Alexandra "Alex" Carpenter (born April 13, 1994) is an American

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player and member of the United States women's national team. She most recently played in the 2020–21 season of the

Zhenskaya Hockey League The Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL; russian: Женская хоккейная лига, translit=Zhenskaya khokkeynaya liga, translation=Women's Hockey League), officially called the Women's Hockey League (WHL), is a professional ice hockey leagu ...

(ZhHL) with the

KRS Vanke Rays The Shenzhen Kunlun Red Star () or the Shenzhen KRS () are a professional ice hockey team in the Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL). They are based in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China and their home is Shenzhen Dayun Arena. In response to heightened en ...

and served as team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. The first player drafted into the

National Women's Hockey League The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), formerly the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), is a women's professional ice hockey league located in the United States and Canada. The league was established in 2015 with four league-owned teams and ha ...

in 2015, she won a silver medal with the 2014 United States Olympic team, won the 2015

Patty Kazmaier Award The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is given to the top female college ice hockey player in the United States. The award is presented during the women's annual ice hockey championship, the Frozen Four. The award was first presented in 1998. The awa ...

, and was named ZhHL MVP in 2020.

Playing career

While in middle school, she played for a male hockey team in

Bethlehem, New York Bethlehem is a town in Albany County, New York, United States. The town's population was 35,034 at the 2020 census. Bethlehem is located immediately to the south of the City of Albany. Bethlehem includes the following hamlets: Delmar, Elsmer ...

. Noteworthy teammates included her younger brother Robert Carpenter as well as Jonathan Clark, Sam Segal, Danny Golderman, and Jake Nussbaum. In the fall of 2007, she joined

The Governor's Academy The Governor's Academy is an independent school north of Boston located on in the village of Byfield, Massachusetts, United States (town of Newbury), north of Boston. The Academy enrolls approximately 412 students in grades nine through twelv ...

in South

Byfield, Massachusetts Byfield is a village (also referred to as a "parish") in the town of Newbury, in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It borders West Newbury, Georgetown, and Rowley. It is located about 30 miles north-northeast of Boston, along Int ...

. Carpenter played for the Governor's Academy varsity team as a 13-year-old. She racked up a total of 155 goals and 136 assists for 291 points over three years.

NCAA

On July 22, 2010, she committed to joining the Boston College Eagles women's ice hockey program in the fall of 2012. Alex recorded her 100th career point against

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Ha ...

Feb 17 of her

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

season with Boston College (BC). During her junior season (2014–15) at Boston College, Carpenter was the recipient of the 2015

. She was the first player in the history of the Boston College Eagles program, and the first player from the

Hockey East The Hockey East Association, also known as Hockey East, is a college ice hockey conference which operates entirely in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. Hockey East came into existence in 1984 for ...

conference to claim the award. AlexCarpenter2

USA Hockey

Carpenter competed for Team USA under-18 in an Under-18 three-game exhibition series against Canada's best in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. She helped the US team win the 2009 Czech Challenge Cup in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. She scored a goal for Team USA in the gold medal game of the 2010 IIHF World Women's Under 18 Championship but the team ultimately fell to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and had to settle for the silver medal. She was the youngest girl for Team USA in the tournament at fifteen-years-old. She finished the tournament with eight goals and one assist in five games. She was tied for second in team scoring behind

Kendall Coyne Kendall Coyne Schofield (born May 25, 1992) is an American professional ice hockey player who is currently a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team. With the national team, she has won six gold medals at the IIHF World Wome ...

. In 2013, she made the women's senior team and participated in the 2013 IIHF Women's World Championship and remained on Team USA for every following season, including the 2014 Olympics. Carpenter scored the game-winning overtime goal to lead the United States to a 1–0 win over Canada at the 2016 Women's World Championship. She was one of the final cuts from the 2018 Olympic team, but was brought back for the 2019 World Championship. , Carpenter has participated in five

IIHF World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annual ...

with the United States senior team, claiming gold at all five tournaments. On January 2, 2022, Carpenter was named to

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

's roster to represent the United States at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

Professional

Carpenter was the first player drafted in the

's (NWHL) inaugural draft in 2015, selected by the

New York Riveters The Metropolitan Riveters (originally the New York Riveters) are a professional women's ice hockey team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with home games at the American Dream Meadowlands ice rink. They were one of the four charter franchi ...

