There are dreams, yes. And there are dream scenarios. Combining both doesn’t happen very often. 

But such is the case for Carter Meyer, who, along with his two best hockey friends, Sam Pandolfo and Finn Sears, has been selected to represent Team USA at USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program (NTDP) in Plymouth, Mich., as part of the newest class of 23 elite teens to join the prestigious program.

Meyer, with his father, former NHLer Freddy Meyer, also becomes part of the first father-son duo to play at the NTDP. Adding to the dream scenario is just how close the three longtime hockey buddies have been for years.

Meyer, Pandolfo and Sears have spent nearly their entire hockey lives together, beginning with the Boston Jr. Eagles as kids, they all live within a few minutes of one another outside of Boston, and they all spent their freshmen hockey seasons at Rivers in Weston. Where, by the way, Freddy Meyer is the coach.

“I mean, it’s awesome,” says Carter of the NTDP selection. “Not many kids get to do it, obviously, right? And you just want to value the fact you’re able to spend two years in the USA jersey. Every kid wants to do that one day, so it’s being able to represent your country. I know Finn and Sam and me, we’re all very excited to do that. We’re honored to be able to do that. I had confidence in myself that I could make it, but I can’t wait to get started, put in two years of hard work and see where it takes me.”

At selection camp, Meyer was the first to learn of his selection and, as Pandolfo and Sears learned of their own selections, the next step of the dream had unfolded.

“After I heard that they found out, there just could not have been more excitement,” Meyer says. “I’m proud of them that they were able to make the team. We’ve been together for like eight years. We’ve all worked hard together and we’ve all earned it. We’ve been together for a long time and we want to keep it like that.”

In addition to half a life playing hockey together, the trio also has the advantage of proximity, which, as any parent knows, is a blessing for such like-minded and motivated friends.

“I live like four minutes from Sam and 10 minutes from Finn,” says Meyer. “We see each other every day at school. And whenever they come over or if we go to Sam’s house, it’s either something to do with hockey – whether it’s shooting pucks or watching hockey – or sports. We’re just always doing something active. If someone wants to go play golf, we just text each other.”

Another significant piece of the bond is Freddy Meyer, who played in the early years of the NTDP, and went on to play four seasons at Boston University before playing nearly a decade of pro hockey in a career that included nearly 300 NHL games. Meyer, who founded Dream Big HockeyStars, coached his kids’ Eagles youth teams with current Terriers coach Jay Pandolfo.

In short, Meyer hasn’t missed a whole lot of Carter’s games or practices.

“I think I made the decision as a dad to be around them as much as I can,” says Freddy, whose eldest son, Freddy, is a very good player in his own right. “And it has been awesome. A lot of fun. Obviously, I’ve seen the good days and the bad days, as father and sons on the ice, and we ride to school in the mornings. I’ve been around them a lot. Not just my kids, but with Sam and Finn, too, and all the guys I’ve coached.”

For his own part, the Meyer Sr., enjoyed a bit of an unexpected career, which may itself have informed not only how he coaches, but how he views the horizon for his players.

“It was a blessing to be able to play in the NHL and to play for as long as I did,” Meyer says. “Obviously, I wasn’t expecting any of that. It just didn’t seem like a realistic goal, even from the National Program or to BU. And then not being drafted or having any real TLC on that end of things, it just felt unattainable. It made that experience really enjoyable and memorable. You’re with Billy Guerin on Long Island. Peter Forsberg in Philly. You’re almost going from collecting their hockey cards, essentially, to trying to pass to them on the power play. I cherished every day I was part of that. Like a big kid playing the game you love and with a bunch of good guys. Pretty incredible.”

As a coach, Meyer’s passed-down experiences led to something that may seem out of the ordinary from behind the bench or on the ice during practices: perspective.

“I always try to look back on my own playing days with different coaches and different structures and different philosophies,” says Meyer. “A lot of that for me is having fun and wanting to go to the rink. It’s not like this overly structured environment. It’s about playing the game the right way – how to master the fundamentals and the basics and get really good at those – and then enjoy it. I think it fuels [players'] passion and love for the game. And it makes their life easy going to the rink every day. If they hadn’t been having fun or it had been a grind or coaches are yelling and screaming that everybody stinks, it makes that experience miserable.”

If you’ve seen one Meyer practice, he jokes, you’ve seen them all.

“I try to change up drill structures and what we’re doing, but the sequence usually stays the same,” he says. “It’s always a warm-up of some sense into warm-up of goalies, into shooting drills, into 2-on-1s, into 3-on-2s, moving through some things and into finishing with small-area games. Very up-tempo and flow-based. It’s more about guys moving and executing, gradually increasing guys in different situations. Most practices, depending on the time of year, we end with small-area games. It’s some different fun, situational things that create some compete.”

