Dave Durante - Colourful nicknames have followed Dave Durante throughout his two decade lacrosse career: Dave the Magnificent, Dandy Dave and Dave the Dude; all adorned him as well
as one of his tailored silk suits, but sobriquets notwithstanding, he has always been a
winner.

Few, if any, players can boast victories in lacrosse’s four major championships.
He took part in 9 Mann Cup series, winning the Canadian title 5 times. He was a
member of the 1971 Richmond Roadrunners that upset favoured Peterborough for the
Minto Cup junior title.

In 1975, he toiled for the National Lacrosse League Quebec Caribous that captured the professional championship. And he was a member of the Canadian rep team that won the World Field Lacrosse title in Manchester, England, in 1978.

Lacrosse has long been Durante’s passion and pastime, but this was not always the case. When Durante was a youngster, he was content to restrict his lacrosse activities to watching father Joe Durante and Uncle John Cervi play senior ball...mind you, Durante did play a little catch in his backyard, but baseball, soccer, hockey and high school football quenched his athletic thirst.

Listing his sports reveals why he had little time for organized lacrosse.

At Notre Dame High School, he was quarterback and safety for the first Jugglers team to win the Shrine Bowl. As a shortstop, he caught the eye of major league scouts from the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals.

When his hopes for a college baseball scholarship in the U.S. did not materialize, he enrolled at the University of B.C. where he played hockey and soccer while working towards a Bachelor degree in Physical Education.

Impressed with his hockey prowess, the Detroit Red Wings offered him a spot in its farm system; and his skills as a midfielder earned him an offer to join a Fourth Division soccer club in England.
He declined the hockey and soccer overtures and decided to take his backyard lacrosse into
a box. At the age of 18, Durante tried out for the Vancouver Junior B squad and was an
instant success, racking up 22 goals and 20 assists in 18 games.

He moved to the Richmond Junior A team the following year, gathering 30 goals and 23 assists on the way to the 1971 Minto Cup title. Richmond lost the national championship the
following season but his 36 goals and 31 assists were enough to impress the Senior teams.

The WLA overage junior draft was introduced in 1973 and Coquitlam, with first
pick, selected him.

Despite a painful ankle injury that often cut his speed in half, Durante picked up 26 goals and 23 assists and was named the WLA Rookie-of-the-Year.

After capturing the WLA scoring title in 1974, he joined the Quebec entry in the National Lacrosse League, earning 242 points in 60 league and playoff games. It was back to Coquitlam in 1976 for a 4-year stint until he was traded to the Salmonbellies prior to the 1980 season. He remained there for the next 12 seasons before retiring in 1991 at the age of 39.

“I had a passion for the game,” he once told a reporter. “I am proud of what I accomplished statistic-wise, but more than that, I was a team player, that’s what I was all about.”

He has scored 351 WLA playoff points, a league record. He once held the Mann Cup assist
record, later broken by ex-teammate Geordie Dean, but he is still the fourth highest
Mann Cup point getter with 105.

His league, playoff and Mann Cup points total 1,509, is third behind only Wayne Goss and Paul Parnell on the all-time WLA scoring list. His pro Quebec stats of 242 raised his career point total to 1,751.

He was named the Mike Kelly Award winner (Mann Cup MVP) in 1976, won the Maitland Trophy for sportsmanship in 1974 and was placed on the WLA All--Star Team 8 times.

Of course, as previously mentioned, he took the Rookie-of-the-Year honours in 1973.

He was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1997.