Curtis McKenzie (born February 22, 1991) is a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He is currently playing with the

Texas Stars The Texas Stars are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) based in Cedar Park, Texas, near Austin, with home games at the H-E-B Center. They are owned by the National Hockey League's (NHL) Dallas Stars and are the t ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL). McKenzie was selected by the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and were founde ...

in the 6th round (159th overall) of the

2009 NHL Entry Draft The 2009 NHL Entry Draft was the 47th Entry Draft. It was held on June 26–27, 2009, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec. The Draft was part of the Montreal Canadiens' centennial celebrations. National Hockey League teams took turns select ...

Playing career

McKenzie played four seasons of

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

college hockey for the

Miami RedHawks The Miami RedHawks are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Miami is a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) East Divis ...

of the CCHA. In 158 career NCAA games he registered 29 goals, 51 assists, and 285 penalty minutes. Following his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

year at

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

, on April 12, 2013, the

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) signed McKenzie to a two-year

entry-level contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...

beginning with the

2013–14 AHL season The 2013–14 AHL season was the 78th season of the American Hockey League. The regular season began on October 4, 2013, and ended on April 19, 2014. The 2014 Calder Cup playoffs followed the conclusion of the regular season. The Calder Cup was w ...

, but he made his professional debut near the end of the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season with their AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, on an amateur tryout contract. In the early stages of the 2014–15 season, McKenzie made his NHL debut with the

on October 18, 2014 against the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wells ...

. He scored his first career goal on November 16, 2014, against

Corey Crawford Corey Crawford (born December 31, 1984) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Nicknamed "Crow" by teammates and fans, he played his entire professional career with the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL), w ...

of the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

. McKenzie signed a two-year contract extension with the Stars on July 1, 2015. On March 10, 2017, McKenzie re-signed a one year contract to stay with the Stars organization. He played most of the year with the Texas Stars where he was named captain. After five seasons within the Stars organization following the 2017–18 campaign, McKenzie left as a free agent and agreed to a two-year, one-way contract with the

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. Founded in 2017 as an expan ...

on July 1, 2018. For the duration of his contract with the Golden Knights, McKenzie played in the AHL with the

Chicago Wolves The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League and are the top minor-league affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena in the C ...

. As a free agent, McKenzie was signed by the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the s ...

to a one-year, two-way contract on October 10, 2020. In the pandemic delayed season, after attending the Blues training camp, McKenzie was assigned to temporary affiliate, the

Utica Comets The Utica Comets are a professional ice hockey team based in Utica, New York, with home games at the Adirondack Bank Center. They are members of the North Division in the Eastern Conference of the American Hockey League (AHL) and affiliated wit ...

, for the duration of the season and registered 5 goals and 13 points through 26 regular season games. Leaving the Blues organization as a free agent, McKenzie opted to reunite with the Texas Stars of the AHL, securing a two-year contract on August 6, 2021.

Personal life

McKenzie attended

Burnaby Mountain Secondary School Burnaby Mountain Secondary School is in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. It is three stories and located at 8800 Eastlake Drive, at the intersection with Beaverbrook Drive. It is named after nearby Burnaby Mountain, which is also home to Simon ...

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. McKenzie married Lucia Carr in August 2018 and welcomed their first child in February 2021. While attending Miami University, McKenzie became involved in the

You Can Play You Can Play is a social activism campaign dedicated to the eradication of homophobia in sports, centered on the slogan, "If you can play, you can play." The campaign was launched on March 4, 2012, by its three co-founders: Patrick Burke (a scou ...

Project. You Can Play is an initiative to promote equality in sports. In 2016, the NHL adopted its Hockey Is For Everyone night. McKenzie was the Dallas Stars first Ambassador.

Career statistics

Awards and honours

References

External links

* 1991 births Living people Canadian ice hockey left wingers Chicago Wolves players Dallas Stars draft picks Dallas Stars players Ice hockey people from British Columbia Miami RedHawks men's ice hockey players Penticton Vees players People from the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District Texas Stars players Utica Comets players {{Canada-icehockey-winger-1990s-stub