The Toronto Sceptres have been trending upward in their last several games, and it’s not a coincidence that their improved play has aligned with the addition of their second-round draft pick, defender Megan Carter.
The Toronto Sceptres have been trending upward in their last several games, and it’s not a coincidence that their improved play has aligned with the addition of their second-round draft pick, defender Megan Carter.
The Toronto Sceptres have been looking forward to getting back players who were missing at the start of the season due to injuries. Most observers realized that adding league MVP Natalie Spooner would be a huge boost to the teams’ scoring and overall success.
What few others knew, however, is that having their second-round draft pick, Northeastern graduate defender Megan Carter, would give the team ingredients to their team game that would have implications all over the ice. And that’s turned out to be the case as Carter made her debut four games ago, and the Sceptres have at least a point in all of them. (They have two regulation wins, and two shootout losses).
“It's absolutely everything you could possibly dream of,” said Carter when asked about playing her first professional game ever at Scotiabank Arena in the Battle on Bay Street against the New York Sirens. Carter, who is from nearby Milton, Ontario, said like many other girls, she dreamed of playing in the NHL when she was young.
“To step on the ice at Scotiabank and have 19,000 plus fans is unreal,” she remembered. “And I hope one day we can play in front of that many fans every single game. We were all really excited to be in that atmosphere.”
At Northeastern, Carter was a heavily-relied upon blueliner who served as team captain, and garnered accolades that are almost too many to mention, but include being a two-time Hockey East Best Defender, two-time Hockey East First Team All-Star, Hockey East All-Academic Team, Hockey East Academic Champion Award winner, and Hockey East’s Defender of the Month.
She was the graduate commencement ceremony student speaker at the university in May. Carter graduated with a Master of Science in Human Movement and Rehabilitation Science in August with a 4.0 GPA (after majoring in biology). And, just to top it off, she has plans to attend medical school.
On the ice, she describes herself as, “just a steady presence, bringing a physical presence every day, contribute offensively, try to get some pucks on net and really just stick to that game plan and help in any way that I can.”
Her intelligent defense and poise with the puck has already earned the trust of her coaches as she has played many important minutes, including penalty killing and protecting leads in the third period.
Carter said she’s ready for the opportunity, having worked through the early injury that kept her sidelined.
“Being able to skate and work out with Spooner every single day with a vet of that caliber, I knew I was getting better just being on the ice with her. As soon as I was ready to go, the team welcomed me with open arms. So they made my life really easy and they were kind of on the upward trend, getting our feet under us right when I was coming back. So it was nice to join that.”
It’s not a coincidence that her physical style has helped balance a defense that has a lot of puck movers. Carter says she enjoys the physical play in the PWHL:
“Everything is an adjustment, but I think because I play a physical game, it hasn't been as big of a jump [from the NCAA] as maybe some other players who don't have that in their toolbox just yet.”
The adjustments have happened quickly for Carter, and just in time to help the Sceptres regain their footing in an uneven season. And the Ontario-born player is taking none of it for granted.
“To play in your hometown is an absolute dream come true. I did a little event with the North Halton Twisters a little while back, and I hadn't even played a game at that point. And just to be around those girls and and give them the opportunity to interact with a player from the PWHL was really special.
“So just little moments like that to connect with them and say, ‘Hey, I used to play for the Twisters and now I'm playing in the Professional Women's Hockey League.’ They were like, ‘okay, I want to do the exact same thing.’ So it's awesome.”