LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — The Henderson Silver Knights recognized head equipment manager Jorge Lopez in January after he surpassed 1,000 games worked between junior and professional hockey.
Lopez, now 37, said the milestone spans a career that started when he was a teenager watching warm-ups in his hometown.
“It’s crazy, I was 20 when I started, I’m 37 now, so it’s a lot of cities, a lot of games, a lot of life changes, a lot of everything,” Lopez said.
A career born in the stands
Lopez said his path into hockey began at age 14 in Laredo, Texas, when an equipment manager pulled him out of the stands during a Central Hockey League game.
“I was just watching warm-ups with my family and the equipment manager at the time just needed help, and he looked, called me up in the stands, I looked, and he asked if I wanted to fill up water bottles and I did and I haven’t left the locker room since,” Lopez said.
He credited that first equipment manager, Rusty Aldridge, as the person who set his career in motion.
Six leagues, six markets, two championships
Since that game in Laredo, Lopez has worked in six different hockey leagues across six different markets. He won the Calder Cup in 2014 as an assistant with the Texas Stars and received a Stanley Cup ring in 2023 after working with the Vegas Golden Knights during their championship run.
“Calder Cup 2014, I was an assistant with the Texas Stars… then I was helping out VGK during their run and I got a Stanley Cup ring as well,” Lopez said.
Daily work behind the scenes
In Henderson, Lopez and his staff are typically the first to arrive and the last to leave on game days. Working within the American Hockey League, Lopez said his role requires tracking the preferences of players moving between the Silver Knights, the Vegas Golden Knights, and the Henderson affiliate in Tahoe.
“What they sharpen at, what kind of sticks they use, what they like, don’t like, what kind of laces they like, visors. When they come up from Tahoe we need to get them a chrome helmet because we wear our chrome domes,” Lopez said.
He said managing those details across a large roster requires significant memorization.
“In the American League we’re right in the middle, so we got guys in Tahoe coming up, guys in VGK coming down. It’s a lot of guys you have to juggle and know what they like, what they don’t like,” Lopez said.
Family and the locker room
Lopez said his Hispanic upbringing shaped how he approaches relationships with players and staff inside the locker room.
“Me being Hispanic it was always togetherness, being part of a big family, having fun together, going through the ups and downs. I think as a team, our head coach, Ryan Craig, wants us to be really family oriented, really together and I think that helps me out being able to talk to 30 different personalities daily,” Lopez said.
Outside the rink, Lopez is a father to two children — a 4-year-old and an 8-month-old — both born in Las Vegas. He said his wife, Rachel, manages the household during the season.
“We’re on the road so much and working so much during the season that they really do it all at home, Rachel does everything at home, so it’s awesome,” Lopez said.
Lopez said small moments with his family now carry their own weight alongside the championships.
“Being able to bring my little guy to the locker room after a win, guys are chasing him, you appreciate that… seeing him wave in the stands to me, like those little moments are right now, at this point in my life, are really cool,” Lopez said.
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