Career Vitals

Career NHL Statistics

Teams: St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Kansas City/Colorado
Years: 1972-1979. Playoffs: 1973

Pre-Draft Highlights

Played for Woodbridge (OHA Jr. B) team owned by his father in 1966-67. ... Set OHA record (since broken) and led OHA with 371 penalty minutes for Toronto in 1969-70. ... Led OHA with 324 penalty minutes for Toronto in 1970-71. ... Led OHA playoffs with 75 penalty minutes for Toronto in 1971. ... Named to OHA All-Star Second Team with Toronto in 1970-71.
 

A Hockey-Related Arrest

On Nov. 11, 1969, a 17-year-old Durbano and his Toronto Marlboros teammates were playing at St. Catharines. The Black Hawks would rout the Marlies 5-1 in the game, but the evening would be remembered for something other than the score. At 5:48 of the third period, Durbano was called for high-sticking. After he got to the penalty box, joining previously penalized teammate Steve Shutt, he began to argue with some of the off-ice officials in the box as well as St. Catharines fans seated nearby. The argument started because Durbano had asked why Shutt was still in the box, suggesting that his penalty had already expired and the off-ice officials were just trying to keep him in there. Durbano started yelling at these off-ice official about Shutt, but one of the linesmen assumed he was still yelling at on-ice officials, criticizing them. Notified about Durbano's yelling, referee Walt Gardner gave Durbano an additional 10-minute misconduct penalty for verbal abuse of officials as well as a game misconduct for his exchange with the off-ice official in charge of the clock. Durbano was told to leave the ice. Durbano skated to his own team's bench and began walking down the corridor to the dressing room. As he was going there, he got into another argument with another set of policemen stationed near the benches. This time, things got physical. When Durbano began scuffling with the police, several Marlies teammates came to help him as well as Toronto head coach Gus Bodnar. Durbano and the others would later say the whole incident was provoked by St. Catharines timekeepers and other local off-ice officials who were known to verbally abuse visiting players on a regular basis. Durbano would also say that one of the policemen grabbed him as he walked back toward the dressing room, instigating the physical altercation. After the scuffle with law enforcement, Durbano was arrested and taken to the local police station. He was allowed to return to Toronto with his team, pending the filing of formal charges. He was eventually charged with assault causing bodily harm because a local policeman named Bill Smith had been cut on the head during the incident. Durbano was informed of the charges prior to the Marlies' Feb. 1, 1970, game at St. Catharines. Bodnar was also charged with common assault. Both Bodnar and Durbano then filed assault charges against officer Bill Smith, claiming he had started the entire fight. On Feb. 17, Durbano was summoned to a St. Catharines courtroom to face the charges. On March 9, while he was recovering from a hand injury suffered in a fight days earlier, Durbano was assigned an April 23 trail date on a separate charge of common assault, filed by one of the fans involved in the Nov. 11 altercation. Prior to April 23, both cases were eventually settled out of court, as there is no reporting at the time of Durbano ever having gone to trial over the incident.
 

A Pair of OHA Suspensions

Durbano was often in the headlines during his junior career with the Toronto Marlboros for disciplinary reasons. His final junior season included multiple incidents. On Dec. 20, 1970, in a home game vs. Peterborough, Durbano picked up 45 penalty minutes 00 including three major, a misconduct and a game misconduct. The final major penalty, a vicious slash, broke Craig Ramsay's ankle and enraged Peterborough coach Roger Neilson. Earlier in the game, Durbano had cross-checked Ken Richardson, forcing him to be hospitalized as well. Neilson vowed that Peterborough would retaliate against one of Toronto's stars in a future game unless the OHA suspended Durbano for his actions. Neilson got his wish. Durbano was suspended two game, sitting out the weekend of Dec. 26-27. In addition, the OHA warned Durbano that he was in fact serving a "suspended sentence" and would be subject to a suspension of at least four games if he got in trouble again. As it turned out, later in the season, Durbano received a much harsher 10-game suspension frome the league for being a chronic offender. The second suspension was announced on Feb. 4, 1971, following a hearing with OHA president Clarence "Tubby" Schmalz. The long suspension resulted from his role in a third-period, bench-clearing brawl during Toronto's Jan. 29, 1971, game at London. Durbano had instigated the fight, which lasted more than 10 minutes and ended only after the arena management decided to pipe "O Canada" through the loudspeakers in order to throw confusion into the chaos.
 

