Matt Carle

Status: Philadelphia Flyers defenseman.

Ht: 6-foot Wt: 205 pounds

DOB: Sept. 25, 1984 In: Anchorage, Alaska

First Hockey Memory: "Playing outside when I was three or four. My cousin and I played on the same team. That was the first team I played on. First memory."



Nicknames: "Just Matty or MC."



Hockey Inspirations: "Growing up I had an older cousin (Michael) who played, that kind of got me started. And then the local college up in Anchorage, we used to go to their games all the time. That's what kind of got me into it."

Last Book Read: "Reading American Buffalo right now."

Current Car: "2009 Chevrolet Avalanche (black)."

Greatest Sports Moment: "Probably playing in the Stanley Cup final. It was the most fun I've had in hockey. Getting to that point was obviously the most gut-wrenching, but something I'll never forget."

Most Painful Moment: "Kinda one in the same I guess, yeah, losing the final."

Favorite Uniforms: "I like Detroit's logo, it's been the same for however many years - they don't switch it up."

Favorite Arena: "It would be pretty biased, but I like playing here in Philly. The ice is good and obviously playing in front of the home fans is nice. Going on the road, I played college hockey in Denver, so it's always nice to go back there and play in Colorado."



Closest Hockey Friends: "One of my best buddies growing up, we grew up playing together, he plays down in Tampa, his name is Nate Thompson."



Funniest Players Encountered: "Probably Scott Hartnell is right up there. Dan Carcillo, he's a character. Craig Rivet was a character as well. I played with him in San Jose. So there's a few guys."

Toughest Competitors Encountered: "Not really sure, there's a lot of guys I played with a guy like Scott Parker, he was pretty scary. I remember coming into the league my first year, he was on the team in San Jose. You think a guy like him is going to be one of the most intimidating guys on the ice. And he's actually one of the nicest guys in the locker room. So I kind of built him up as a mean, scary guy but, at heart, he's a really good guy."

Most Memorable Goal: "Probably 2010, we were playing Game 82 and we were down 1-0 against the Rangers and I scored to tie the game in the third period. And that's what kind of forced us into that shootout to get into the playoffs that year."



Embarrassing Hockey Memory: "We were in L.A. and between the benches they have celebrities and Vince Vaughn was there for a game. And I was coming off the ice and I was gonna jump over the boards and somebody opened the door right away. And I somehow slipped and fell right on my back. And like him and his whole crew, they're sitting there pointing and laughing at me. So that was one of the most embarrassing moments."

Favorite Sport Outside Hockey: "Either fishing or golf. I don't know if you're gonna classify fishing as a sport. I'm sure people would make that argument. If I'm doing either one of those it's a good day."

Funny Hockey Memory: "A moment that sticks out last year. Ville Leino scored a hat trick and they showed his face on the JumboTron. And he started clapping with his stick to all the fans. And so the rest of the year whenever Ville did anything, whether it was in practice or any time, guys would be clapping the stick and making fun of him. So that was pretty funny."

Strangest Game: "We had a game last year against Tampa. And I think the final score was 8-7. And that game it just seemed like it was a basketball game. Whoever was gonna get the puck last was gonna win. It seemed like everything was going in. I think each team had multiple goal leads at times. And so it was probably one of the wackiest games I played in."

Personality Qualities Most Admired: "Just integrity, honesty, people who are down to earth. People who are humble I guess."

Mark 'Scoop' Malinowski's second book "Marcelo Rios: The Man We Barely Knew" is available on www.amazon.com. Malinowski is the creator of two websites: www.thebiofile.com and www.tennis-prose.com