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Dale DeGray wasn’t going to trade Carter George, but faced with the potential of losing him for nothing, the veteran Owen Sound Attack GM made a deal.
Published Jan 07, 2026 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
Carter George focuses on the droplets of water squirted from his bottle. It’s one of the many routines the Owen Sound Attack goaltender has to reset his focus during a game. Sam Buschbeck/Sam Buschbeck Photography/Owen Sound Attack jpg, SM, apsmcArticle content
Dale DeGray wanted the storybook ending for Carter George in Owen Sound.
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“I wanted him to come back here and finish it out. I wanted him to be that storied, franchise goalie that would have been one of the most decorated goalies, other than a Memorial Cup,” he said Wednesday afternoon.
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Instead, he got a harsh look at the new world order in the Canadian Hockey League, and, really, modern sports in general.
The players have the power. Or, at least, a bit more of it.
Carter George asked for a trade. That’s not unique in the Ontario Hockey League. The superstar goalie wanted to have a better chance at winning a championship, and decided it wasn’t going to be in Owen Sound.
“I’ve had those discussions before, I’ve had those discussions lots of times,” DeGray said.
This time, DeGray wasn’t impressed by the offers other GMs were putting across his desk.
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Sometime over the holidays, DeGray decided he was going to keep George. Let him play out the string. Add some pieces around him. Maybe make a run. Maybe hang a banner with his face on it one day, who knows.
Then he got word George had another option — Boston College.
Despite signing an entry-level contract (ELC) with the Los Angeles Kings shortly after being drafted in 2024, George and his representatives were looking at schools down south.
It may be a matter of when, not if, NCAA schools will allow players who have signed ELCs to play college hockey, provided they haven’t made the NHL.
Theirry Darlan, London Johnson, and Abdullah Ahmed have gone from the NBA’s developmental G League to the NCAA.
James Nnaji, a former NBA draft pick who played professional basketball in Europe, is now playing college basketball at Baylor.
Graham Sward played two games in the American Hockey League and 47 in the ECHL. He’s now playing for Quinnipiac.
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George’s agent said it’s an option. George said on Wednesday he wanted to know all of the possibilities in front of him before making a decision.
“This way, I could figure out what I wanted to do. I think they did a great job,” George said.
DeGray called an old friend.
Boston College coach Greg Brown and DeGray were teammates with the Cleveland Lumberjacks of the International Hockey League more than 30 years ago.
“We’ve been talking to Carter since November,” DeGray recalled Brown saying during that conversation. “He told me, ‘Digger, if we don’t do it, somebody else will,’” DeGray said.
Meanwhile, DeGray had a deal on the table to ship out one of the team’s other goaltenders.
If DeGray kept George, and the Team Canada goaltender decided to test the waters in the NCAA, Owen Sound would be left with one goaltender after the league’s trade deadline had expired.
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“If he leaves on the 14th or 15th, our rosters are frozen. I would have one goalie,” DeGray said. “I’ve had discussions with the league. This could happen to anybody now . . . the CHL is going to have to come up with an idea to circumvent that. I was kind of stuck.”
With this new information, DeGray knew he needed to act.
He put George back on the market, and Sault Ste. Marie came calling with a package of seven draft picks.
“What if I was only offered a third and a fifth-round pick?” DeGray wondered aloud.
George said he “respects and appreciates” what DeGray did, and will remember his time in Owen Sound fondly.
“At the end of the day, you want to win anywhere, and it was my time to go,” he said.
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