Lyle Dwight Carter (born April 29, 1945) is a former professional

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

goalie, who played 15 games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

with the

California Golden Seals The California Golden Seals were a professional ice hockey club that competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1967 to 1976. Based in Oakland, California, they played their home games at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena. The ...

during the 1971–72 season. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1967 to 1975, was spent in various minor leagues. He was also an all-Canadian

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

player.

Playing career

Born in

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

and raised in Brookfield, Carter began playing professional hockey in 1967–68, appearing in one game for the Toledo Blades in the IHL and two more with the

Cleveland Barons The name Cleveland Barons has been used by three professional hockey teams and one junior team. *Cleveland Barons (NHL), the National Hockey League team that played between 1976 and 1978 *Cleveland Barons (1937–1973), the original American Hockey ...

. The following season, he played 72 regular games and a further 15 playoff games for the Clinton Comets of the

Eastern Hockey League The Eastern Hockey League was a minor professional United States ice hockey league. Eastern Amateur Hockey League (1933–1953) The league was founded in 1933 as the Eastern Amateur Hockey League (EAHL). The league was founded by Tommy Lockhart ...

. The following he spent split between the Comets and the

Montreal Voyageurs Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

of the AHL, appearing in 5 games for each team. A member of the IHL's

Muskegon Mohawks The Muskegon Mohawks were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the International Hockey League from 1965 to 1984. Muskegon were Turner Cup champions in 1968. This team was originally named the Muskegon Zephyrs. After the completion of ...

in 1970–1, Carter won the

James Gatschene Memorial Trophy The James Gatschene Memorial Trophy was awarded annually to the International Hockey League player selected as most valuable through his display of outstanding playing ability and sportsmanlike conduct over the course of the regular season, as ch ...

as the league's most valuable and most sportsmanlike as well as the

James Norris Memorial Trophy The James Norris Memorial Trophy, or simply the Norris Trophy, is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's top " defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position". It is named after Ja ...

as the goaltender with the best

goals against average Goals against average (GAA) also known as "average goals against" or "AGA" is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending ...

, as he posted a 2.43 GA and 6 shutouts in 51 games. He also appeared in one game for the Voyageurs, allowing 5 goals in two periods. Carter played for four teams in 1971–2, seeing his first and only

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

action. He played in 15 games that season for the

, allowing 50 goals in 721 minutes played for a 4.16 GAA. He won 4 of 11 games, not bad for a team that won just 21 of 78 games for the season. He also played 9 games for the WHL's

Salt Lake Golden Eagles The Salt Lake Golden Eagles were a minor professional hockey team based in Salt Lake City from 1969 to 1994. History They played in the Western Hockey League from 1969 to 1974, the Central Hockey League from 1974 to 1984 and the International H ...

, 6 for the AHL's Baltimore Clippers, and 5 play-off games for the CHL's Oklahoma City Blazers. Carter played exclusively for Salt Lake in 1972–3, posting 16–13–6 for a win-lose-tie record in 35 games and recording a 3.58 GA, 0.894

save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various goal-scoring sports that track saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse, it is a statistic that represents the percentage of shots on goal ...

, and one shutout. The season he posted very solid numbers for the

New Haven Nighthawks The New Haven Nighthawks were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League from 1972 to 1992. They had affiliations with the Minnesota North Stars (1972–1977), New York Islanders (1972–1973), New York Rangers (19 ...

of the AHL, a 2.97 GA, 0.911 SV% and one shutout in 37 games. He also appeared in 10 playoff games for the Nighthawks. Carter's final year in pro hockey was 1974–5, when he appeared in 4 games for the

Greensboro Generals The Greensboro Generals were an East Coast Hockey League team based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and played at the Greensboro Coliseum from 1999 to 2004. The name was originally used by the Greensboro Generals in the Eastern Hockey League. Th ...

of the SHL and 32 games with the AHL's Syracuse Eagles, where his numbers were not as good, a 5.11 GA in 32 games. Carter was also an all-Canadian

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

on four occasions as his club, the Brookfield Elks, advanced to the Canadian Softball Championships. He was a ten time Mainland Fastball League batting champion in Nova Scotia. He was elected to the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame in 1984.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

*
Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame inductee page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Lyle 1945 births Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame inductees Baltimore Clippers players California Golden Seals players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Canadian softball players Cleveland Barons (1937–1973) players Clinton Comets players Greensboro Generals (SHL) players Ice hockey people from Nova Scotia Living people Montreal Voyageurs players Muskegon Mohawks players New Haven Nighthawks players Oklahoma City Blazers (1965–1977) players People from Colchester County People from Truro, Nova Scotia Salt Lake Golden Eagles (WHL) players Syracuse Eagles players Toledo Blades players