Eugene William "Gene" Carr - Born September 17, 1951 in Nanaimo, British Columbia - Died December 13, 2023 in Los Angeles, California was a Canadian/American ice Hockey centre.

Carr grew up playing Hockey in Nanaimo, British Columbia and then joined the junior A Kelowna Buckeroos when he was just 15 years old. Carr was selected to the BCJHL First All-Star Team in 1969

Carr was scouted by coach Patty Ginnell and signed with the Flin Flon Bombers of the Western Canada Hockey League where he scored 76 goals and 142 assists during his 2 years there. The Bombers would win the league championship (President's Cup/Ed Chynoweth Cup) in 1970, and lose in the league championship final in 1971.

In 1970 he was the Western Canada Junior Hockey League Rookie of the Year and in 1971 was named to the All-Star Team.

In 1971 Carr was drafted to the NHL and he had the honour to be the first player from Western Canada to be selected in the first round. In a strong draft that saw Guy Lafleur the first pick, Carr was fourth overall, taken by the St. Louis Blues. Carr is also the first Nanaimo born person to play in the NHL, and third Vancouver Island born person to play in the NHL.

Carr only played in 15 games with the Blues before being part of a big trade with the New York Rangers. The Rangers acquired Carr along with Jim Lorentz and Wayne Connelly for Jack Egers, Andre Dupont and Mike Murphy. For the next two seasons Carr was rarely used on the Rangers, although he gained a measure of fame in 1972 when he shadowed and shut down Montreal's Yvan Cournoyer during a playoff series.

Carr played four years with the Rangers and twice made it to the Stanley Cup finals. His speed as a skater was legendary, but a series of injuries unfortunately hampered his career.

Carr was traded to the Los Angeles Kings by the Rangers for Los Angeles' 1st round choice (Ron Duguay) at the 1977 Amateur Draft, February 15, 1974.

Carr however continued to be cast in a minor role, mostly penalty killing. He never found his scoring touch and he never had perfect health. In 212 games with the Kings over some four seasons, he had just 38 goals. Gene was still a fan favourite, as his golden blond locks would flow as he skated up and down the ice at The Forum.

While in Los Angeles, Carr was better known as a friend of The Eagles Glenn Frey than for his on ice accomplishments. Frey sometimes wore Carr's #12 jersey while on stage at concerts and reportedly wrote the song "New Kid In Town" with Carr in mind.

"Glenn used to call me 'Hockey Hollywood,'" said Carr.

Carr was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins by Los Angeles with Dave Schultz and Los Angeles' 4th round choice (Shane Pearsall) in the 1978 Amateur Draft for Syl Apps Jr. and Hartland Monahan,

Carr finally got the break he wanted in Pittsburgh. He finished the year as a regular player, and chipped in with 17 goals (plus 2 more previously with LA) and 56 points.

Carr became a free agent at the conclusion of that season and signed on with the Atlanta Flames, and had just 3 goals and 11 points in 30 games, and spent half of the season in the minor leagues.

Carr was forced to retire at age 28 in 1979 because of the back pain that simply wouldn't go away.

Carr played in 465 regular season NHL games scoring 79 goals (12 GWG), 136 assists with 365 penalty minutes and 35 NHL playoff games, scoring 5 goals and 8 assists with 66 penalty minutes.

NOTE
This photo shows Carr holding his 1st NHL playoff goal, scored on Chicago Black Hawks Tony Esposito at 18:22 of 2nd period on April 23, 1972 at Madison Square Garden in a 6-2 Rangers win.

The Rangers would make the 1972 Stanley Cups finals, losing in 6 games to Boston.

In 2019, Carr met his 47-year-old daughter Tracy for the first time.