Goons of the Past - Revisiting NHL's History of Fights

Growing up in Pittsburgh in the 1970s, the Pittsburgh Penguins were always a competitive team. They had some colorful characters on their roster and some exceptionally fine players like Syl Apps, Jean Pronovost, and Ron Shock. But in that era of hockey, there was a time many fans watched the sport of hockey just to see who would end up in a fight on the ice. 

I’m sure there is still some interest and intrigue these days for hockey fights but 45-50 years ago a fight on the ice seemed like a nightly occurrence. I once had a VSH tape of nothing but hockey fights. Two hours of fisticuffs on ice. For the Pittsburgh Penguins and the NHL there were a handful of players back in the 1970s who’s sole purpose was to be an on ice enforcer.

In Pittsburgh, a player came along in 1973 after playing for the St. Louis Blues and joining the Pens that season and his name was Steve Durbano. I clearly remember Durbano fighting…often. I mean it seemed like he was beating someone up every game. Durbano’s task when in the game was to defend and intimidate. He did that well. 

From the 1973-74 season through the 1975-76 season as a member of the Penguins, Durbano scored just four goals. On the other hand, he amassed 299 penalty minutes. Durbano not only played for the Blues and Pens, he also was on the ice with the Kansas City Scouts and Colorado Rockies as well as with a stint in the World Hockey Association playing for the Birmingham Bulls. Over the course of his career Durbano was in the penalty box for 1,411 minutes. 370 of those came in just one season when he was with the Penguins and Kansas City. 

Another bruiser that played for the Penguins was Dave Schultz. “The Hammer” as he was known played for Pittsburgh for two seasons from 1977 through the 1978-79 season. In 113 games with the Penguins, Schultz hit the nets for only 13 goals. He spent 533 minutes in the penalty box during that time with the Pens. In the all-time NHL and World Hockey Association (WHA) record books, Dave Schultz is 35th all-time in penalty minutes. But like Durbano, I remember Schultz skating for Pittsburgh and getting into many scuffles. 

As for Steve Durbano, once he hung up the skates, his life became troubled. He was arrested in 1981 for possession of cocaine and was convicted of drug smuggling in 1984 spending seven years in jail then re-arrested in 1995 while trying to convince an undercover police officer to join an escort service. He finally settled his life in the Northwest Territories of Canada where he developed liver cancer and passed away on November 16, 2002, at the much to young age of 50.

Dave Schultz on the other hand is alive and well now 75 years of age and has authored a book to be published this year which is an autobiography. Back in 2022 his voice was used in a Simpson’s episode titled “Top Goon.” As a player for the Philadelphia Flyers, Schultz was a part of two of the Flyer’s Stanley Cup winning teams, the squads that were knowns as the “Broadway Bullies.” 

Another teammate of Schultz and Durbano was Bob “Battleship” Kelly. Kelly was an enforcer on the ice with the Penguins from the 1973-74 season moving to the Civic Arena after playing for the St. Louis Blues. In his four years spent wearing the Blue and White of the Penguins, Kelly played in 250 games, scoring 69 goals and being slapped with 462 penalty minutes. Like Schultz, Kelly is still with us now 79. He was born John Robert Kelly in Fort William, Ontario on June 6, 1946. Having served 22 years with the Philadelphia Flyers in their community relations department, Kelly retired from that position this past March. When he was playing, he too had a nickname which was “The Hound.” 

On the 1974-75 Pittsburgh Penguins team that season saw a 37-28-15 finish as coach Marc Boileau led the team with Ron Schock as the captain and the season ending following a loss in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs to the New York Islanders. Bob Kelly was second on the team in penalty minutes with a 120 total trailing Colin Campbell who sat in the penalty box for 172 minutes. Steve Durbano played in only one game that season.

The previous season was a losing one with Ken Schinkel starting the season as coach only to be replaced by Boileau for the final 32 games. That year, however, saw Steve Durbano lead the team in the penalty box with 138 minutes accrued one minute ahead of Bryan Watson. Bob Kelly was third with a 78 time total. Believe it or not, goalie Andy Brown was next with 60. Keep in mind Brown was the last NHL goalie to mind the nets without a mask.

In the 1976-77 season Bob Kelly led the team in penalty minutes with just 115. The following season it was Dave Schultz leading the team in penalty minutes (PIM) with 155 total. Colin Campbell was second with 137. In Steve Durbano’s first season in 1973, he led the team with 138 PIMs ahead of Bryan Watson’s 137. In 33 games Durbano scored just four times. 

While talking about penalty minutes, the aforementioned athletes who many considered as “goons” simply because they were intimidating enforcers on the ice, none of these men rank near the top in all-time penalty minutes for the Pittsburgh Penguins. It might surprise you to learn the all-time leader is a current player and he is Evgeni Malkin who has racked up 1,202 minutes in his Penguins career.

Kevin Stevens has the second most penalty time with 1,048 minutes. Troy Loney would be next with 982. Fourth is Rod Buskas at 959 and rounding out the top five is Bryan Watson who comes in with 871. For guys like Durbano, Schultz, and Bob Kelly, Durbano is 55th all-time with 309 minutes but he was not a career Penguin either. Dave Schultz is 26th (533 minutes), and Bob Kelly 32nd at 462. As much as a non-fighter Sidney Crosby has the reputation for, he is sixth all-time with 854 penalty minutes. 



I’m sure there are hockey fans who love a good hockey fight, but scraps do not take place as often as they used to. Almost always players do not suffer any major injuries from fights, but they are certainly entertaining! Below you can see some of the players mentioned in this article about to throw down.