Photo by Julie Beidler

This season we will spotlight a different prospect each week to better acquaint Caps fans with players in Hershey. For the first week, we have selected Paul Carey who scored the team’s first goal this season on Giant Center ice Saturday night. 

Carey, a forward, is a native of Weymouth, MA who played his collegiate hockey for Boston College. Drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in round 5 in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, Carey joined the Lake Erie Monsters for two games upon finishing up at BC in 2012.

He played a full season for the Monsters from 2012-2013 and earned a call-up to the Avalanche for part of the next two seasons before finishing out the 2014-2015 season with the Providence Bruins after being traded on March 2nd with Max Talbot for Jordan Caron.

Carey signed with Washington on July 7 and joined the Bears in 2015 and appeared in 4 games in Washington, scoring his first career NHL goal in a Caps jersey. Carey returned to Hershey, but elected to have shoulder surgery midway through the 2015-2016 season.

In four games this season, he has registered a goal, the first of the season on Giant Center ice, and an assist.

Paul Carey skates behind the net against Bridgeport. Photo by Julie Beidler

According to head coach Troy Mann Saturday night, “Carey’s been very strong since game 1. He played very well last weekend. He was arguably one of our top 3 players in both games, so it was nice to see him get the first one out of the way. I thought he could have been our best forward tonight.”

Carey almost nets a second goal against Bridgeport. Photo by Julie Beidler

For his AHL career, Carey has appeared in 236 regular season games and 4 postseason games. He has 57 goals (1 in the postseason) and 73 assists. He has played a total of 26 regular season NHL games and three playoff games. His one NHL assist came as a member of the Colorado Avalanche.

Hershey’s #28 – Paul Carey – Photo by Julie Beidler

JUST THE FACTS

Number: 28
Pos: LW
Shoots: L
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 200
DOB: September 24, 1988
Twitter: @PaulCarey28
First AHL Goal: October 13, 2012 for Lake Erie against Oklahoma City
First NHL Goal: February 6, 2016 for Capitals against New Jersey
First AHL Point: October 13, 2012 for Lake Erie against Oklahoma City
First NHL Point: February 16, 2015 for Colorado against Arizona
National Championships: 2 (2009-2010, 2011-2012)

He Said It
Troy Mann – “(Last) January he was gone. You can’t forget that he was on a 30 goal pace. He was a big part of our team last year and was a real pleasant surprise after not really knowing the player that well. When you coach against a guy maybe once or twice a year, it’s very hard to judge the player, but he was a big part of our team and well liked in the locker room so when he decided it was best to shut his season down, that’s why we ended up making the Ryan Bourque trade, but to have him back here skating real strong and the shoulder feeling better than it ever has, that was real good and we’re going to need a big season from him. I think he complements Stephenson very well right now and I don’t mind that line at all.”

Paul Carey about being back on the ice – “It feels great. I had to watch a lot of games here in the GC last spring. It’s always tough to watch your teammates out there but I’ve been waiting awhile and to get the two points tonight and the win – it feels great.”

Carey on getting the first goal in the team’s first win of the season – “It was huge tonight we talked about it this morning and we talked about it before the game that we wanted to get a real good start tonight. We needed some urgency in our game here we didn’t want to fall 0-3 because it would be an uphill battle right off the get go so it was nice to get that early lead. I thought everybody was focused here to get that good strong home game to start the season.”

by Julie Beidler

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