Word Tuesday that former UAA skater Curtis Glencross was calling it a career after eight full seasons in the NHL brought to mind a memory from January 2003, when he was a rookie with the Seawolves.
UAA was mired in a nearly season-long winless streak -- the Seawolves won their first game, then went 0-28-7, seriously -- when it traveled to Michigan Tech for a WCHA series. The players were sitting around the hotel lobby waiting for the bus to the rink for the game. The mood was surprisingly light. Some players were talking about an episode of "Friends.'' Glencross, a freshman, sat on the floor, his back against the wall, and stewed. He was an emotional, fiery player, and the guess here was he thought his teammates weren't serious enough.
In any event, the Seawolves lost that night. Glencross, who had turned 20 in mid-season, led the Seawolves in goals, and was second in assists and points with 11-12--23 totals in 35 games.He wasn't big, maybe 6-1, 180 at that point, but he played like he was 6-4, 225, throwing his body around recklessly, delivering thundering checks, playing on the edge. For that reason, he often played with minor injuries, and the coaching staff referred to him as Boo-Boo because it seemed like he always had some nick, some nagging little injury, from the pinball way he played the game.
UAA's staff liked to joke that opposing defenseman probably thought Glencross should be made to wear a cowbell because they deserved warning when he was blowing in on the forecheck at breakneck speed.
As a sophomore, when UAA made a remarkable turnaround and qualified for the WCHA Final Five for the first time in school history, Glencross led the team in goals again, and in points too, with 21-13--34 totals in 37 games. A goal he scored in UAA's last game, a 4-2 loss to Minnesota-Duluth at the Final Five became called a $750,000 goal. Glencross roared up the right wing and into the Bulldogs' zone, moved laterally to his left, used a defenseman as a screen, would up and rocketed a slap shot top shelf. Soon, he signed a contract with the NHL's Anaheim Ducks -- his signing bonus was $750,000.
Glencross spent most of three seasons in the American Hockey League before he was a full-time regular in the NHL. Twice he scored more than 20 goals -- 24 and 26 in consecutive seasons for Calgary. He played for four NHL teams (Anaheim, Columbus, Edmonton and Calgary) and produced 134-141--275 totals in 507 career regular-season games.
Glencross had training-camp tryouts this season with Toronto and Colorado, to no avail. He and his wife have three young children. It's family time for Glencross now, it appears. He earned more than $14 million in his career -- his last contract was a four-year, $10.2 million deal -- and came a long way from a small junior-hockey forward hardly anyone wanted. The Seawolves were on him early, and he stuck with his commitment. He was part of history at UAA, history both agonizing and electric.
And by the time he was done, Glencross had played more NHL games than any of the eight Seawolves who have gone on to play in the world's best league.
That's a good career.