“Don’t let success get to your head, don’t let failure get to your heart.” A quote 15-year-old Carsen Musser writes on the tape of his stick every time he steps on the ice.
Musser is a six-foot-three, 180-pound goalie from Sherburn, Minnesota, who the Portland Winterhawks selected in the 11th round of the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft.
Located approximately two and a half hours south of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, home to approximately 1,100 residents, you will find the Musser residence. Carsen’s father, Bart, is an elementary school teacher and his mother, Sarah, is a registered nurse for two local counties.
Every Friday and Saturday night growing up the Mussers would gather around the television to watch the University of Minnesota Gophers. Watching goalie Adam Wilcox, a sixth-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lighting, inspired Carsen to try his hand at the goalie position. “I loved the position, just watching them, and wanted to try it out,” Musser said. “My dad was the coach, and I asked, ‘Hey, can I try goalie out?’ and he said sure. Ever since then, I’ve stuck with it.”
For Bart, the initial decision did not come easy. “My wife and I both did not want him playing goalie with the difficulties of the position, you could say. Plus, he was a good skater.”
What changed?
“As soon as he started making saves, it was a sign the position was for him. He has always had a good eye for the puck, able to track the puck, and did a phenomenal job right away.”
While hockey is the most popular sport in the state of Minnesota, Fairmont is not located in the hotbed like the Twin Cities or northern cities of Duluth and Bemidji. However, this never stopped Carsen from pursuing his dream of playing competitive hockey.
“It was a little bit of a challenge with our town being such a small town and playing different cities with more of a hockey population,” Carsen explained. “Where I’m from, hockey is not really that big. Our furthest competition we played was about two and a half hours away. It was quite a journey for games.”
He started training with MAP South Hockey in 2017. The drive to his training facility was two and a half hours from home. With so much time spent on the road, the young netminder was forced to complete his schoolwork in the car. “I did school in the car on the way over (to practice or games). I would then do school again on the way home.”
Bart added, “It was a lot of late nights driving home with cell phone lights on, car lights on, doing homework and studying.”
Clearly though, Carsen excelled as he boasts a 3.97 grade point average.
Baseball is popular in southern Minnesota. Up until last year, Musser traded in the pads for a glove and cleats when his hockey season ended.
“I played catcher, pitcher, and then all over the infield,” Carsen said of his time on the diamond. “The hand-eye coordination really helped me out as you need that in both sports. In baseball, and playing catcher, it is like goalie and stopping the ball. Baseball and hockey helped me translate skills from one sport to the other.”
Not only did he get to further develop his skill athletically, he was able to continue the bond he had with his friends. “Last summer was probably the best summer playing baseball with my friends. I was able to go out there and just have some fun.”
When he has some down time, he does not mind breaking out the PS4 to play some NHL or Madden with his friends. Much like many hockey players, Carsen recently started playing golf and hopes to hit the courses again when the weather warms up.
Playing High School Hockey
Last season Carsen made the Fairmont varsity team as a freshman. His high school, not known for being a hockey power, did not have a winning season. However, the lack of a winning record did not prevent Musser from seeing the experience as a positive one.
“It was really fun (playing varsity), but a little challenging too. We weren’t really a good team, but it is what it is. Being a freshman last year and playing against these guys who are three or four years older than you is a cool experience.”
Representing his hometown meant something to Carsen. “There was a bunch of pride whenever I put that jersey on. I remember last year being the leader in the state for shots on goal. It was pretty cool to represent my school and my city in some of those categories that usually goalies from around our area wouldn’t have represented.”
In 945 minutes played in 2019-2020, Musser faced 973 shots. Despite appearing in 221 fewer minutes, his 877 saves were three behind the state leader. He was also one of two goalies in the top ten of shots faced who held a save percentage over .900.
Did the number of shots per game bother Musser? “Mentally, it was fun because you usually don’t see that many shots in a game. Physically, it drained me after taking 50 a night. With last year being such a tough season, I was still able to focus on my game and make sure I improved every time I was on the ice.”
Bart feels that “Carsen seeing the number of shots he did made him what he is today. It has helped him handle different types of shots and game situations.”
The adversity he faced while a member of Fairmont High School prepared him for his next stop in his young career.
WHL Bantam Draft
Over the summer, Carsen experienced a thrill many young hockey players in Western Canada and the United States hoped to also experience.
The Winterhawks used their tenth selection of the draft on the athletic netminder.
“Our American scouts really liked a combination of both his size and his athleticism,” Portland Winterhawks Vice President, General Manager, and Head Coach Mike Johnston said. “He is a very driven kid, a worker, but also has the combination of being a great athlete and big guy in the net too. He moves really well too, has a lot of good assets to his game.”
Carsen’s draft day was exciting as he followed along on his computer while completing distance learning for school. He kept hitting refresh hoping to see his name appear on the draft tracker.
The whole process was still new for him however. “In the days before the draft, I did not have much of a clue about it or what to expect. Once I heard about it more, and then heard my name, it was really cool that my work has paid off so far. The draft that day was a great experience for me.”
Learning about the WHL was new for Bart as well. “I was doing the same thing (hitting refresh) where I was in my school; it was nerve racking. Talking with Jeff Pilacinski, (Portland’s) scout for Minnesota, he set the ease for me. I knew of the WHL, but I didn’t know as much about it. Jeff was a really good educator in that sense for us. I know he was super excited about Carsen as a player and even more excited when the team drafted him.”
