For decades he was St. Albert’s guide to the stars on ice and the stars above — a maestro of astronomical and hockey commentary.
Now, St. Albert’s Bruce McCurdy dwells among those stars, watching the Edmonton Oilers from the heavens.
Hundreds of Oilers and astronomy fans will be at the Telus World of Science Edmonton this Sunday, June 22 to pay tribute to Bruce Jefferson McCurdy, a renowned astronomer and hockey columnist who died from a heart attack on April 1, 2025. He was 69.
McCurdy was a longtime worker and volunteer at the Telus World of Science Edmonton who introduced countless guests to the wonders of the night sky. Others knew him as a writer and podcaster with the Edmonton Journal’s Cult of Hockey, where he and co-host David Staples would meticulously analyze every shot of every Oilers game.
Frank Florian, who worked with McCurdy since 1986 and is the senior manager of planetarium and space science at the Telus World of Science Edmonton, said he cried when he learned McCurdy had died.
“I thought, ‘Is this an April Fool’s joke?’”
Staples said he was shocked by the news, and called McCurdy the closest co-worker he has ever had in his career. Ever since his passing, the Cult of Hockey’s sign-off has included a tribute to how McCurdy was now having a cold one “with the Hockey Gords” — a reference to a phrase McCurdy often used to pay tribute to NHL legend Gordie Howe.
“[Bruce] showed how you could become a master of understanding hockey even if you weren’t an NHL player,” Staples said, simply through careful observation and hard work.
“You don’t need to be Wayne Gretzky to understand hockey.”
On ice and in space
McCurdy grew up in St. John’s, N.L., staying up late to watch hockey on TV with his family, said Anna McCurdy, his wife of 45 years. He also took an interest in space as he, along with millions around the world, saw NASA astronauts travel to and walk on the moon.
McCurdy came to Alberta with his family in 1962 and met Anna through the University of Alberta’s bowling club in 1976. The two became fast friends and married in 1980, raising their son Kevin in Edmonton. In 2016, the two of them settled in St. Albert.
“He was very good with numbers and patterns,” Anna said of Bruce, which served him well in his 20 years with CIBC.
He was also a huge Oilers fan, running the Copper and Blue Blog on the team since the mid-2000s, she continued.
Staples said McCurdy’s measured, methodical critiques of the Oilers led them to team up to run the Cult of Hockey about 15 years ago.
“I found Bruce to be the sanest, most reasonable person posting things about the Oilers on the Internet,” Staples said.
“His goal was always to understand things and not blast away.”
McCurdy had an unparalleled memory for all things Oilers, which helped him do shot-by-shot analyses of every game, with every critique based on facts, not feelings, Staples said. So great was his mastery of statistics that the Oilers themselves called him in to advise them on sports analytics at one point.
“I think he was drawn into the beauty of the game,” Staples said of McCurdy and hockey.
“He was a connoisseur of the beauty of the world, and it played out in his love of hockey and astronomy.”
Florian said he first met McCurdy as an employee of what is now the Telus World of Science in Edmonton. McCurdy told him his passion for astronomy took off in 1985 when he saw Halley’s Comet at the science centre. The two became close friends, teaching guests about lunar eclipses and scurrying across frozen lakes in search of meteorites.
“He was always there for any big astronomical events we held,” Florian said of McCurdy, whether it be a solar eclipse or a passing comet.
McCurdy was a guest speaker on space topics at many schools and helped scores of youths learn about space, Florian said. He served as president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada’s Edmonton branch and wrote the society’s “Orbital Oddities” column. In 2021, the International Astronomical Union named Asteroid 10086 “McCurdy” in his honour.
Anna said McCurdy became an avid walker during the COVID-19 pandemic, and would send her scores of pictures of what he saw on his walks.
“He had a huge, curious mind and he was interested about everything in nature.”
McCurdy is survived by his wife Anna, son Kevin, brother Earle, and sisters Margaret and Jem.
This weekend’s celebration of life will take place in the Zeidler Dome at 1 p.m., and is open to the public. Guests are asked to get tickets for the event at https://www.onlinebookings.edmontonscience.com/Selection.aspx?sch=601555. The event will also be broadcast on Zoom and archived on YouTube. Email [email protected] for details.