Career Highlights

Led CHL with 402 penalty minutes for Omaha in 1971-72. ... Set CHL single-season records (since broken) for penalty minutes (402) and major penalties (19) with Omaha in 1971-72. ... Set CHL single-season record for penalty minutes by a defenseman with 402 for Omaha in 1971-72. The record still stood when the CHL folded in 1984. ... Became the first player age 20 or younger to play for the St. Louis Blues when he made his NHL debut at 20 years, 10 months in October 1972. ... Tied St. Louis single-game record (since broken) with four assists in Blues' 6-1 victory over visiting California on Feb. 3, 1973. ... Led St. Louis and set team single-season record (since broken) with 231 penalty minutes in 1972-73. ... Led St. Louis with 146 penalty minutes in 1973-74. ... Scored the first goal of the game in his Pittsburgh debut on Jan. 18, 1974, at Vancouver, giving Pens a 1-0 lead at 4:14 of the first period in a game they would go on to win 6-2. ... Set Pittsburgh single-game record (since broken) with 27 penalty minutes on March 2, 1974, vs. Vancouver. ... Led Pittsburgh with 138 penalty minutes in 1973-74. ... Set Pittsburgh records (since broken) for penalty minutes in one game (33) and penalty minutes in one period (29) during Pittsburgh's Oct. 25, 1975, game vs. Philadelphia -- a game in which he fought the Flyers' Dave Schultz. ... Led Pittsburgh with 161 penalty minutes in 1975-76. ... Led NHL with 370 total penalty minutes for Pittsburgh and Kansas City in 1975-76. ... Led Kansas City with 209 penalty minutes in 1975-76. ... Played on first Colorado Rockies team during franchise's inaugural season in Denver after it relocated fro Kansas City. ... Led Colorado with 129 penalty minutes in 1976-77. ... Led WHA with 284 penalty minutes in 45 games with Birmingham in 1977-78. ... Played 10 games for 1978-79 Salt Lake team that won CHL regular-season title.
 

