Sweet Home Alabama

16 Sep 2013 | Szabolcs Závodszky

Like most North American hockey players that have swung through the MOL League their resume looks like a verse from the country song I've been everywhere, man a list of cities that covers not only every corner of the U. S. and Canada but Europe as well. Like a true hockey player Curtis deBruyn is taking the first steps of joining the list of names that have come before him, guys who have been everywhere, such as Bobby Davis, Beau McLaughlin and Chris Eade.

Curt grew up in Calgary (1) in western Canada, he started his junior hockey career in Olds (2), Alberta playing for the Olds Grizzlys of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL). The AJHL has produced a number of NHL players such as Stu Barnes, Dany Heatley, Mark Messier, Mike Vernon and all 6 of the Sutter brothers. DeBryun spent four seasons in the AJHL, with he last season being pretty productive for a defenseman, having 48 points in 59 regular season games and having 18 in 15 playoff games.

With the way he played his last season up in Olds he received an athletic scholarship to the University of Alabama-Huntsville. When one thinks of ice hockey in the United States Huntsville (3), Alabama is not exactly the first place you think of, but either way a free education and a chance to play hockey has its appeal. Never the less in four seasons Curt studied finance, played in the NCAA tournament and was team captain.

He says that it was a lot of fun down there, the crowds are clearly not as large as the ones at colleges in the hockey playing parts of the country but the fans that do show up are great.

After his senior season ended deBryun moved on for one playoff game with Levente Szuper's old team the Arizona Sundogs (4) of the CHL and then back to sweet ol' Huntsville Alabama to join the Huntsville Havoc of the SPHL, where he had 1 assist in two playoff matches. This brings us to the question what is a young hockey player from Calgary who has spent his last couple of seasons in the deep U. S. south doing in Miskolc (5), Hungary? Apparently Curtis was back home in Calgary during the summer when one of his former junior teammates told him about this team in north eastern Hungary.

"Dave Cowan was my captain in my first year in Olds. He found a job in Calgary and wasn't going to come back to Miskolc, so he got me and the team in contact. That puts the count at 5, for the place Curtis deBruyn has been he can now say that he has been to Miskolc, man.

Check back in the near future as we continue the series on current and former import players in the MOL League!