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Bill Durnan

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Bill Durnan
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1964
Born (1916-01-22)January 22, 1916
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died October 31, 1972(1972-10-31) (aged 56)
North York, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Ambidextrous
Played for Montreal Canadiens
Playing career 1943–1950

William Ronald Durnan (January 22, 1916 – October 31, 1972) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played seven seasons with the Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey League (NHL). During his career he was one of the most dominant goaltenders in the NHL, winning the Vezina Trophy for fewest goals allowed six times, being named First All-Star Team as best goaltender six times, and helped the Canadiens win the Stanley Cup two times. Dealing with a nervous condition throughout his career, Durnan retired in 1950, citing the stress of playing professional hockey. Durnan also served as the captain of the Canadiens in 1948, the last goaltender to be allowed to captain his team. In 1964 Durnan was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, and in 2017 he was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.

Playing career

Durnan played only seven seasons in the National Hockey League due to being 27 upon entering the league, but accomplished much in his short career. He was the recipient of the Vezina Trophy for allowing the fewest goals against in each of his first four seasons, from 1943–44 to 1946–47, becoming the first to capture the award in four consecutive seasons. A poor season by the Montreal Canadiens in 1947–48 allowed Turk Broda of the Toronto Maple Leafs to end Durnan's streak. Durnan, however, returned to prominence the next two seasons, capturing his fifth and sixth Vezina Trophies in 1948–49 and 1949–50. Durnan was also selected to the First Team All-Star six times during his career, including four consecutive selections from 1944 to 1947.

During the 1947–48 season, Durnan served as the Canadiens' captain. However, he left the crease so often to argue calls that other teams claimed he was giving the Canadiens unscheduled timeouts. After the season, the NHL passed a rule barring goaltenders from performing the duties of captain, known as the "Durnan Rule."[1] While Roberto Luongo was named "captain" of the Vancouver Canucks in 2008, Luongo had no on-ice rights as such, making Durnan the last goalie to officially serve as captain, and to wear the C on his jersey in the National Hockey League.[1]

Following the 1949–50 NHL season, at the age of 35, Durnan retired, no longer able to stand the stress of playing professional hockey. He later went into coaching, most notably with the Ottawa Senators of the QSHL in 1950–51, and the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen of the OHA in 1958–59.

Durnan set a long-standing modern NHL record between February 26 and March 6, 1949, when he registered four consecutive shutouts, not allowing a goal over a span of 309 minutes, 21 seconds. This record stood until 2004, when Brian Boucher, then of the Phoenix Coyotes, broke it with five straight shutouts in 332:01 minutes.[2] He was ranked 5th all-time in career wins, shutouts and GAA.

Durnan was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1964. In 383 regular-season games, Durnan had 208 wins, and 112 losses, with 34 shutouts and a 2.36 goals-against average. He had 27 wins, and 12 losses, with two shutouts and a 2.07 average in 45 playoff games. Durnan also won the 1940 Allan Cup with the Kirkland Lake Blue Devils.[3]

Playing style

Durnan was an ambidextrous goalie, equally adept at using his right or left hand (he wore special gloves that permitted him to catch with either hand while still holding his stick), and was a very good stand-up goaltender due to his height, which was considered great at the time.[4]

Personal life

Durnan was born in Toronto.

His wife was Mandy Durnan (1915–2003).

Durnan died of kidney failure on October 31, 1972. He suffered from diabetes in his last years and his health had been failing steadily.[3]