. She returned for her senior season with Boston College and her rights were traded to the

Boston Pride The Boston Pride are a professional women's ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are one of the four charter franchises of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), formerly the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL; 2015–2021). The ...

in April 2016. During the summer of 2016, Carpenter signed with the Boston Pride for a one-year, $19,500 contract, making her the highest paid player of the 2015 NWHL Draft class. Playing for Team Steadman, Carpenter recorded a goal and an assist at the

2nd NWHL All-Star Game The 2nd NWHL All-Star Game took place at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex on February 12, 2017 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A skills competition was held the day prior on February 11, 2017. This edition of the All-Star Game featured a "fanta ...

. She finished the 2016–17 season as the second highest scorer in the league. Following her season in the NWHL, Carpenter registered for the 2017 Draft of the

Canadian Women's Hockey League The Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey féminin ‒ LCHF) was a women's ice hockey league. Established in 2007 as a Canadian women's senior league in the Greater Toronto Area, Montreal, and Ottawa, the league ...

(CWHL) and was drafted by one of the two Chinese expansion teams, Kunlun Red Star WIH based in

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...

. During the

2017–18 KHL season The 2017–18 KHL season was the tenth season of the Kontinental Hockey League. The season started on 21 August 2017 and ended on 22 April 2018. The league accommodated a 33 day Olympic break, to allow its players to participate in the 2018 Wint ...

, her father, Bobby Carpenter, was a coach for

HC Kunlun Red Star HC Kunlun Red Star () is a Chinese ice hockey club that joined the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) prior to the 2016–17 season. History Preparation of the team In March 2016, representatives of Kunlun Red Star and the KHL signed a protocol o ...

of the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

(KHL), the men's club that owned the Kunlun Red Star WIH. After being cut from the United States Olympic team, she signed with Kunlun Red Star on January 15, 2018. The following season, the two Chinese CWHL teams were merged to become the

Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays The Shenzhen Kunlun Red Star () or the Shenzhen KRS () are a professional ice hockey team in the Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL). They are based in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China and their home is Shenzhen Dayun Arena. In response to heightened ent ...

, and Carpenter re-signed with the team. After the 2018–19 CWHL season, the CWHL ceased operations, and the team joined the Women's Hockey League (ZhHL). Carpenter again chose to remain in China, citing the better facilities and player support provided by the team than what she had experienced in the NWHL, supporting the boycott of North American leagues that had led to the formation of the

Professional Women's Hockey Players Association The Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) is a nonprofit 501(c)(6) organization dedicated to advocating for the promotion of professional women's ice hockey. It was founded in May 2019 following the dissolution of the Canadian W ...

(PWHPA).

Career statistics

NCAA

Source:

USA Hockey

Professional

Awards and honors

*2015

*2015 CCM Hockey Women's Division I All-Americans, First Team *2015 first overall pick in the NWHL draft by the New York Riveters

IIHF

*Best Forward, 2011 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship *Best Forward,

2012 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship The 2012 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship was the fifth IIHF World Women's U18 Championships and was hosted in Zlín and Přerov, Czech Republic. It began on December 31, 2011 with the gold medal game played on January 7, 2012. Canada won the ...

Hockey East

*Hockey East Rookie of the Month (Month of October 2011) *Hockey East Player of the Week (Week of December 12, 2011) *Hockey East Rookie of the Month (Month of December 2011) *Hockey East Player of the Month (October 2014) *Hockey East Player of the Month (November 2014) *Hockey East Player of the Week (Week of December 15, 2014) *2014–15 Hockey East First Team All-Star

Personal

Carpenter is the daughter of former NHL player Bobby Carpenter. Alex Carpenter was the first girl to play in the

Morristown, New Jersey Morristown () is a town and the county seat of Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. ...

Little League Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Toronto Marlies The Toronto Marlies are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a member of the North Division of the Eastern Conference. The Marlies is owned by Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment, a c ...

, in January 2022.

References

External links

* * * *
Alex Carpenter
at

USA Hockey USA Hockey is the national ice hockey organization in the United States. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the Sport governing body, governing body for organized ice ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carpenter, Alexandra 1994 births Living people American women's ice hockey forwards Patty Kazmaier Award winners Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays players Boston Pride players Boston College Eagles women's ice hockey players Ice hockey players at the 2014 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2022 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in ice hockey People from North Reading, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Middlesex County, Massachusetts Ice hockey players from Massachusetts American expatriate ice hockey players in Russia American expatriate ice hockey players in China The Governor's Academy alumni 21st-century American women American LGBT sportspeople LGBT ice hockey players