CHAMPIONS SPEAK  -  2020 Hall of Fame Inductee Carson Duggan - Athlete

Introduction of ​Carson Duggan 2020

by ​ Sandra Wright

Honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen, 

I am both honoured and proud to introduce you to Carson Duggan.  As a neighbour and family friend, I have known Carson since she was a timid, quiet, shy little toddler and have seen her grow into the strong, confident woman she is today. 

With her innate athletic ability, Carson could have excelled at any sport. When she was a teenager I tried to persuade her to  pursue competitive golf, she could have easily landed a golf scholarship to a US college……… but hockey won. 

Carson honed her hockey skills on Wetaskiwin Minor Hockey teams and because there were no girl’s teams Carson played on boys teams.  Through the years, she moved up the age groups with many of the same boys and a few girls.  One of the fellows from her Midget AA team, when he read Carson’s bio for her induction tonight stated “Carson wasn’t just our assistant captain but our leading scorer and had a bit of her brother’s gritty side too.  Congratulations Carson, very well deserved”.   Being as humble as she is, Carson forgot to tell us the leading scorer bit.      

The first female hockey team that Carson played on was the Edmonton Chimos.  I watched her play a game as a member of the Chimos and in that game Carson’s assignment was to check Haley Wickenheiser who is possibly Canada’s greatest of all time female hockey player.  Almost half the size of Haley. Carson’s tenacity and skating ability helped her to  successfully keep Haley scoreless. 

Carson’s hockey skills afforded her a full four year university scholarship to play hockey on the women’s team at St Lawrence University in Canton, New York.  The St Lawrence team played in Division 1 of the NCAA hockey program playing against Boston College, Harvard, Princton etc, all well known hockey schools. Here’s a brief summary of Carson’s achievements at St Lawrence: In her first year at St Lawrence Carson was Rookie of the Year for the Eastern College Athletic Conference, the first St Lawrence player to be given that award.  She was also rookie of the year on her team. During Carson’s four year tenure St Lawrence made the playoffs every year and for two of those  years her team made the NCAA “Frozen Four” tournament where the top four teams in the country play for the national championship. Carson set the all time St Lawrence record for goals scored in hockey by scoring a total of 101 goals in her four years. (a record that still stands).  In her graduating year Carson was named St Lawrence Female Athlete of the Year and she was also the MVP on her hockey team.  All in all a fantastic, award winning career at St Lawrence.  

Carson deserves to be recognized for her accomplishments and all of the awards and accolades she received and the records she compiled. But, perhaps the true measure of an athletic career is the impact that a person has on their team and community. We reached out to some of Carson’s St Lawrence team-mates and a coach and here is what they had to say:      

Quoting one team-mate: 
Carson Duggan is everything GOOD about women’s college hockey; humble despite a laundry list of accomplishments, determined to leaving her team and teammates better than she found them and dedicated to paying her experiences as a student-athlete “forward”. To say we are proud to call her a St Lawrence Saint is an understatement and truly the only thing more amazing than her Hockey skills is the size of her heart.  Cheers to you Carson, a hall of fame athlete and friend! 

One of her St Lawrence coaches had this to say: 
Aside from Carson’s obvious physical talents and tremendous passion for the game, she elevated our team with her consistency, humility, and class. Throughout Carson's career, she was consistent with her focus, work ethic, and performance. This takes incredible discipline and commitment to incremental progress. Few people have this resolve. Despite Carson’s vast individual success, she was always looking to deflect attention from herself to her teammates. Carson's desire to share her success and celebrate others was obvious and admired by all. Carson’s humility and grace made her a locker room favorite. Lastly, Carson always represented our school and team with care and class. I can assure you she served as an exemplary role model for your community as well. 

Another team-mate made these comments: 
Carson significantly helped the women on our team become better players and people. Telling people that I played my entire university career with Carson fills me with pride. My greatest honor though is still having Carson as one of my most trusted and loyal friends.    

And here’s another team-mates thoughts: 
Carson always brought a smile, positive attitude, laughter and haribo gummy bears! We could always count on her to tip a puck and get us out of trouble. But most of all she was always the nicest and most welcoming player on our team. As quiet as she was, she made everyone feel part of the team and part of something bigger than us! She is an amazing leader and an even better friend!!!    

After her four years at St Lawrence, Carson spent 1 year playing in Prague in the Czech Republic and  then 8 years in the NCAA coaching ranks. She was again rewarded for her efforts with a Czech league championship and “Coach of the Year” award  at Trinity College, an NCAA school.   Although retired from playing and coaching, Carson continues to stay involved in hockey and give back to her sport.  As a staff member of Women’s Hockey Life Academy she mentors young female hockey players concerning their prospective hockey careers.

During the present hockey season,  Carson has a new hockey gig.  She is a hockey broadcaster and does the colour commentary for the Professional Hockey Federation, a women’’s professional hockey league as well as  men’s & women’s hockey for the North East Sports Network, and Hockey East Network. You never know….perhaps sometime in the future we’ll see Carson as a broadcaster on Hockey Night in Canada!  

Carson, you are indeed a positive role model for all of the young athletes in our community. Please accept our congratulations on your hockey career and your induction into the Wetaskiwin & County Sports Hall of Fame.