Carter chased dream with Alabama team
It is quite a distance from Camden, Nova Scotia to Birmingham, Alabama. That didn’t bother Chase Carter, even though the 2022-23 hockey season didn’t end exactly the way he had hoped for.
But in looking back at all that was accomplished - you have to salute the young, local athlete; he gave a very good account of himself playing hockey in the southern U.S.
Carter, at 5’ 11” and 175 pounds, played some of the best hockey of his career from his defence position with Birmingham Bulls of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL). Back last fall, the 23-year-old began his second season in professional hockey by playing 17 games with Watertown Wolves of the Federal Prospects Hockey League.
This was followed by being called up to the Bulls of the higher calibre SPHL. In 34 regular season games with the Bulls, Carter had a terrific plus-minus of +14. Then through 10 playoff games, Carter was again a big contributor – helping his team to a strong playoff run.
In recapping what took place in the playoffs, Birmingham won two close series against the Fayetteville Marksmen and Huntsville Havoc. Three games in the two series were decided in overtime. Advancing to the finals of the SPHL – the Bulls met the highly-rated Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs. The winner would lay claim to the league championship and get to hoist the President’s Cup.
The first two games of the three-out-of-five final series were played at the 4,100-seat Pelham Civic Center in Birmingham, before near-capacity crowds. Roanoke earned a 4-2 decision on April 27 in game one. The next night – game two saw the Bulls even the series with a hard-fought 2-0 win.
The series moved to Roanoke on May 1 for game three. With 5,200 fans cheering wildly at the Berglund Center, the two teams were deadlocked 4-4 after regulation time. In overtime, the Rail Yard Dawgs came through with a 5-4 victory.
The next night before another near-capacity crowd in Roanoke, the two teams battled nose-to-nose through the first two periods with Roanoke holding a 1-0 lead. Carson Rose scored at 19.49 of the third period for Birmingham, sending the game into overtime.
After two minutes and 41 seconds of overtime, Mac Jansen, a big forward from White Bear Lake, Manitoba, scored for Roanoke to give them a 2-1 victory and the league championship series three games to one. The President’s Cup was presented to the winners. As for Carter’s Bulls’ teammates, it was definitely a pressure packed playoff, the team went to overtime in five games.
Reflecting back to the road Carter took to get to professional hockey, it all started in the Truro & Area Minor Hockey Association. Some of Carter’s early friends and teammates included Cameron ‘Cam’ Patton, Marc Aucoin, Cole Dodsworth, Ryan Rath, and Cody Macdonald.
Receiving early coaching from his father Craig Carter, Carter’s parents Craig and Angela put many miles on the family car – transporting hockey players.
Pinpointing one particularly exciting season – the Truro Daily News sports page dated Tuesday, April 19, 2016, carried the following headline – ‘Banner Season – midget AA Bearcats cap successful year with provincial title’.
Becoming the Nova Scotia midget AA hockey champions in Port Hawkesbury, the MU Rhino Renovations Truro Bearcats edged Antigonish 2-0 in the championship game. Standing out in the team photo were the happy faces of Carter, goaltenders Tyler Howe and Brent Walters, and skaters Cameron Degroot, Kurtlin Rushton, Gavynn Carter (Carter’s brother), Chad Bruce, Alex Clark, Daniel Fagioli, Alex Hilchie, Drew Mumford, and others.
Craig Carter was the head coach of that Bearcats team.
The next two seasons saw Chase play in the Nova Scotia Major Midget Hockey League (now U-18 major) for the Steve Crowell-coached Dartmouth Steele Subaru. Gavynn was again a teammate in that first season.
Chase moved up to the Maritime Junior Hockey League with the Edmundston Blizzard for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. The Carter brothers were teammates in the first season. Carter played his last eligible season of junior A hockey with the Laurie Barron-coached Yarmouth Mariners.
Continued success to Carter as he moves up the professional hockey ladder.