Steve Durbano: The 'Mental Case' Enforcer's Violent Hockey Career Begins

Early Life and Formative Years

• 🧠 Steve Durbano was born in Toronto, Canada, to a successful real estate executive father who was also deeply involved in hockey as a scout and junior team owner.
• ⚠️ His father, described as ruthless and demanding with a legendary temper, put immense pressure on Steve to excel in hockey, creating a "poisonous" father-son dynamic.
• 🚨 A traumatic incident at age six, where Steve was molested during a camping trip, was kept secret and is believed to have contributed to his later issues with addiction, violence, and self-destructiveness.
• 🏒 By age 14, Steve, significantly larger, physically fought his father in a locker room, refusing to tolerate further abuse.

Notoriety in Junior Hockey

• ⚡ Durbano quickly gained a reputation as a disciplinary problem and a "bad man" in junior leagues, accumulating record-breaking penalty minutes.
• 🥊 Incidents included throwing a hockey puck at his father's head, spearing an opponent and sparking a brawl where players attacked him with sticks, and even fighting police officers on the way to the dressing room.
• 📣 His aggressive style made him a "heel" who sold tickets, with game advertisements featuring his name and even signs in arenas proclaiming "Kill Steve Durbano."
• 📊 He amassed 853 penalty minutes in 147 junior games, more than ten times his total points, solidifying his role as an enforcer.

NHL Draft and Professional Debut

• 🚀 Despite his reputation, Durbano was selected 13th overall by the New York Rangers in the 1971 NHL amateur draft, a first-round pick for an enforcer.
• 📉 His NHL debut was tumultuous, marked by demotion to the minor leagues and setting new records for penalty minutes, including 410 minutes in one season with the Omaha Knights.
• 💬 Durbano openly admitted to playing "dirty" and using "tricks of the trade" like whacking opponents' ankles when referees weren't looking, attributing his fighting to needing to "push back" when he was younger and less skilled.

Tumultuous NHL Career

• 🔄 Traded to the St. Louis Blues, he continued his pattern of fighting, including a notable incident where he threw his glove in a referee's face and slammed his stick on the ice.
• 🤕 An early career-altering injury occurred when he fractured his left wrist after being checked into the boards, leading to multiple surgeries and a permanent loss of full power.
• 💇‍♂️ A recurring theme was his hairpiece, which became a target for opponents and was even featured in advertisements for hair replacement services.
• 😤 Durbano's volatile behavior led to suspensions, fines, and public disputes with coaches, often blaming others for his troubles and eventually being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins and then the Kansas City Scouts.