Anson Carter

Anson Carter hoped that hockey could help him achieve his dreams, but it became his dream instead. Carter was born in Toronto on June 6, 1974. Like many kids in his neighborhood, he began playing organized ice hockey at a young age. He saw an opportunity to use his hockey skills to get accepted into a good U.S. college, as he initially had plans to become a doctor. The more he played, however, the more he became obsessed with the sport above anything else. The Quebec Nordiques drafted him in 1992 and he went on to play at Michigan State University on an athletic scholarship. Halfway through college, he officially became dedicated to a career in professional hockey. Carter decided to abandon his medical studies to focus entirely on the sport. He racked up honors and became the team captain for Michigan State in his senior year. After graduating in 1996, he began playing in the NHL. His longest stint with a single team lasted for three and a half years between 1997 and 2000, with the Boston Bruins. He played for Team Canada in the 1997 World Ice Hockey Championships, where Canada won the gold medal. He made a second appearance in 2003, scoring the winning goal in overtime against Sweden to claim another gold. In 2005, he founded Big Up Entertainment, an Atlanta-based hip-hop record label and independent film company. After being released by the Edmonton Oilers during training camp in 2007, he left the NHL and signed on with Hockey Club Lugano in Switzerland for one year before finally retiring from professional hockey. He became a studio analyst for NBC Sports Group's hockey coverage in 2013.