Harry Steven Durbano (December 12, 1951 – November 16, 2002) was a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

player noted for his villainous behaviour on the ice and his larger-than-life persona off it.

Career

Born in Toronto, Durbano rose through minor hockey to a place on the

Toronto Marlboros The Toronto Marlborough Athletic Club, commonly known as the Toronto Marlboros, was founded in 1903. It operated junior ice hockey and senior ice hockey teams in the Ontario Hockey Association and later the Ontario Hockey League. The Marlboros ...

of the Ontario Hockey Association. He was drafted by the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

in the first round of the

1971 NHL Amateur Draft The 1971 NHL Amateur Draft was the ninth NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 10, 1971, at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Larry Robinson, who retired after the 1991� ...

. He never played a game for the Rangers, though, and was traded to the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

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. He played 220 NHL games over the course of his career for St. Louis as well as the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

Kansas City Scouts The Kansas City Scouts were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1974 to 1976. In 1976, the franchise relocated to Denver, and became the Colorado Rockies. In 1982, the Rockies relocated to New Jersey where ...

and Colorado Rockies, along with 45 games in the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

for the Birmingham Bulls. In the very first game of the 1974–75 season, he was checked by

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Well ...

defenceman Andre Dupont and suffered a fractured left wrist. He missed the rest of the season, and though he returned the following season, he never regained full power in the wrist.

Post-career and death

Durbano last played in the NHL in the 1978–79 season. He was arrested on February 7, 1981, at Toronto International Airport aboard an Air Canada flight from

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

; the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

seized about 474 grams of cocaine, estimated by police to be worth about $71,000. Durbano was convicted for cocaine smuggling in 1984, and was sentenced to seven years in prison. Durbano also admitted to using cocaine regularly while playing in the NHL. After his release, 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 An escort agency is a company that provides escorts for clients, usually for sexual services. The agency typically arranges a meeting between one of its escorts and the client at the customer's house or hotel room (outcall), or at the escort' ...

Welland, Ontario Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, it had a population of 55,750. The city is in the centre of Niagara and located within a half-hour driving distance to Niagara Falls, Ontario, N ...

.''The Rebel League: The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association'', p.204 He later moved to the Northwest Territories to seek a calmer life, and died there on November 16, 2002, of liver cancer at the age of 50.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Durbano, Steve 1951 births 2002 deaths Birmingham Bulls players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Colorado Rockies (NHL) players Kansas City Scouts players National Hockey League first-round draft picks New York Rangers draft picks Pittsburgh Penguins players Salt Lake Golden Eagles (CHL) players St. Louis Blues players Sportspeople convicted of crimes Ice hockey people from Toronto Toronto Marlboros players Canadian drug traffickers