HERSHEY, Pa. — It's awesome to see players reach career milestones, but it's the people behind the scenes that make it all possible and from the finest details to game day prep, Josh Carter takes care of all the equipment needs.
Learning everything he knows today from "Sluggo," also known as his Uncle Doug Shearer, who worked in the NHL for 34-years.
Carter said, “From the time I was five years old, sitting on a puck freezer, I fell in love with it."
The Elizabethtown native knew hockey would always be apart of his life. Every opportunity he had to be at the rink, he was, and when the head equipment manager position opened in 2014 in Chocolate Town; since October 14th of that year, Carter has been the go to guy.
“Personally, I’ve been playing it my whole life. It’s a team game. It’s a family. It’s my family away from my family. Especially, during the season. You know, my wife is always at home when I’m on the road or, here every day. It’s nice to have this group of people to come to or lean on when you have a bad day. It worked out that I got the job here and it’s been a dream come true," said Carter.
While he's working, he likes to make it seem like he’s not at the game. Carter says he's doing his job right if there’s barely any issues. The Bears head coach, Scott Allen says, “We’re so fortunate to have the people that we have behind the scenes in this organization and certain so proud of Josh Carter. He’s a true professional. He does things the right way. We talking about doing things the right way, one the ice with our players. Well, it has to start behind the scenes, off the ice. It’s so important and people don’t realize, those guys are a huge part of our foundations.”
With all the COVID postponements and cancelations, it was hard knowing when Carter’s 500th game would fall. It landed on a night in Chocolate Town against the Phantoms. An overtime thriller to cap the night. Then, the team surprises him with a jersey to forever remember Wednesday night – but carter is focused on the next milestone. He wants 500 more.
You can catch the Hershey Bears on various nights throughout the season.