The USPHL congratulates former Islanders Hockey Club forward Robert Carpenter on helping the Florida Everblades to their third straight ECHL Kelly Cup Championship on Saturday, June 8.
Carpenter played for the Islanders’ Premier team, as well as their 18U team (currently members of the Tier 1 Hockey Federation) during the inaugural season of the USPHL in 2013-14. He played a combined 12 games with 10 points scored. At the time, the USPHL Premier was the top level of the nascent USPHL, and was the forerunner to today’s National Collegiate Development Conference.
Carpenter, the son of former NHL player Bobby Carpenter, went on to play nine games that same season for the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers and also played the next full season (2014-15) with the Musketeers. He finished with 75 points in a combined 74 regular season and playoff games in the USHL.
From the USHL, Carpenter played four years of NCAA hockey with Boston University, scoring 102 points in 144 games. This included a stint as Captain of the Terriers in 2018-19.
Carpenter signed with the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers the same season and played his first two pro games, and scoring his first pro goal. He played 60 AHL games between 2018-19 and 2021-22, scoring 20 points.
He played in his first ECHL games with the Everblades in 2021-22, scoring 18 points in 19 games. After scoring six points in five games in 2022-23, Carpenter was back with a full season this year. As an Alternate Captain for the Blades, he scored 46 points in 60 regular season games. He was also good for a point per game during the Kelly Cup Playoffs, scoring 23 points in 23 games.
Carpenter was one of 58 former USPHL Premier players who played in the ECHL during the 2023-24 season. Seven more USPHL Premier alumni played in the AHL and four (John Marino, Ryan Donato, Callahan Burke and Joey Daccord) saw time in the NHL.
