Curtis Glencross

Curtis Glencross (born Curtis Jack Glencross on December 28, 1982) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for and an alternate captain of the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Undrafted by any team, Curtis signed with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks as a free agent in 2004 and made his NHL debut with the team in 2007. He has also played for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Edmonton Oilers and joined the Flames in 2008 as an unrestricted free agent.

He improved his scoring totals in each of his first three seasons in Calgary, earning a four-year contract extension with the team in 2011.

Curtis is a spokesman for the Special Olympics and is a member of Rae Croteau Jr.'s chuckwagon racing team in the summer.

Early Playing Career
When he was 15 years old, Curtis was small for his age, standing less than five feet tall and as a result, he was often left off the top teams in minor hockey despite having the talent to play.

He played Midget C hockey in Provost. Curtis experienced a rapid growth spurt, growing a full foot in a period of 17 months and was recruited to play Junior A hockey for the expansion Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) in 2000.

He went on to become the first Bandit alumnus to play in the National Hockey League (NHL) and his number 17 was retired by the team in 2011.

College & Minor Professional Career
The Bandits were a last-place team both years that Curtis played, but he was among the AJHL's leading goalscorers in 2001–02 with 42 goals.

Curtis went undrafted by an NHL team, but received interest from National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) schools and was considering returning to Brooks for a third season of junior.

Jack Kowal (the assistant coach of the University of Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves) had scouted Curtis during the season. Impressed with his ability and intensity on the ice, he offered him a full scholarship to play for his school.

Curtis played two seasons at Alaska-Anchorage between 2002 and 2004, scoring 32 goals and 57 points in 72 games.

Curtis was named the Western Collegiate Hockey Association offensive player of the week for December 15, 2003 after scoring a hat trick against the Colorado College Tigers in a 5–2 win. He led the Seawolves in goals (21) and points (34) in 2002–03.

Curtis chose to forgo his final two years of college eligibility, signing a professional contract with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks on March 25, 2004.

Curtis was assigned to the team's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, to complete the 2003–04 season. He scored two goals in seven regular season games and one more in nine playoff games.

Curtis remained with Cincinnati in 2004–05, appearing in 51 games and scoring nine points. He was moved to the Portland Pirates, also of the AHL in 2005–06 and improved to 15 goals and 25 points in 41 games while also appearing in 19 post-season games. His 2006–07 season was split between four teams.

Curtis began with the Pirates, but at mid-season earned his first call-up and made his NHL debut on January 13, 2007. He scored his first goal that night against Peter Budaj in a 3–2 loss against the Colorado Avalanche.

Curtis played two games with Anaheim before he was traded, along with Zenon Konopka and a 7th round draft pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Mark Hartigan, Joe Motzko and a 4th round pick on January 26th.

Curtis appeared in seven games with the Blue Jackets but finished the season in the AHL with the Syracuse Crunch.

NHL Career
Curtis established himself as an NHL regular in 2007–08. He appeared in 36 games for the Blue Jackets before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Dick Tarnstrom on February 1, 2008.

He appeared in 26 games for the Oilers, scoring 15 goals and 25 points in 61 games combined between Columbus and Edmonton.

Though he played well with Edmonton, the Oilers did not make a contract offer, making Curtis an unrestricted free agent.

Curtis hoped to remain in Edmonton as it was close to his Red Deer home, but after the Oilers made little effort to negotiate with him, he chose to sign a three-year, $3.6 million deal with Edmonton's provincial rival, the Calgary Flames.

In his first year with the Flames, Curtis set new personal highs in games played (74), goals (13) and points (40).

He missed six games in December of 2008 with a knee injury and three more early in the 2009–10 NHL season after he was suspended for a blind-side hit on Chris Drury of the New York Rangers.

Curtis set a new personal best with 15 goals on the season that included his first NHL hat trick in a victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Curtis's season was ended on March 17th after suffering a leg injury when he was struck by Matt Hendricks of the Colorado Avalanche in a knee-on-knee collision.

Playing in the final year of his contract, Curtis set personal highs of 24 goals and 43 points in 2010–11.

While the Flames received offers from other teams for Curtis at the trade deadline, the team chose to hold on to him though they risked losing him as an unrestricted free agent following the season.

Curtis chose to remain in Calgary, agreeing to a four-year, $10.2 million contract with the Flames on May 17, 2011. He felt that he could have earned a bigger contract on the open market, but he chose to take less money to remain in Calgary.

With 26 goals in 2011–12, he finished second on the team to Jarome Iginla's 32. He was the league's most efficient scorer, scoring on 23.6 percent of his shots on net.

Curtis reached several milestones in the lockout-shortened 2012–13 season en route to leading the Flames with 15 goals.

After scoring his 100th career goal, Curtis recorded both his 100th assist and 200th point in a 5–4 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on February 24, 2013.

Curtis' season was ended prematurely by a knee injury after Anaheim's Ben Lovejoy stuck his leg out to cause a knee-on-knee collision. The injury forced him out of the team's final four games of the season.

Injuries plagued Curtis throughout the 2013–14 season as he missed 15 games to a sprained knee, then he suffered a high ankle sprain three weeks after his December 10, 2013 return that will keep him out of the lineup for an additional six to eight weeks

Personal Life
Curtis grew up in Provost, Alberta, Canada. His parents are Mel & Robin Glencross. He has a younger brother named Matthew and a younger sister named Kari.

His parents both played hockey and say he inherited an intense competitive nature from them.

When he was a teenager, Curtis's family moved to Red Deer, Alberta as his parents began a livestock auction business.

While Curtis grew up around the rodeo circuit, he did not enter into the sport until he met World Professional Chuckwagon Association driver Rae Croteau Jr. in 2005.

He became interested in chuckwagon racing at the time and while he does not race, Curtis was a part of Croteau's team in 2007 and 2008, helping around the stables.

Curtis and his wife Tanya have two daughters. An active member of the community, he serves as a spokesman for the Special Olympics program and hosts an annual charity golf tournament in support of Calgary Crime Stoppers. The first event (held in 2009) raised C$100,000.

Curtis is also involved with the Alberta Children's Hospital. In recognition of his community efforts, the Flames named Curtis the 2012 recipient of the Ralph T. Scurfield Humanitarian Award which given by the team in recognition of on-ice leadership coupled with community service.