It was announced on July 18 that Rapid City Rush goaltender Adam Carlson has officially retired from professional hockey. Carlson has spent the last three seasons in Rapid City where he has made a name for himself and became a fan favorite.
College Career
Carlson’s college career did not last very long as he went pro after his first college season. in the 2015-16 season, Carlson went to Mercyhurst University where he played in 17 games. In those games, Carlson had a record of 7-7-3 with zero shutouts. He had an average of 2.85 goals against and had a save percentage of 0.919. In his 17 games played, Carlson played for a total of 990 minutes.
Rapid City Rush Career
Adam Carlson spent fours seasons with the Rapid City Rush. His first season with the Rush was the 2018-19 season. After playing for the Jacksonville IceMen for the shortened 2019-20 season, Carlson returned to the Rush for the 2020-21. Carlson was then unable to play during the 2021-22 season due to a lower-body injury, but returned for the 2022-23 season to finish his career on a high note.
Through Carlson’s time with the Rush, he played in 112 games for a total of 6214 minutes on the ice. He had a record of 49-45-11 and had six shutouts with the Rush. Carlson faced 3527 shots with 317 goals against and 3210 saves for a save percentage of 0.910 and a goals against average of 3.06.
ECHL Career
Carlson’s ECHL career started in the 2015-16 season, after his college season ended, with the South Carolina Stingrays, but he did not play in any games with the Stingrays. Carlson returned to the Stingrays for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons where he played in a total of 29 games equaling about 1615 total minutes on the ice. He had a record of 10-12-3 with one shutout. He faced 751 shots with 79 goals against and 672 saves for a save percentage of 0.895. He had a goals against average of 2.93 per game. Carlson also spent some time with the Indy Fuel and Kansas City Mavericks during the 2017-18 season. With the Mavericks, Carlson played nine games for a total of 551 minutes of ice time and had a record of 5-1-3. He faced 243 shots with 19 goals against and 224 saves for a save percentage of 0.922. He had one shutout and had a 2.07 goals against average. With the Fuel, he played one game for a total of 40 minutes and had a record of 0-1-0. Carlson faced 25 shots with five goals against and 20 saves for a save percentage of 0.800. Carlson had zero shutouts and had a goals against average of 7.50. In the 2019-20 shortened season, Carlson played with the Jacksonville IceMen where he played in 41 games for a total of 2246 minutes and had one shutout. Carlson had a record of 19-15-4 and a goals against average of 3.07. He faced 1124 shots with 115 goals against and 1009 saves for a save percentage of 0.898.
In total, Carlson spent eight seasons in the ECHL where he played in 192 games with a record of 83-74-21 and had nine shutouts. Through his entire career, Carlson faced 5670 shots with 535 goals against and 5135 saves for a save percentage of 0.906 and a goals against average of 3.01.
AHL Career
Throughout Carlson’s eight seasons in the ECHL, he did get to spend some time with a few AHL teams. Carlson started with the Hershey bears in the 2015-16 season, but he did not get to play in any games. But in the 2017-18 season, Carlson played six games with the Bears for a total of 317 minutes. He had a record of 2-3-0 and zero shutouts. Carlson faced 155 shots with 15 goals against and 140 saves for a save percentage of 0.903 and a goals against average of 2.85. Carlson was then with the Milwaukee Admirals during the 2018-19 season, but he did not get to play any games. In the 2019-20 season, Carlson got to play two games with the Manitoba Moose where he played 120 minutes with a record of 0-2-0 with zero shutouts. Carlson faced 51 shots with seven goals against and 44 saves for a save percentage of 0.863 and a goals against average of 3.52.
In total, Carlson played eight AHL games for a total of 436 minutes on ice with a record of 2-5-0 with zero shutouts. He faced 206 shots with 22 goals against and 184 saves for a save percentage of 0.893 and a goals against average of 3.03.
What’s Next?
Adam Carlson plans to move back home to Minnesota to coach in the North American Hockey League (NAHL), the Minnesota Hockey Club Youth AAA program, and he will continue coaching with Devenir Goaltenders.