Additional Suspensions

On Feb. 14, 1973, during St. Louis' road game at Minnesota, Durbano was ejected at 19:49 of the first period after an altercation with referee Ron Wicks. League president Clarence Campbell investigated the incident and determined that Durbano, who was upset over his third minor of the game as well as a misconduct penalty for arguing it, had chased Wicks down in the timekeeper's area, pushed Wicks, thrown his glove in Wicks' face, and yelled multiple obscenities at him. On Feb. 18, Durbano, who had received a game misconduct, was suspended two games and fined $250. ... On Oct. 3,1974, the NHL suspended Durbano for Pittsburgh's first two games of the season 1974-75 season as a result of his actions in a Sept. 25 preseason game vs. Kansas City at Brantford, Ontario. Durbano had received a match penalty during the game for swinging his stick at the Scouts' Gary Coalter in an attempt to injure him. ... On Oct. 6, 1974, in the Penguins' final preseason game against the WHA's Cleveland Crusaders, Durbano got into trouble again, when he sucker-punched Cleveland's Gerry Pinder with 4:38 remaining in the third period. The incident set off a bench-clearing brawl, and Cleveland head coach John Hanna was so disgusted that he took his team off the ice and conceded a 5-3 victory. The NHL disciplined Durbano with a $300 fine but did not add ot his suspension. ... On March 21, 1976, Durbano was ejected in the third period of Kansas City's gme at Buffalo after menacingly waving his stick at a linesman while in the penalty box. He was subsequently suspended by the NHL for two games. ... Suspended three games at the start of the 1976-77 season for having shot the puck at an official during Kansas City's April 1976 exhibition tour of Japan. ... Playing for Birmingham in a WHA home game on Jan. 6, 1978, Durbano was given a misconduct for attempting to injure Houston's Terry Ruskowski during a second-period fight. Four nights later, on Jan. 10 at Quebec, Durbano was given another misconduct for shooting the puck at referee Bill Friday. As a result of the two incidents, Durbano was suspended a total of four games and fined $1,000. He was fined $750 and suspended two games for the Ruskowski incident, and he was fined $250 and got two games for the Friday incident. ... On March 12, 1978, Durbano was involved in a bench-clearing brawl during the third period of Birmingham's game at Winnipeg. He was ejected from the game for his role in the brawl, which led to suspensions or fines for everyone on both teams. The fines totaled $10,500, while the suspensions totaled 15 games. Durbano got the bulk of the punishment, as he was given a $500 fine and 12-game suspension that ended his 1977-78 regular season, although he did return for the playoffs. ... On Feb. 21, 1979, while playing for St. Louis vs. N.Y. Rangers at Madison Square Garden, Durbano picked up 45 minutes in penalties, including a fighting major vs. Don Maloney in the second period, and a match misconduct and double game-misconduct for an altercation with Nick Fotiu in the third. The fight broke out just after St. Louis' Brian Sutter scored his 30th goal of the season to tie the game 3-3. As Blues players celebrated, Fotiu squared off with Durbano.The incident led to a hearing with the NHL's Brian O'Neill on Feb. 23, and Durbano was suspended for five games as a result. During the hearing, O'Neill concluded that Durbano had cross-checked Fotiu with intent to injure him just before Fotiu instigated the fight. In addition, O'Neill had evidence that Durbano made an obscene gesture toward fans after the fight. The obscene gesture involved his bending at the waist and mooning the fans.

Suspensions by Own Teams

Early in 1975-76, Durbano was suspended two games by the Pittsburgh Penguins, for insubordination related to behavior during training camp. He was forced to sit out games on Oct. 11 and Oct. 15 before he apologized to head coach Marc Boileau and was allowed to return. Then, moments before a Nov. 2 game at Buffalo, Boileau told Durbano he would not play in either that game or the following one as punishment for some bad behavior in earlier games. During the season, he was traded, and the following year, playing for the Colorado Rockies franchise that had obtained him, Durbano alienated his new team and was benched for several games early in the season. He was sent to the minors with Rhode Island (AHL) on Jan. 7, 1977 after refusing to allow his two-year, $200,000 contract to be bought out for $90,000. After he cleared waivers, the Rockies told him that he would either accept the buyout, go to Rhode Island, or be suspended without pay. In late January 1977, after a turbulent few weeks with Rhode Island, Durbano quit hockey for the rest of the 1976-77 season, saying he had retired. He did not return until the following season after accepting a buyout from Colorado and coming out of retirement to sign a new contract with Detroit in July 1977.
 

Life Outside the NHL

Full Name: Harry Steven Durbano
Nicknames: "Demolition Derby", "Mental Case"

Other Post-Draft Teams: Omaha (CHL); Rhode Island (AHL); Birmingham (WHA); Salt Lake (CHL)

Family: Son of former OHA scout and executive Nick Durbano, a Toronto resident who purchased the Hamilton Red Wings during the summer of 1970 while his son was playing in the league. Nick Durbano coached Hamilton for part of the 1970-71 season. Nick Durbano continued to own the team until 1974 and later ran the Sunshine Hockey League from his home in Jacksonville, Fla., where he also owned a golf course. In the years prior to his death, Durbano had become estranged from his father.

