SUPERIOR, Wis. – The Yellowjacket men's hockey program has announced that senior forward Chad Lopez (Arlington, Texas/University of Texas) has signed a contract and begun his professional career with the Roanoke Rail Yard Dogs of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL).
 
Lopez is the sixth member of the 2021-22 Yellowjacket men's hockey team to sign a professional contract. He joins Levi Cudmore (Park River, N.D./Park River), who signed with Vermilion in the SPHL, and Coltyn Bates (Brandon, Manitoba/Vincent Massey Collegiate), Troy MacTavish (Kanata, Ontario/Earl of March) and Jordan Martin (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Vincent Massey Collegiate) who all signed with Birmingham, also of the SPHL. Artur Terchiyev (Kiev, Ukraine/Everest Academy) signed with Worcester of the ECHL.
 
"From the day he arrived in our program, Chad was determined to help us change our culture, and at the same time turn our program into a consistent winner," Yellowjacket head coach Rich McKenna said. "He came in and, even as a freshman and sophomore had a voice in the locker room. He was the kind of player who wasn't afraid to speak up and hold others accountable. But as you can see in his numbers, he also had the skill level and work ethic to back that up."
 
A native of Arlington, Texas, Lopez has played four games for the Rail Yard Dogs and recorded his first professional point with an assist against Peoria Mar. 6. Roanoke currently sits eighth in the SPHL, occupying the final playoff spot in the standings as the regular season winds down.
 
Lopez played in 93 out of a possible 95 games during his four seasons with the Yellowjackets. He scored 32 goals and had 37 assists for 69 points, giving him an average of .74 points per game for his career. He was also a player that could affect the momentum of a game with his physical play as much as his offense, as he often was the player who threw the hardest hits in a game.
 
"Pound for pound, I felt Chad was one of the toughest kids and threw some of the hardest hits I saw during his four years. He was comfortable playing the game any way you wanted to play it," McKenna said. "He has all the tools to be a very good professional player and I have no doubts he is going to succeed for the remainder of this season and beyond."