Alex Carpenter

Alexandra "Alex" Carpenter (born April 13, 1994) is an American professional ice hockey forward, alternate captain of New York of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL), and member of the American national team. She was the first overall pick in the National Women's Hockey League in 2015.

Playing career
In the fall of 2007, she joined The Governor's Academy in Byfield, Massachusetts, where she played for their varsity team as a 13-year-old. Over four years, she totaled 239 goals and 427 points in 100 games, being named team MVP in each season and captaining the team as a senior.

NCAA
On July 22, 2010, Carpenter committed to play college ice hockey at Boston College.

In the 2011–12 season, Carpenter's freshman year, she led the Eagles in scoring with 39 points, the first freshman to do so since 2006. She was named a first team Hockey East All-Star and to the conference's All-Rookie Team, as well as its rookie of the month on four separate occasions.

In her sophomore season in 2012–13, Carpenter led the Eagles with 70 points, including a conference-leading 48 points in Hockey East play. She set a conference record with a 24-game point streak from October 21, 2012 to February 2, 2013, and was named player of the year for both Hockey East and New England. She recorded her 100th career point against UConn on February 17, 2013.

Carpenter took a leave of absence for the 2013–14 season in order to prepare for the 2014 Winter Olympics with the American national team.

During her junior season, the 2014–15 season, Carpenter recorded 37 goals and 44 assists for 81 points, all of which led the NCAA. She also led the nation in goals per game (1.09), assists per game (1.19), points per game (2.19), and game winning goals (9). She recorded multiple points in a game on 25 occasions, including six points against Harvard on November 28, 2014. For her achievements, she was named Hockey East player of the year and won the Patty Kazmaier Award, becoming the first Boston College player and the first player from the Hockey East conference to claim the award.

As a senior and one of three team captains in the 2015–16 season, Carpenter set program records with 43 goals, 45 assists, and 88 points in 41 games. She recorded four hat tricks, including four goals against Syracuse University on December 10, 2015, a game in which she set the program record for career goals. She was named Most Valuable Player of the Hockey East Tournament, scoring three goals and six points as Boston College claimed the conference championship. She and the Eagles' season would end in the finals of the 2016 Frozen Four, with the team having set NCAA records for assists and points in a season, with 379 and 592, respectively. She was named a top-three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, but ultimately did not repeat as its winner.

Upon her graduation in 2016, Carpenter's 133 goals, 145 assists, and 278 points were the most in Eagles history. She also set program records in power play goals (26), game-winning goals (27), and plus/minus (+180), and ranked fifth in all-time NCAA goals and points.

Professional
Carpenter was the first player drafted in the National Women's Hockey League's (NWHL) inaugural draft in 2015, selected by the New York Riveters. She returned for her senior season with Boston College and her rights were traded to the Boston Pride 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. 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 (CWHL) and was drafted in the second round, 13th overall by Shenzhen-based Kunlun Red Star WIH, one of the two Chinese expansion teams. On January 15, 2018, after being cut from the United States Olympic team, she signed with Kunlun, swayed in part by her father Bobby Carpenter being a coach of their Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) club, HC Kunlun Red Star. The following season, the two Chinese CWHL teams were merged to become the Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays, and Carpenter re-signed with the team.

With the CWHL ceasing operations after the 2018–19 season, the Vanke Rays joined the Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL), the Russian women's league. 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 (PWHPA). She served as team captain for the 2020–21 season, recording 29 goals and 55 points in 28 games.

On September 8, 2023, New York of the newly-created Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) announced that they had signed Carpenter, along with American forward Abby Roque and Canadian defenseman Micah Zandee-Hart, to three-year contracts as part of the league's pre-draft free agency period. On December 21, 2023, Carpenter and teammate Ella Shelton were named the first alternate captains in team history. In 24 games in the inaugural PWHL season, she recorded eight goals and 15 assists for 23 points, good for second in the league in points and first in assists, earning a nomination for Forward of the Year.

International play
At 15 years old, Carpenter competed in multiple international competitions representing the United States, including an under-18 exhibition series against Canada and the 2009 Czech Challenge Cup, where she finished second in scoring despite being five or more years younger than some of the other players. As the youngest American at the 2010 World U18 Championship, she scored eight goals and one assist in five games, tied for second in team scoring behind Kendall Coyne. She recorded a goal in the gold medal match as the Americans claimed silver, losing 5–4 in overtime to Canada.

Returning for the 2011 World U18 Championship, Carpenter led the tournament with ten points on the strength of six goals, including one in the 5–2 gold medal victory over Canada. She would be named a top three player on the American team and would win the award for Best Forward at the event. The following year, Carpenter captained the silver-winning American team, recorded four goals and nine points, and once again earned Best Forward honors.

Making her senior tournament debut at the 2013 World Championship, Carpenter and the United States won the gold medal. She returned to the national team at the 2014 Olympics as one of their youngest players, scoring four goals and adding an assist in five games as the Americans claimed silver, losing 3–2 in overtime to Canada in the finals.

At the 2015 World Championship, Carpenter was named alternate captain for the Americans. She would record two goals and an assist at the event, and the Americans would claim gold.

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.

Despite being considered one of the best players in the world and having been an Olympian at 19 years old at the previous games, Carpenter was unexpectedly cut from the Team USA roster ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics. The Americans claimed the gold medal in her absence.

Carpenter returned to Team USA for the 2019 World Championship, helping the Americans to their fifth consecutive title.

On January 2, 2022, Carpenter was named to Team USA's roster to represent the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Carpenter represented the United States at the 2024 IIHF Women's World Championship, where she tied for the tournament lead in scoring with six goals and four assists in seven games and won a silver medal. She was subsequently named Best Forward and named to the All-Star team.

Personal life
Carpenter is the oldest daughter of former NHL player Bobby Carpenter, who played 18 seasons with five different teams and won three stanley cups with the New Jersey Devils, one as a player and two as a coach. Her younger brother Robert, nicknamed "Bobo", also played college hockey for the Eagles.

A lifelong baseball and softball player, Carpenter was the first girl to play in the Morristown, New Jersey Little League in 25 years (performing as a pitcher, catcher, and shortstop) and was the first girl to play as a 10-year-old. She played softball in high school, earning all-league honors in all four years and serving as team captain as a senior.

Carpenter is an out member of the LGBTQ community. She became engaged to girlfriend Steph Klein, an assistant equipment manager with the Toronto Marlies, in January 2022.