“He’s a man already. If you look at his stature, size, he puts the work in in the off season, runs around the farm and lifts cows and goats all day, so he, he can handle. He’s a kid that, you know, puts the time in off the ice to make sure he’s prepared. And these approaches, you know, he plays 30 minutes a night and it looks like he plays 15. And when you can skate like that and its effortless it probably makes the game a little bit easier. ” said Cougars Assistant Coach Carter Rigsby.
Carels has taken his role as a leader to another level this season while wearing the A and brought back some lessons to the Cougars dressing room that he learned while playing with an experienced team Canada at the World Juniors.
“You have to be loose. You just can’t be too uptight all the time. There’s times where you have to be dialed and focused, but there’s also times you had to just smile and have fun. You just have to come to the rink every day having a smile on your face and just having fun.” said Carels.
Carson Carels will suit up as Captain of Team West under Cougars head coach Mark Lamb at the 2026 WHL Prospects game in Langley February 18 as he continues to showcase himself ahead of a stacked 2026 NHL Draft.