Christian Carter won’t need to leave his home state for junior hockey as the Littleton native has cracked the roster of the Colorado Grit, a first-year NAHL franchise playing out of the Greeley Ice Haus.

Through four games this season, Carter had picked up one assist for the Grit.

“I got the opportunity to go to there pre-draft camp as I know one of the owners, David Clarkson, as he was with the Colorado Thunderbirds, and from there, I played well enough to get a main camp invite,” Carter said. “Played well there, got through training camp, and here we are. The biggest appeal was probably that I get to stay close to home to play junior hockey. Also, as a new franchise, there were 25 open spots and that means more opportunity. Then to know some of the ownership and coaches that will be involved with the organization, that was all very appealing to me.”

Carter said he went into camp already knowing a couple of players, Max Lacroix and Hunter Cooke, as they had played for the Thunderbirds before, and he had trained with them.

Back home, hockey became a passion for Carter.

“I grew up playing hockey because I saw my older brother playing and that just wanted to make me get on the ice,” said Carter.

Carter skated for the Foothills Flyers for the majority of his youth career, playing there until his 14U year when he went to the Thunderbirds until his first year of 18U hockey.

“Several coaches have stood out to me along the way,” Carter said. “One is Gabe Gauthier. He really helped me at Foothills to develop to get to AAA. Then at AAA, all my coaches helped me along the way extraordinarily, and I thank each and every one of them.”

Going forward, Carter has faith, literally, that he’ll be able to accomplish anything he sets out to do.

“My short-term goals with hockey as of right now are to play out these next couple years of junior hockey and get an NCAA Division I scholarship,” said Carter. “From there, I want to take hockey as far as I possibly can with getting a college degree so I have a backup plan if hockey doesn’t work out.

“I want to thank my lord and savior Jesus Christ for being with me my entire journey and giving me this incredible talent. It’s something I’m passionate about, and I’d like people to know that none of this is possible without Jesus being with me every step of the way.”

Photo/Lisa Scarfoni

— Matt Mackinder

(September 13, 2023)