sorely missed on and off the ice.
“He is a big personality and he fit right in and assumed a leadership role from the moment he arrived. He scored some historic goals for this club, but more importantly he was a great teammate and ambassador for our team and our sport.
“I am going to miss having him on the team, as we all are. He is a great person, tons of fun and a great hockey player. He made us look very smart for signing him 3 years ago.
“I can understand why he chose this time to retire from pro hockey and on behalf of the entire organisation, we wish him well in his new path outside of hockey.”
