Steve Durbano

Steve Durbano
Born (1951-12-12)December 12, 1951
Toronto, ON, CAN
Died November 10, 2002(2002-11-10) (aged 50)
Yellowknife, NT, CAN
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for AHL
Rhode Island Reds
CHL
Omaha Knights
Salt Lake Golden Eagles
NHL
Colorado Rockies
Kansas City Scouts
Pittsburgh Penguins
St. Louis Blues
WHA
Birmingham Bulls
NHL Draft 13th overall, 1971
New York Rangers
Playing career 19711979

Harry Steven "Mental Case" Durbano (December 12, 1951 in Toronto, Ontario – November 10, 2002 in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player noted for his villainous behaviour on the ice and his larger-than-life persona off it. He is the all-time leader in penalty minutes per game in the NHL, with 1127 career PIMs over a mere 220 games played.[1]

Career

Born in Toronto, Durbano rose through minor hockey to a place on the Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey Association. He was drafted by the New York Rangers in the first round of the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft. He never played a game for the Rangers, though, and was traded to the St. Louis Blues where he began his career. Durbano quickly gained a reputation for being one of the toughest players in the league, amassing 1,411 major league-career penalty minutes, including an NHL-leading 370 PIM in the 1975–76 season.[2]

He played 220 NHL games over the course of his career for St. Louis as well as the Pittsburgh Penguins, Kansas City Scouts and Colorado Rockies, along with 45 games in the World Hockey Association for the Birmingham Bulls.

Retirement

In 1983, shortly after he retired, Durbano was implicated in a scheme to import half a million dollars worth of cocaine into Canada and was sentenced to seven years in prison. After his release, Durbano did not keep straight - he was arrested once for shoplifting, and, in 1995, he was sent back to prison after he attempted to recruit an undercover police officer into an escort service in Welland, Ontario.[3] He moved to the Northwest Territories late in life in an effort to find peace, and died there of liver cancer in November 2002.

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1968–69 Toronto Marlboros OHA 45 5 6 11 158
1969–70 Toronto Marlboros OHA 53 7 25 32 371
1970–71 Toronto Marlboros OHA 49 7 32 39 324
1971–72 Omaha Knights CHL 70 7 34 41 402
1972–73 St. Louis Blues NHL 49 3 18 21 231 5 0 2 2 8
1973–74 St. Louis Blues NHL 36 4 5 9 146
1973–74 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 33 4 14 18 138
1974–75 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 1 0 1 1 10
1975–76 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 32 0 8 8 161
1975–76 Kansas City Scouts NHL 37 1 11 12 209
1976–77 Rhode Island Reds AHL 9 1 2 3 55
1976–77 Colorado Rockies NHL 19 0 2 2 129
1977–78 Birmingham Bulls WHA 45 6 4 10 284 4 0 2 2 16
1978–79 St. Louis Blues NHL 13 1 1 2 103
1978–79 Salt Lake Golden Eagles CHL 10 1 4 5 41
NHL totals 220 13 60 73 1127 5 0 2 2 8
WHA totals 45 6 4 10 284 4 0 2 2 16

References

  1. "NHL All-Time Penalty Minutes per Game Leaders". Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  2. hockeydb.com, Steve Durbano's profile at the HockeyDB.com, accessed February 1, 2008
  3. The Rebel League: The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association, p.204
Preceded by
Steve Vickers
New York Rangers first round draft pick
1971
Succeeded by
Al Blanchard
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