The 31 year old sniper from Winnipeg, Manitoba hit 21 goals and 23 assists this past season and, after a slow start to the season, his form improved enough to finish the year with an exceptional four goals in the final game of the regular season against Yorkshire rivals the Sheffield Steelers, a team record.
Nevertheless, the general feeling was that Huppe failed to impress at the Hull Arena with his 21 goals not enough to make up for his lack of work ethic and all around game. It is true that there have been few 20+ goal scorers in Stingrays colours, however, from a player that has a notably better pedigree, with 26, 27 and 38 goal seasons, his 21 of this season somewhat pales into insignificance.
Still, it wasn't just the amount of goals he scored but quiet way he went about scoring them, making him unnoticeable much of the time. His work ethic did visibly improve on a number of occasions towards the back end of the season, particularly when he seemed frustrated with his or the team's play, however, that wasn't enough to impress coach, and friend, Sylvain Cloutier, and with Huppe rumoured to be unhappy in Hull, the division was a simple one for both parties
Cloutier commented on the surprising but much mooted moved:
"We had a talk at the end of the season and after lengthy discussions he decided it was best for both parties if we went our separate ways. We wish Curtis all the best for the future."Huppe has now been rumoured with moves to new Elite League side the Braehead Clan and former team and playoff champions the Belfast Giants, while Cloutier may decide against signing an assistant coach for next year, instead re-signing bench coach Bobby McEwan to a greater coaching role.
