Running hot – on ice

By Gavin Staindl
THE temperature hovers around freezing and a 16-year-old boy, covered in layers of clothing, stands surrounded by ice.
Expect this type of scene during a Scandinavian winter, but in fact, local Fraser Carson is in Melbourne, making his debut as a national level ice hockey goalkeeper.
Between sweating out the pre-game nerves in the changerooms and making his first save at the Medibank Icehouse as the Melbourne Mustangs’ starting keeper, all Carson can think of is that he finally made it.
“Once the first puck dropped for the start of that game, it really hit home that I had finally made it,” Carson said.
“It has been one of my goals to play at national level.
“Since I was 12, I wanted to play with the big guys; now to be doing that at 16 is such a big rush.”
In April, the Lyndhurst College student became the youngest goalkeeper to represent the Mustangs in the Australian Ice Hockey League.
It has been a rapid rise through the hockey ranks for Carson, who began playing only five years ago.
As a five-year–old, Carson developed a love for skating and hockey when he joined an inline hockey team as a field player.
But after leading the league in penalties in his first two seasons, Carson, and his teammates, thought it best if he went permanent goalkeeper to avoid any more trips to the penalty box.
The spirited junior still managed to lead the club in penalties as a goalie the next year but, aside from his temper, Carson was making a name for himself as a leading shot blocker.
In 2006, aged 12, members of a local ice hockey team persuaded Carson to switch codes and within six months Carson was representing Victoria in ice hockey at the Australian nationals.
Three years later, he found himself in Canada, keeping for a AAA team and only last month, Carson returned from China, where he was part of the gold medal Australian team that took out the under-18 division Three World Championships.
Ice hockey is no longer something Carson simply enjoys; it is a future career and a way of life.
When asked if the ice-rink is a second home to the junior keeper, Carson responded: “Ah, it’s more like a first home.”
“I think I spend more time on the ice than I do at home.
“I’m pretty much more comfortable on skates than in shoes.
“When you are doing something you love and you’re doing it so often, it becomes first nature and most of the time you can’t even tell you’ve got the equipment on.
“At school, when you know you’ve got a big game coming up, that’s all you think about, or you hear a story in the NHL (National Hockey League) and start thinking, ‘I wish that was me’.”
But Carson knows there can be no slacking off in class, for if the Year 12 student is to fulfil his dream of playing Division One hockey at an American College, he must first pass his VCE.
“I don’t have the money to get over there (America), so I’ll be relying on scholarships, especially academic scholarships,” Carson said.
“But sometimes it’s a real struggle.
“I rarely have time to do homework on weekends or training days so I focus hard in class and afterwards it’s really a case of staying back after school so I can thrash it all out in a work environment.”
But Carson knows it is all worth it, because in the end, he gets to play hockey.
“I don’t get paid to play, but I treat it as a job … I love it.”