Michigan State hockey legend Anson Carter no longer defines his impact on the game by goals or games played. Carter, now 51, is a national broadcaster on NHL on TNT and the co-chair of the NHL Player Inclusion Coalition, working to make hockey a more welcoming space for players who come after him.
He also covered the 2026 Winter Olympics with the NBC broadcast team, sharing his insights with fans around the world.
It is a role shaped not just by success, but by the obstacles he faced throughout his career.
“I’ve always believed that if something is wrong, you have to say it,” Carter said. “I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if I didn’t.”
Carter’s commitment to advocacy grew out of a career navigating a sport where representation was scarce. He grew up in Toronto, raised by parents from Barbados, in a multicultural environment. He gravitated toward hockey, a game that often felt culturally exclusive. It was difficult to convince his parents to support that dream, largely because there were so few visible role models who looked like him.
Carter chose a different path from the traditional Canadian major junior hockey route. He left Canada to play college hockey at Michigan State in 1992. Carter was undersized and still developing physically, and he believed that college hockey would allow him to mature without being overwhelmed by older, more physically dominant competition.
Michigan State provided exactly that opportunity. Carter developed into one of the program’s most reliable and productive players, earning All-American honors in 1995 and becoming a Hobey Baker finalist as the team’s captain, under Coach Ron Mason.
“He was a total professional. He came in as an 18-year-old, and he was like, man strong,” former Michigan State and Edmonton Oilers teammate Rem Murray said. “Strong in his skates, fast, hard to play against, but, you know, really respectful of the upperclassmen, worked hard, did everything right.”
Carter’s leadership style was subtle but effective. Teammates followed him naturally because of how he carried himself on and off the ice, a trait that carried into his professional career.
He was drafted in the 10th round of the 1992 NHL Entry Draft by the Quebec Nordiques and was traded to Washington before ever playing a professional game. Carter made the team despite minimal expectations from the organization, leading to his NHL debut in 1996.
“He was really good at adapting his game,” Murray said. “Being a 200-foot player, along with being able to score 30 goals in the season. So, you know, it is physical and hard to play against.”
Carter had a productive 10-year NHL career, but his experience went beyond on-ice performance. As one of the few Black players in the league, he encountered challenges that he believes others did not.
“There weren’t many of us,” Carter said. “I had contract battles that weren’t the same as other players. Maybe it was unconscious bias, I don’t know, but it shaped who I was as a player and who I am today, because it really has driven me to make our game a better place based on my experiences.”
He decided to use those negative experiences as motivation rather than letting them get to his head. Carter dedicated himself to creating a more inclusive environment for future players of color, a commitment that has become the foundation of his legacy after his 10-year playing career came to an end.
“I wasn't going to have the group of black players, or players of color coming after me to have the same experience that I had, because it would have made my experience not even worth it,” Carter said.
Carter initially stepped away from hockey, unsure whether the sport would ever fully evolve into a space where he felt comfortable. Broadcasting was not part of his plan, but opportunity found him. Carter began at NHL Network before moving through roles with NBC Sports, ESPN and eventually NHL on TNT.
Carter has helped create a broadcast environment at TNT that is rooted in fun, authenticity, and openness, collaborating with legendary hockey players and personalities like Wayne Gretzky, Henrik Lundqvist, and Paul Bissonnette.
“I don't really consider [broadcasting on TNT] work,” Carter said. “It's so much fun just being able to get in the studio. I catch myself sometimes, because you forget that you're actually on television. The conversations that we have are pretty much the same conversations that we have off camera too, just without the swear words.”
In a sport that has often lacked representation, Carter’s legacy is defined by his push to make hockey inclusive.
“It was important that if I was going through the mud, to make sure that people coming after me had a smoother path to walk,” Carter said.