Matthew Harrison O'Connor (born February 14, 1992) is a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...

. He is currently a free agent. O'Connor played a single game in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) with the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...

during the 2015–16 season.

Playing career

Amateur

O'Connor went undrafted in both OHL and

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

drafts and, after spending two seasons in the

OJHL The Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) is a Junior A ice hockey league in Ontario, Canada. It is under the supervision of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) and the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The league dates back to 1954 where i ...

, decided to play in the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the Midwestern United States and Great Plains, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. Th ...

. After spending two seasons with the

Youngstown Phantoms The Youngstown Phantoms are a Tier I junior ice hockey team that plays in the Eastern Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). The team plays home games at the 5,200-seat Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio. The team was co-owned ...

O'Connor was offered a full scholarship to

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

. The

Terriers Terrier () is a type of dog originally bred to hunt vermin. A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of the terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, game, and fearless. There are five different groups of terrier, wi ...

won the Hockey East championship in 2014–15 and O'Connor was named to the Hockey East Second All-Star Team.

Professional

Over three years with the

O'Connor had garnered the attention of multiple NHL teams. O'Connor chose to forego his senior year at Boston University and signed a two-year contract with the

in May 2015. He was expected to start the season with the

Binghamton Senators The Binghamton Senators were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2002 to 2017. Nicknamed the B-Sens, they played in Binghamton, New York, at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena. The B-Sens w ...

minor league team but after an injury to Ottawa goalie Andrew Hammond, O'Connor stayed with the team and made his NHL debut on October 11, 2015, in a 3-1 defeat to the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

. It was announced by the Senators that O'Connor would not receive a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent, thus making him a free agent on June 26, 2017. On July 1, 2017, O'Connor agreed to a one-year, two-way $650, 000 contract with the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...

. After spending his first four professional seasons in North America, playing extensively in the minor leagues, O'Connor embarked on a European career as a free agent, agreeing to a one-year contract with Danish club, Rødovre Mighty Bulls of the Metal Ligaen, on July 17, 2019.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:OConnor, Matt 1992 births Living people Atlanta Gladiators players Binghamton Senators players Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey players Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Manchester Monarchs (ECHL) players Milwaukee Admirals players Ottawa Senators players Quad City Mallards (ECHL) players Ice hockey people from Toronto Undrafted National Hockey League players Youngstown Phantoms players Wheeling Nailers players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Wichita Thunder players Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players HK Nitra players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Slovakia 21st-century Canadian sportsmen