After the draft Musser’s phone got a workout. “All that night, my phone was going off from former teammates to grandparents and to relatives saying congratulations. MAP South Hockey, where I train, their congratulations probably stood out the most. They did a post on social media about me. It was really cool to see that they really care about me to do that.”
For young hockey players, getting drafted in the WHL is just the first step of many. There is tremendous opportunity in Portland for a young goaltender at the moment.
Per Johnston, “I really don’t think we have goaltender depth right now as far as signed goaltenders go. We are very limited in that capacity. With (Joel) Hofer basically leaving for the American (Hockey) League, we have just two signed goaltenders. We do need some depth in goal.”
Johnston has high praise for Musser. “He would be a player that would be very close to a player who could play as a 16 in my assessment. I had a chance to see him about two weeks ago in Phoenix at a tournament down there. That was the first time I got to see him play live. I thought he was really good in the games that I watched.”
Musser has time before he will make a decision regarding where he will play next, but Johnston feels, “Certainly we are an attractive option for both him and his family because our league plays a significant amount of games, so there are more opportunities for goaltenders to play games. Like with other goaltenders we have on our list, we are continuing to evaluate them and trying to make sure that, when we believe they are ready, we offer them a contract and get them signed.”
One benefit that Carsen has over some of the other Portland prospects right now — “He is able to get games in this year. This is unlike in Canada where a lot of Western Canadian teams have shut down as of the beginning of December. The American teams have been able to continue to play. He is getting good, quality starting action in the net there,” Johnston commented.
A new team, a new experience
This season Musser made the decision to leave Minnesota to play AAA hockey in Michigan with Victory Honda.
“It is about 10.5 hours away from home so definitely a challenge with the distance,” Musser expressed. “It has been a fun experience playing with (Victory Honda), but a different style and pace of hockey than high school hockey. I’m loving playing out there and they have a great organization. This has helped me both on and off the ice.”
While he may not be facing the 50 shots a game anymore, Musser made a different adjustment. “The pace is faster. Not everyone is bigger than high school hockey since we are all the same age. You don’t have seniors playing against freshmen and sophomores. The speed of the game has been eye opening.”
Landing with Victory Honda was a process itself. The Minnesota hockey culture is pretty tight so Musser’s name was passed around, and the family had two different opportunities for Carsen to play AAA hockey. Victory Honda, Colorado Rampage, and the Des Moines Buccaneers offered Musser a spot.
“We went out in June to Michigan to visit those guys,” Bart recalled. “The organization showed us his billet family, and as parents, we just felt relieved in knowing that he was going somewhere safe. He is with a super good family, a really good team with good coaches too.”
The move out was an exciting opportunity, but also brought a new normal for the Mussers. In a small town, both Bart and Sarah were able to attend all of Carsen’s games. This changed with the move to Victory Honda. “The very first time we took him out there in late August, that drive back home was a tough drive,” Bart shared. “The hardest thing we had to learn was that we couldn’t watch him in person anymore. We had seen all of his games since he was knee high. It was hard not being there.”
The billet family Bart and Sarah met in June provided an alternative to sitting in the cold rink. “They videoed it for us over Facebook Messenger, and we watched his game that way. My wife and I were around a little computer.”
When Carsen leaves for Plymouth, Michigan, again the goodbye will be a little easier for Bart. “We will pack him up in the car and say, ‘See you later and when we see you.’ It is a little bit easier now.”
Victory Honda and Musser will get back up and running in January with practice three times a week and games against other local Michigan teams when possible. One of the highlights will be the CCM Notre Dame Shootout held in South Bend, Indiana, which takes place January 8-10.
In addition, Carsen will be skating every day at his school, Total Package Hockey Detroit (TPH). According to its website, “The Total Package Hockey Center of Excellence is a focused environment where dedicated student-athletes study, train and play to their fullest potential. Our environment combines proven, accredited online learning with hands-on, innovative on and off-ice training and instruction. With a focus on choices, character and culture, we believe in a holistic approach, and recognize that our greatest responsibility is to prepare our student-athletes for success in the ultimate game: the game of life.”
Leadership with his new team is something of importance for Musser. After being drafted by the Winterhawks, that quality has only increased. “My teammates think it is really cool that they are playing with someone who has been drafted. They kind of look up to me a little bit more. Whenever I speak up about something, or help a player out, they listen to me. Even though I don’t have a “C” or an “A” on my jersey, I still try to be a leader for my team and help all of us get to the next level.”
That leadership was shown at the tournament in Phoenix that Mike Johnston referenced.
“It was a neat experience to go down to Arizona to play hockey; I had never been down there,” Musser said. “The first couple of games we played were a little rough. The team didn’t play that well for the first two games, but we ended up winning a couple of games towards the end (of the tournament). With the tougher games we played, I was able to say, ‘It is just one game, look forward to the next, and put everything behind you.’ My mindset after the first couple of games was still positive.”
Final Thoughts
As Musser looks ahead in his career, he hopes to model his game after Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues and Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights.
Musser feels the best attribute to his game is his athleticism. “I’m probably pretty quick for my height. Just being able to move side-to-side with my butterflies and t-pushes. My eyes are a strength as well as I keep them in the right direction.”
An area of focus over the next several months with his coaches at TPH will be to improve his crease positioning. “I’m always trying to improve where I’m at in my crease and know how far I came out or how back in the crease I am.”
Given Musser’s history with hockey so far, everyone around him can see how his hard work and dedication are paying off. Look no further than the Portland Winterhawks drafting him in 2020.
Needless to say, Musser hasn’t let his success get to his head nor any failures to his heart.
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