Former Leafs Goaltender Logs First Pro Win

Matt Lopes made his debut for the AHL Manchester Monarchs on March 31st.  Lopes entered the game in relief of Jeff Zatkoff who had to leave the game due to an injury he suffered early on.  Lopes saved 42 of 43 shots in his relief work which helped propel the Monarchs to a 4-3 win over the Lowell Devils at the Tsongas Arena.  The East Falmouth, MA native is currently 1-0-0 with a 1.10 GAA and a .977 Save Percentage.

 
Lopes previously served as the backup goaltender for the Mississippi River Kings of the CHL and the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL, but never made it into a game.  Prior to his pro career, Lopes played for Gustavus Adolphus where he helped lead the Gusties to the NCAA Division 3 Championship game against Neumann.  It was the first of two consecutive years that the NCAA Division 3 title game had a Leaf Alum play in it.

During his early playing career, Lopes played for the Leafs Junior C team, a Continental Hockey Association team. Lopes played for several Junior A franchises in the Eastern Junior Hockey League and the North American Hockey League before fulfilling his college goals.