And then the Meyer boys go home.

“When practice ends, we get back in the car when we put sports talk radio on in the car,” Freddy says. “We’re not talking about what they did in practice. I try to close that chapter and move on. I want them to enjoy it. I kind of pull from my dad. He’s a brick mason in the middle of New Hampshire, he didn’t go to college and he didn’t have a sports psychology degree. But I don’t remember a day that I got off the ice where he yelled and screamed at me. He was always very positive and optimistic. And I try to reiterate that with my kids. Let’s move on, let’s move on, and let’s have fun the next time we’re on the ice.”

And now Meyer has one of those “good problems” in a player who has been recognized as one of the top 15 forwards in the country for his birth year. It’s also another opportunity to enjoy the ride.

“I think for me as a parent it has been more about enjoying the game and having fun with it, working hard at it and letting the pieces kind of fall where they fall,” says Freddy. “Certain parents have these goals for their kids and it might be tough for kids to accomplish. We have two boys; obviously, Carter is going to the National Program, Freddy is 18 months older and a very good hockey player in his own way. For me as a dad, it’s, like, ‘Let’s go have some fun with this thing.’ We’re trying to play this thing at the highest level. There should be fun. You’re with each other, you’re with your buddies and you’re competing hard and you’re trying to score and make it fun. It shouldn’t be a job to put your gear on, especially at this age. I try to coach them and give them some tips, but I also try to find that balance of just being a dad and not micromanaging from behind the glass or having all these lofty goals for them.”

While some parents may think that’s having made it, it isn’t without its complications.

“I don’t think we overanalyze it or make it a bigger deal than it is when we’re at home,” Meyer says. “Obviously, we have two kids and we love them equally. They’re both really good players. We’re proud of [Carter] and what he has accomplished and this is all great, but this isn’t the end goal. You have to keep working and having a good attitude and keep improving. These are huge accomplishments, and some of the stuff that he’s done probably hasn’t happened too many times in the prep world here in New England. But, at the same time, we have to get up tomorrow and get back to work.”

Carter seems well positioned for that work.

“[Carter] has good size, he likes to engage physically, he wants to win 50-50 pucks and go through you if he has to in order to do that,” says his father. “And he has a high-end skill set once he has the puck, in terms of his eyes and his vision and his hockey IQ, to make the right play. He has an element of finishing as well, coming down downhill and attacking goalies, being able to beat them with his shot and his deception. I think there are similarities with both my boys in the way I played – kind of fearless and playing bigger than you are. Obviously, Carter is bigger than all of us, so he has some physicality and kind of a no-fear approach. So, in terms of going into traffic to get pucks or taking pucks into traffic to create different shooting lanes, I think he’s willing to do that and I think he’s been effective at doing that.”

Carter’s own self-scouting report includes some similarities.

“I see myself as a skilled, two-way center who can score you goals or who can make you plays,” he says. “Whatever the team needs you to do. If you need me to go into the corners and win puck battles or play physical. Just bringing a lot of things to my game. I think that’s very important. I want to impact a game more than just by scoring goals – whether it’s killing penalties or laying hits. So, for me, it’s about playing a 200-foot game. But also working hard and bringing a lot of things to my game.”

This past season at Rivers, the 6-foot Meyer, after a 28-game season in which he scored 41 goals and added 29 assists, earned ISL Eberhart MVP and New England Hockey Journal Boys’ Prep Rookie of the Year honors. 

And the production is no accident. His is nearly a lifetime spent in and into hockey. 

“Honestly, it just starts when you’re younger,” says Meyer. “It separates, too. There are kids who get home at 9-years-old and they want go on their iPad or go on their phone or whatever. Or there will be kids who just want to watch hockey. You wake up and watch all the hockey highlights. You go out and shoot pucks late at night. You have an outdoor rink in the winter time. You’re going out to skate after school. It kind of just starts with a love the game. You want to be around it. Maybe it’s starting to work out at a relatively younger age – maybe you’re not doing weight, but you’re getting the reps of what it looks like to be a top athlete. And you continue to ramp it up when you get older. Each day, it’s going to the gym or the rink with a purpose.”

After finishing his freshman year at Rivers, Meyer says he’ll be playing some golf this summer, skating, watching the Red Sox and staying close to the loved ones and friends in the area before shipping off to live in Michigan, where the next dream awaits for him with a profoundly small number of selections to represent Team USA.

“I think I know a lot of them, if not most,” Meyer says. “So far, I think we have a very strong group. Everybody’s coming in there with the same goal: Just win games and get closer with each other. I think it’s very possible for us to do big things together as a group.