Carly Jackson

When Carly Jackson describes what it means to play professional women's hockey in the current era, the words come without hesitation. "It's such a gift to be a part of the product that has the full support that it finally deserves," Jackson told InGoal Radio in early 2025 ^[1]. That perspective is rooted in a career that spans nearly a decade of professional and elite amateur competition — from the University of Maine to an Isobel Cup championship to the expansion Seattle Torrent.

Jackson was born June 23, 1997, in Amherst, Nova Scotia, and catches left. They stand 5'5" and wear number 70. Their path to professional hockey ran through Orono, Maine, where they played four seasons for the University of Maine Black Bears beginning in 2016. As a freshman, Jackson made 25 starts and earned a spot on the Hockey East All-Academic Team. The sophomore season brought a single-season program record for wins, with 17. The junior year reshaped the Black Bears' record books entirely: Jackson set program marks for wins, saves, save percentage (.923%), shutouts, and goals-against average (1.90) in a single season. By the time their collegiate career concluded, Jackson had graduated as the program's all-time leader in wins, save percentage, shutouts, and goals-against average. Their final two seasons at Maine produced appearance totals of 28 and 32 games respectively, with a best seasonal save percentage of .934.

Before their collegiate career, Jackson represented Canada at the 2015 IIHF Women's Under-18 World Championship and returned home with a silver medal.

The professional career began when Jackson was selected third overall by the Buffalo Beauts in the 2020 NWHL Draft. Their first season in Buffalo was a condensed one, cut short by COVID-19, but Jackson led all goaltenders in saves and faced the most shots in the league. The second Beauts season stretched to 17 regular-season games, Jackson posted a .903 save percentage, and served as an alternate captain. That same season, 2020-21, Jackson received the NWHL Foundation Award and was named to the Fans' Three Stars of the Season — a recognition they would earn again in 2022-23.

After two seasons with Buffalo, Jackson moved to the Toronto Six for the 2022-23 PHF campaign. Appearing in six games and recording a .926 save percentage, Jackson was part of the Six's Isobel Cup championship run. Following the PHF's transition into the PWHL, Jackson spent two seasons with PWHL Toronto before signing with the expansion Seattle Torrent on July 9, 2025.

On the InGoal Radio podcast, Jackson has spoken in depth about what the PWHL represents as a professional environment — the full-time goalie coaching, medical support staff, and daily resources that distinguish it from earlier iterations of professional women's hockey ^[1]. Jackson also described an ongoing technical evolution in their game: working with goalie coaches Brad Kirkwood and Brad Fogal, they have moved toward a narrower, more rhythmic stance, replacing a tendency to sink progressively lower with a system of moving tall and dropping into a set position only when a genuine threat materializes. "I'm tall, tall, tall. As soon as I see that trigger, boom, set, fraction of a second before they shoot," Jackson explained on ^[1], comparing the movement pattern to a baseball player's pre-pitch routine. Jackson also noted having an athletic training certification in the United States, a background that informed a two-hour conversation with performance specialist James Wendland at the Vancouver event covered in that same episode.

After winning the Isobel Cup with the Toronto Six, Jackson appeared on InGoal Radio alongside Elaine Chuli to discuss the championship ^[2].

InGoal Magazine has covered Carly Jackson in two podcast appearances.