Phantoms Alum Completes Legendary Career
April 18, 2024
NHL veteran and also Phantoms Calder Cup Champion Jeff Carter has announced his retirement from professional hockey. Carter was the last remaining active player from the Calder Cup Championship Philadelphia Phantoms team that won it all in 2005.
Carter was just 20 years old when he joined the Philadelphia Phantoms for the team’s legendary playoff run. Along with fellow Round 1 selection Mike Richards, it was unknown how successful the two newcomers could be at the professional level. Those doubts were eliminated quickly as they keyed the team’s run all the way to the Finals which culminated on June 10, 2005 in a 5-2 win in Philadelphia over the Chicago Wolves in front of over 20,000 crazed Phantoms fans that remains the largest crowd in AHL postseason history.
Carter scored 12 goals with 11 assists in his 21 postseason games with the team. It was is second Calder Cup Playoff run with the Phantoms. He had also joined at the end of the 2003-04 season to play in 12 games with the Phantoms before returning to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the OHL the following season.
After winning the Calder Cup with the Phantoms in 2005, Carter went on to make the Philadelphia Flyers roster the next season and never looked back. In his six seasons with the Flyers he played in 401 games scoring 181 goals including a team-leading 46 goals in the 2008-09 season. He was also a big part of the 2009-10 team that qualified for the Playoffs of the last day of the season leading to a stunning run to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Carter won the Stanley Cup twice with the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 and 2024. He arrived to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2021 where he spent the last three seasons of his NHL career.
Jeff Carter played in 1,321 career NHL games scoring 442 goals with 409 assists for 851 total points.
All the best to Jeff Carter, a Phantoms Calder Cup Champion and two-time Stanley Cup Champion. Congratulations on a fantastic career!
