Career
Undrafted, Bruess played collegiate hockey with the Minnesota State Mavericks of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. He forwent his senior year and was signed as a free agent by the Washington Capitals on March 20, 2009. After two years within the Capitals organization playing for the Hershey Bears and the South Carolina Stingrays, and unable to secure another National Hockey League deal, Bruess was signed to an ECHL contract with the Florida Everblades on September 29, 2011.
On July 24, 2014, after leaving the Everblades as a free agent, Bruess signed a one-year ECHL contract with the Toledo Walleye.