Chris Drury

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For the British artist, see Chris Drury (artist).
Position Center
Shoots Right
Height
Weight		 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
190 lb (86 kg/13 st 8 lb)
NHL Team
F. teams		 New York Rangers
Buffalo Sabres
Calgary Flames
Colorado Avalanche
Nationality  United States
Born August 20, 1976 (1976-08-20) (age 32),
Trumbull, CT
NHL Draft 72nd overall, 1994
Quebec Nordiques
Pro career 1998 – present

Christopher Drury (born August 20, 1976 in Trumbull, Connecticut) is a professional hockey player who is currently the captain of the New York Rangers. Drury is a Hobey Baker Award-winner with Boston University, a Stanley Cup champion with the Colorado Avalanche, and an Olympic silver medalist with the United States. As a child, he also won the Little League Baseball World Series Championship with his hometown team from Trumbull. He is sometimes known by the nicknames "McDrury" and "Captain Clutch".[1]

Contents

[edit] Early life

Drury excelled at a variety of sports as a child, including cricket and baseball. Playing for his hometown baseball team from Trumbull, Drury pitched a complete game, 5-hitter and drove in two runs in the 1989 Little League World Series championship game against Taiwan.[1] Two months later, Drury threw out the ceremonial first pitch in Game 2 of the 1989 World Series. After that, he also met the President George H. W. Bush appeared on Good Morning America in New York City.

Drury played many sports simultaneously; before winning the Little League World Series with Trumbull, he won a national pee wee championship with his hockey team from Bridgeport the same year.[2] Along with his older brother, Ted Drury, he attended Fairfield College Preparatory School and won a hockey state championship during his time there. He was co-captain of the varsity hockey team his senior year, receiving Connecticut all-state honors for his efforts on the ice. Chris and Ted are the only players in Fairfield's hockey history to have their numbers retired. The number 18, which they both wore, hangs above the school's home rink at the Wonderland of Ice in Bridgeport in the old rink. Chris' name and number are also painted above the entrance doors to the Classic arena at the same ice rink.

[edit] Playing career

After graduating from Fairfield College Preparatory School, Drury was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques 72nd overall in the third round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft. Upon being drafted, Drury began four years at Boston University. In 1995, Drury won a national championship with BU in his freshman year.[1] In his senior year, he won the Hobey Baker Award as the NCAA's top ice hockey player after finishing as the runner-up the previous season. Drury was the first BU player to reach 100 career goals and assists, finishing with 113 and 100, respectively.[citation needed] He was also named the top defensive forward in Hockey East in 1998.

As the Nordiques franchise was relocated to Denver, Colorado in 1995, Drury started playing in the NHL with the Colorado Avalanche in 1998–99. Recording 44 points in his first season, Drury was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's top rookie. In doing so, he became the first player in history to have won both the Hobey Baker Award and the Calder Trophy.[3]

After a 65-point season in 2000–01, Drury won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche, adding 12 points in the playoffs. Drury became a fan favorite with the Avalanche crowd primarily due to his clutch play during playoffs. He had a total of 11 game-winning goals in 4 straight playoff seasons in Colorado. Avalanche captain Joe Sakic once said of Drury, "You want a goal, you're in overtime – you want him."[4][1]

After Drury's production dipped to 46 points in 2001–02, he was traded to the Calgary Flames on October 1, 2002, and then to the Buffalo Sabres prior to the next season on July 3, 2003. Traded twice in two seasons, Drury was admittedly frustrated.[5] However, Drury excelled in Buffalo, and his role with the Sabres placed him as co-captain with Daniel Briere from 2005 to his departure via free agency in 2007). With his previous numbers 37 with Colorado and 18 with Calgary both taken in Buffalo, Drury switched to 23, in honor of his childhood hero, New York Yankees first baseman Don Mattingly.[6]

After a career-high 37-goal, 69-point campaign in 2006–07, the Sabres made a run to the Conference Finals against the Ottawa Senators as the Presidents' Trophy-winning first seed. Drury scored two game-winning goals in the first round against the New York Islanders,[1] then scored the game-tying goal in game five of the second round against the New York Rangers with 7.7 seconds left in regulation time.[7] The Sabres won 2-1 in overtime and closed out the series against the Rangers 4 games to 2. In game four of the Conference Finals against the Senators, Drury recorded another game-winner to stave off elimination,[8] but the Sabres were eventually defeated 4 games to 1.

In the off-season, Drury and co-captain Daniel Briere both became unrestricted free agents. While Briere signed with the Philadelphia Flyers, Drury signed with the New York Rangers, on July 1, 2007, to a five-year, $35.25 million dollar.[9] He made his Rangers debut against the Florida Panthers, scoring a goal in a 5-2 win.[10] On February 1, 2008, in a game against the New Jersey Devils, Drury scored an empty net goal on the power play for his 500th career point.[11] He finished his first season with the Rangers with 58 points – third in team scoring. Matched up against the New Jersey Devils in the first round, Drury scored the game-winning and series-clinching goal to eliminate the Devils in five games.[12]

After the departure of Jaromír Jágr from the Rangers to play in the Russian KHL, Drury was named the 25th captain in Rangers history on October 3, 2008. Drury is only the second American-born captain in team history.[13] This makes Drury one of five currently active NHL players to be a captain of two different NHL teams, as he also captained the Buffalo Sabres. The players sharing this designation are Chris Chelios, Jason Smith, Chris Pronger and Michael Peca; however, Drury is the only player that is still actively serving as captain.

