ECHL: Lukash Matthews Heads Overseas

Trois-Rivieres Lions defenseman Lukash Matthews is heading overseas to France to play with Briancon after playing in the first eight games of the season with the Trois-Rivieres Lions but failing to find the scoresheet. Briancon has three players on their roster who spent last season or this season in the ECHL, as Matthews joins Matthew Barnaby and William Lemay. The 24-year-old defenseman was entering his first full season with the Lions after playing three years at Carleton University, where he put up three goals and 11 assists for 14 points in 42 games. He joined the Lions at the end of last season, playing in 10 regular season games, and would be left off the Lions Kelly Cup Playoff Roster. Matthews joins Indy Fuel Goaltender Peyton Jones as the second ECHLer to announce that he was going overseas today.

This doesn’t come as a huge shock as the Lions were going to have to make some room on their blueline as Vincent Sevingy returned this weekend from an injury, and Kirby Proctor is likely close to returning as in their last injury update; the Lions said that he was week to week. Proctor, 23, was expected to be a big part of the Lions blueline this season after playing in three regular season games and six Kelly Cup Playoff games at the end of last year. The Lloydminster, Albert native had spent the previous five seasons at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, where he put up 17 goals and 34 assists for 51 points in 172 games.