Rough Life After Retirement

Durbano battled drug abuse after his retirement and also spent time in prison. He claimed that agent R. Alan Eagleson's failure to make sure he got disability insurance after his career ended led him to deal drugs as a means of economic support. He received his first prison sentence at age 31 on Jan. 27, 1983. During a time period when he was working as a bartender in Toronto, he was convicted for his role in a cocaine importing scheme that had attempted to smuggle $568,000 worth of cocaine into Canada in February 1983. He had been arrested two years earlier at the Toronto airport after returning to the country on a flight from Bolivia. Authorities found 474 grams of cocaine hidden in Durbano's shoes. Durbano pleaded not guilty, claiming he was set up -- although he later admitted he had lied. Durbano, who used drugs -- and in particular cocaine -- recreationally during his NHL career, had become an addict in retirement, willing to break any laws to feed his habit. He would end up serving 28 months of his seven-year sentence at Joyceville, Ontario, as well as a farm camp near Kingston and a Toronto halfway house. Once out of prison, he went to work for his father, overseeing one of Nick Durbano's two golf clubs in Welland, Ontario. During this time, he made headlines when he was caught shoplifting shirts from a men's clothing store. By the early 1990s, he was helping his father build an executive golf course in Welland, but he was eventually arrested again in 1995, when he offered an undercover police officer a job in an escort service he was running on the side. He was convicted of running an escort service three years later on April 21, 1998, in St. Catharines, Ontario, and received a three-month sentence. During this time, the Toronto Star's Rosie DiManno wrote a scathing column about Durbano, saying he was a "nutbar" from way back and suggesting he belonged in prison. She related a story of how he threw a stick at her at Detroit's training camp in September 1978. Years later, DiManno said that Durbano had reacted to the 1998 column by personally calling her from prison and vowing to "get her" for what she had written about him. DiManno came under criticism for writing ill of the dead, but even those closest to Durbano did admit that he had a real problem controlling anger throughout his lifetime. However, most people who knew him away from the ice said he came across as a genuinely nice person rather than some sort of deranged individual.

The Death of Steve Durbano

After he was released from prison in June 1998, Durbano was ready to turn his life around. After taking a job with an Alberta-based carpet-cleaning company called Electrolux/Electroclean, Durbano went to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, to scout business opportunities in July 1998. He fell in love with the Yellowknife community and decided to live there full-time. working as a carpet and furniture cleaner and local service representative for Electrolux. He refrained from drugs, but continued drinking even though he had been told by doctors in 1993 that his liver was in bad shape and he would die if he didn't stop drinking. Durbano didn't seem to care and was resigned to living out the rest of his life on his own terms in Yellowknife. In the last few months of his life, he continued to drink even as he knew death was imminent. In an in-depth 1998 Hockey News look at his life after hockey, Durbano told writer David Salter that his favorite saying is "The dead know only one thing: it's better to be alive." On Nov. 16, 2002, at the age of 50, Durbano died from liver cancer.

Significant Injuries

Missed part of 1972-73 season with mononucleosis. He was diagnosed with the illness following St. Louis' Nov. 21, 1972, game vs. Vancouver and did not return until St. Louis' Jan. 19, 1973, game at Atlanta. ... Missed remainder of 1974-75 season and enitre 1975 playoffs with completely shattered left wrist, an injury suffered during Pittsburgh's Oct. 19, 1974 game vs. Philadelphia, which was also his first and only game of the 1974-75 season. After picking up an assist on Pittsburgh's third goal in second period of a 6-3 loss, Durbano was hip-checked by Flyers defenseman Andre Dupont. He landed on his wrist, and the injury required two separate reconstructive surgeries that ended his season. ... Missed part of St. Louis' 1978 training camp and start of 1978-79 season with hepatitis, diagnosed in September 1978. ... Missed part of 1978-79 season with broken hand, an injury suffered when he was training on a punching bag in the St. Louis dressing room on Nov. 12, 1978, just a day after being benched for the team's home game vs. Colorado. He was out two months with the injury and did not return until assigned to Salt Lake (CHL) for a conditioning stint in January 1979.

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