Hockey Heroes of the Past: Bill Durnan

Welcome to another blog article, where I will be featuring Hockey Heroes of the Past. For now, I will be focusing on player who played between 1900-1970. Why that time period? Well, it is important to remember these pioneer's, that paved the way for current NHL superstars. Without these legends, who knows where our game would be. So I find it is essential that these Hockey Heroes get the recognition they deserve. Today we look at Bill Durnan

Bill Durnan

Born: January 22nd, 1916

Birthplace: Toronto, ON

Height: 6ft0

Weight: 190 lbs

Position:Goalie

Teams: Montreal Canadians

NHL Career Stats;

GP:383

W: 208

L: 112

T/O: 62

Shutouts: 34

GAA: 2.36

***Awards***

-Allan Cup champion in 1940.

-NHL First All-Star Team goalie in 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1950.

-Won the Vezina Trophy in 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1950.

-Played in NHL All-Star Game in 1947, 1948, 1949.

-Stanley Cup champion in 1944, 1946.

***Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1964***

- Durnan only started playing in the NHL at the age of 27, but he quickly asserted himself as a perennial goalie. In his firsts 3 seasons he had 96 wins. He won the Vezina Trophy 6 times within 7 season. A feat that never has been replicated. He was the goaltender of the 1940's. A true all-star, and great player off the ice as well.

What is ever more surprising about Durnan, is that he could have easily had a career with his home town Toronto Maple Leafs. He was signed at 17 years old by the Toronto Maple Leafs. When the Leafs found out he had a knee injury, they release him without playing a game. This enraged Durnan, and he vowed never to play pro-hockey again. This explains why he debuted in the NHL at such a late age. Of course, changed how he felt about playing pro-hockey, and it led him to become a Montreal Canadian legend.

One of Durnan's key assets was that he was ambidextrous. Meaning he could play with either the left or right hand.By keeping his catching glove moving from one side to the other, it often robbed shooters of sure goals. Durnan stated that "I noticed the opposition was unaware that I was switching hands, and later on when I was in the NHL, it often took years before the other guys knew I was ambidextrous."

Following another award winning 1949-50 season, Bill surprised the hockey world by retiring mid-series. "Hockey started to get rough for me at the end of the 1940s," he admitted. "I had broken my hand and after it mended, it felt as if my arm was falling off whenever I'd catch the puck. My reflexes had gotten a little slow and besides, the money wasn't really that good. At the end of any given season when I was playing, I never seemed to have more than $2,000 in the bank, so I wasn't really getting anywhere that way. I wasn't educated and I had two girls to raise."

Durnan had lost much of his enthusiasm for the game. "The fun was going out of the game for me. A lot of my old pals were leaving, or had gone, and much of the camaraderie was missing."

He was the last goalie to be a captain in the National Hockey League, unril Roberto Luongo became Captain of the Vancouver Canucks in 2008. Durnan is a true legend of his time, and one of the best NHL goalie ever to play the game.