[edit] Personal life

Chris and his wife Rory have a daughter Dylan and a son Luke; Dylan was born mid-December 2003.[citation needed]

[edit] Awards and achievements

[edit] Records

[edit] Career statistics

    Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1994–95 Boston University HE 39 12 15 27 38 — — — — —
1995–96 Boston University HE 37 35 32 67 46 — — — — —
1996–97 Boston University HE 41 38 24 62 64 — — — — —
1997–98 Boston University HE 38 28 29 57 88 — — — — —
1998–99 Colorado Avalanche NHL 79 20 24 44 62 19 6 2 8 4
1999–2000 Colorado Avalanche NHL 82 20 47 67 42 17 4 10 14 4
2000–01 Colorado Avalanche NHL 71 24 41 65 47 23 11 5 16 4
2001–02 Colorado Avalanche NHL 82 21 25 46 38 21 5 7 12 10
2002–03 Calgary Flames NHL 80 23 30 53 33 — — — — —
2003–04 Buffalo Sabres NHL 76 18 35 53 68 — — — — —
2005–06 Buffalo Sabres NHL 81 30 37 67 32 18 9 9 18 10
2006–07 Buffalo Sabres NHL 77 37 32 69 30 16 8 5 13 2
2007–08 New York Rangers NHL 82 25 33 58 45 10 3 3 6 8
NHL Totals 710 218 304 522 397 124 46 41 87 42
HE Totals 155 133 100 233 236 — — — — —

[edit] International play

Olympic medal record
Men's Ice hockey
Silver 2002 Salt Lake City Ice hockey
World Championships
Bronze 2004 Prague United States

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Traikos, Michael (2007-04-20). "'Captain Clutch' walks softly with big stick", National Post. Retrieved on 2 February 2008. 
  2. ^ "At the Little League World Series". Sports Illustrated (1989-09-04). Retrieved on 2008-10-05.
  3. ^ a b "For Drury, Winning Is Not The Only Thing". New York Times (2006-05-02). Retrieved on 2008-10-05.
  4. ^ Price, S.L. (2007-04-10). "The Winner", SI.com. Retrieved on 2 February 2008. 
  5. ^ Fitzpatrick, Jamie. "2003 Hockey Quotes of the Year", About.com. Retrieved on 2 February 2008. 
  6. ^ "Fans: Feel the power". ESPN. Retrieved on 2008-10-05.
  7. ^ "Sabres Steal Victory From Rangers". New York Times (2007-05-05).
  8. ^ "Sabres stay alive, edge Senators in Game 4". USA Today (2007-05-16). Retrieved on 2008-10-05.
  9. ^ "Rangers ink Gomez and Drury", Associated Press (2007-07-02). Retrieved on 2 February 2008. 
  10. ^ "Drury, Briere have strong debuts". USA Today (2007-10-05). Retrieved on 2008-10-05.
  11. ^ "Rangers 3, Devils 1", Associated Press (2008-02-01). Retrieved on 2 February 2008. 
  12. ^ "Rangers ice Devils 5-3; advance to next round". USA Today (2008-04-18).
  13. ^ "Rangers name Drury captain". New York Post (2008-10-03).

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Jaromír Jágr		 New York Rangers captains
2008 – present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
Chris Drury		 Buffalo Sabres captains
2005-07
co-captains with Daniel Briere		 Succeeded by
Jochen Hecht
Preceded by
Daniel Briere		 Buffalo Sabres captains
March-April 2004		 Succeeded by
Daniel Briere
Chris Drury
Preceded by
Miroslav Satan		 Buffalo Sabres captains
November 2003		 Succeeded by
James Patrick
Preceded by
Sergei Samsonov		 Winner of the Calder Trophy
1999		 Succeeded by
Scott Gomez
Preceded by
Brendan Morrison		 Winner of the Hobey Baker Award
1998		 Succeeded by
Jason Krog
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New York Rangers
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Retired numbers
1 • 2 • 3 (to be retired February 22, 2009) • 7 • 9 (to be retired February 22, 2009) • 9 (to be retired February 3, 2009) • 11 • 35 • 99 (league-wide)
Key personnel
Owner: Cablevision • Managing Partner: James Dolan • President and General Manager: Glen Sather • Head Coach: Tom Renney • Team Captain: Chris Drury
Stanley Cup Finals (10)
Wins: 1928 • 1933 • 1940 • 1994 • Losses: 1929 • 1932 • 1937 • 1950 • 1972 • 1979
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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Drury"
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