Everything seemed to be okay with Dragons until the club realised a Belgian family wasn't billeting her to subsidise costs on top of her contracted income to make it affordable to stay, in accordance with immigration requirements.
Mindful most of the dozen clubs would have locked in their player quota, a determined Carey urgently sent out a flurry of emails asking if they required the services of a striker.
A Belgium international, Barbara Nelen, 22, who had just returned from the Rio Olympics, came to her rescue when she contacted a league organiser on Friday last week.
A meeting was called on Wednesday last week and much to her delight the La Gantoise team picked her up.
Ironically she ended up playing Dragons in a warm-up match on the night of the meeting.
"I scored a goal against them so I enjoyed that," says Carey from Gentbrugge, where the La Gantoise Hockey Club is based, after the game ended in a 2-all stalemate.
She lives at a clubhouse accommodation just a stone's throw away from the hockey turf in a French-speaking city that beckons tourists.
The former Havelock North High School pupil played in Antwerp last August for the Braxgata team, helping them to become the league champions in May this year.
"Close to the end of the season, in the second round, I shattered my pinky which put me out for about six weeks.
"I had to fight to get back to the starting line up but it was really good," she says.
Her Belgian stint came after a casual conversation with Black Sticks men's player, Shea McAleese, of Napier, one day.
"I joked to Shea about going to play in Europe because it's not possible to do that if you're not a Black Stick so it was a dream come true for me when I got here through word of mouth from Shea."
Carey had a stellar back-to-back 2014-15 stint with the New Zealand President's team, culminating as top goal scorer both years at the tourney in Fiji.
Braxgata had paid her airfares in March 2015 for trials and five months later she was playing there.
The Akina Blue player had decided to return home following the league but after the playoffs Dragons had broached the subject of staying another season.
"I had initially said no because I just wanted to return home to try to be a Black Stick."
She had signed a contract with Dragons in May. In August when her work permit was declined she was advised to resubmit, an avenue that is open to everyone on the first rejection.
"I had nothing to lose because I was already here so I thought if I have no team by Friday I would just return home although I did have the option of going to England as I had contacted a few clubs there."
Describing it as a "freak situation", her advice to other players intending to follow her path is to ensure visa and work permit matters are resolved several months ahead.
She got the ball rolling in May and still came up short, although her visa was valid from last year.
"Don't procrastinate but when it's in the hands of a club you don't really know what's happening so you have to check up to make sure everything is updated."
Carey rubs shoulders with the likes of England midfielder Susannah Townsend, 27, a Rio gold medallist, not to mention coming across Black Sticks including Samantha Charlton and Petrea Webster.
Australian Georgie Parker is also in the league.
"It's a longer league here with a whole year's hockey, whereas the NHL at home is just a three-month preparation with a week-long tournament so hockey wise I'm learning more here."
The former Youth Olympian team reserve, who juggled equestrian with hockey in the Bay, wants to learn everything she can in Belgium on the platform of a good attitude on the turf.
She did some business studies papers at Massey University before working for PGG Wrightson in Hastings for four years.
"I had a really good boss who kept my job for me from the first to second season so it was sad to resign and go," she says of Jerry Jones, of Hastings.
The burning desire is to slip on the silver fern for New Zealand so the plan is definitely to return home after the Belgian season and relocate to Auckland to improve her chances.
"The dream is to be a Black Stick.
"I have a wee way to go but I want to die trying. I want to give everything to say I tried it," she says.
