Carpenter attended
Northern Michigan University between 1990 and 1994. Whilst there he played for the ice hockey team, the Wildcats, and was honoured by both the league and the team. After university, Carpenter joined the
Richmond Renegades in the
ECHL for the 1995–96 season. The following season he went to the
United Kingdom where he joined the
Solihull Blaze in the
British National League (BNL), before he returned to the
United States to finish the season with the
Fresno Falcons in the
West Coast Hockey League. For the
1997–98 season Carpenter returned to the United Kingdom to join the
Nottingham Panthers in the
Ice Hockey Superleague (ISL). He stayed with the Panthers for the next three seasons helping them to win the
Benson & Hedges Cup in 1998 and to get to three other major trophy finals. For the
2000–01 season he joined the Panthers rivals, the
Sheffield Steelers, who he helped to win the
Grand Slam of all four major competitions that season. He joined the
Coventry Blaze in the second tier BNL in 2001–02. In the 2002–03 season he helped them to win the league and the playoffs and was himself named to the BNL
All Star First Team. Coventry joined the new first tier
Elite Ice Hockey League for
2003–04 season where Carpenter played. He then joined the
Milton Keynes Lightning in the second tier
English Premier Ice Hockey League for the 2004–05 season and helped them to win the league and playoffs before he retired from playing in May 2005. ==Awards and honours==