The roots of the hairstyle began with a bet between Carter and then-Bruins teammates Joe Thornton and Jason Allison that he couldn't grow an Afro.
"After I grew the Afro, my sister was the one who suggested that I twist my hair," Carter said. "I went to this lady in Boston, this hair salon, I sat in this chair for two hours getting my locks twisted in beeswax. Once your hair starts locking, it starts growing like weeds. It was just a matter of trimming and maintaining so I could see out the side of my helmet."
His new 'do caught the eye of the late Pat Burns, who was Boston's coach and no stranger to hairstyling himself. He wanted to make sure that Harry Sinden, the Bruins' old-school general manager at the time, got a glimpse of Carter's new look, too.
"The very first day I got it done, [Burns] walked into the dressing room and he was like, 'What the hell is going on with your salad?'" Carter said. "He's like, 'You're starting tonight, for sure. I can't wait to see the look on Harry's face.'"