Awards

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T Min GA SO GAA GP W L T Min GA SO GAA
1931–32 North Toronto Juniors TJHL 8 — — — 480 17 1 2.12 4 — — — 240 10 1 2.50
1932–33 Sudbury Wolves NOHA 6 — — — 360 6 2 1.00 2 — — — 120 4 0 2.00
1933–34 Toronto Torontos TIHL 11 — — — 660 21 4 1.91 1 0 1 0 60 5 0 5.00
1933–34 Toronto British Consol TMHL 15 12 2 1 910 31 1 2.04 5 0 2 3 350 21 0 3.60
1933–34 Toronto All-Stars TIHL 2 — — — 120 9 0 4.50 — — — — — — — —
1934–35 Toronto McColl TMHL 15 — — — 900 62 0 4.13 — — — — — — — —
1935–36 Toronto Dominions TMHL 1 0 1 0 60 6 0 6.00 — — — — — — — —
1936–37 Kirkland Lake Blue Devils NOHA 4 4 0 0 240 5 0 1.25 4 1 0 3 240 8 1 2.00
1937–38 Kirkland Lake Blue Devils NOHA 11 8 1 1 610 27 1 2.66 2 2 0 0 120 2 1 1.00
1937–38 Kirkland Lake Blue Devils Al-Cup — — — — — — — — 2 0 2 0 120 11 0 3.50
1938–39 Kirkland Lake Blue Devils NOHA 7 7 0 0 420 7 3 1.00 2 2 0 0 120 3 1 1.50
1938–39 Kirkland Lake Blue Devils Al-Cup — — — — — — — — 5 3 2 0 299 12 2 2.41
1939–40 Kirkland Lake Blue Devils Exhib. 6 — — — 360 12 1 2.00 2 2 0 0 120 3 1 1.50
1939–40 Kirkland Lake Blue Devils Al-Cup — — — — — — — — 17 14 1 2 1040 35 1 2.02
1940–41 Montreal Royals QSHL 34 — — — 2000 100 1 3.00 8 8 0 0 480 24 1 3.00
1940–41 Montreal Royals Al-Cup — — — — — — — — 14 8 5 1 850 49 1 3.46
1941–42 Montreal Royals QSHL 39 — — — 2340 143 0 3.67 — — — — — — — —
1942–43 Montreal Royals QSHL 31 — — — 1860 130 0 4.19 4 — — — 240 11 0 2.75
1943–44* Montreal Canadiens NHL 50 38 5 7 3000 109 2 2.18 9 8 1 — 549 14 1 1.53
1944–45 Montreal Canadiens NHL 50 38 8 4 3000 121 1 2.42 6 2 4 — 373 15 0 2.41
1945–46* Montreal Canadiens NHL 40 24 11 5 2400 104 4 2.60 9 8 1 — 581 20 0 2.07
1946–47 Montreal Canadiens NHL 60 34 16 10 3600 138 4 2.30 11 6 5 — 720 23 1 1.92
1947–48 Montreal Canadiens NHL 59 20 28 10 3505 162 5 2.77 — — — — — — — —
1948–49 Montreal Canadiens NHL 60 28 23 9 3600 126 10 2.10 7 3 4 — 468 17 0 2.18
1949–50 Montreal Canadiens NHL 64 26 21 17 3840 141 8 2.20 3 0 3 — 180 10 0 3.33
NHL totals 383 208 112 62 22,945 901 34 2.36 45 27 18 — 2871 99 2 2.07

* Stanley Cup Champion.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Greg Balloch (September 11, 2014). "MAKING THE CASE FOR GOALTENDER CAPTAINCY IN NHL". In Goal Magazine.
  2. ^ "Boucher's shutout streak snapped". CBC Sports. January 14, 2004.
  3. ^ a b "Bill Durnan 1943 - 1950". Eye on the Prize. November 7, 2007.
  4. ^ "Bill Durnan: 100 Greatest NHL Players". NHL.com. January 1, 2017.
  5. ^ "100 Greatest NHL Players". NHL.com. January 1, 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  6. ^ NHL (2017-03-22), Bill Durnan was a six-time Vezina Trophy winner, retrieved 2017-04-24
Preceded by Montreal Canadiens captain
1948 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Winner of the Vezina Trophy
1944, 1945, 1946, 1947 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Winner of the Vezina Trophy
1949, 1950 		Succeeded by
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