Although born in Hartford, Michigan, Carpenter grew up in the Lachute-Brownsburg, Quebec, area where his parents lived until they moved to Red Deer, Alberta, in 1913.
Carpenter moved to Port Arthur, Ontario, in 1909 to work for the Canadian Northern Railway. He played the defensive position of cover point with the semi-professional Thunder Bay Hockey Club in 1910, then during the hockey seasons of 1910–11 and 1911–12 for the Port Arthur Hockey Club. The team (which included Jack Walker) defeated Prince Albert for the Western Canadian championship, then went on to play the Ottawa Senators on March 16, 1911, for the Stanley Cup; they were defeated by the NHA team.
Carpenter played for the Moncton Victorias in the 1912–13 season and the New Glasgow Black Foxes in 1913–14. He then joined the Stanley Cup champion Toronto Blueshirts of the NHA for one season. He left the Blueshirts and joined the new Seattle Metropolitans, helping the team win the Stanley Cup in 1917. After two seasons in Seattle, Carpenter returned to Port Arthur for one season before serving in World War I. He returned from the war in 1919 and joined the Quebec Bulldogs of the NHL, following the club to Hamilton the next season, where it was known as the Hamilton Tigers.
After retiring from professional hockey in 1921, Carpenter became the trainer, coach, and manager for the Port Arthur Hockey Club which won two Allan Cups in 1924–25 and 1925–26. He served as councillor of the city of Port Arthur in 1941. Around 1945, he moved to Winnipeg, and in approximately 1954, he retired from his job as a locomotive engineer, having worked for the Canadian National Railways. He died in Winnipeg in 1963.
