Chris Drury

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For the British artist, see Chris Drury (artist).
Position Center
Shoots Right
Nickname(s) Captain Clutch, McDrury[1]
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 Flag of the United States United States
Born August 20, 1976 (1976-08-20) (age 31),
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 ice hockey player who plays for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League. The younger brother of former player Ted Drury, Chris has won the Stanley Cup, the Calder Memorial Trophy, the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, an Olympic silver medal in ice hockey, and a Little League Baseball World Series Championship.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

Drury first started playing youth hockey with Dave Foti for Greater Bridgeport Youth Hockey, while he was a child. His name and number (with the Colorado Avalanche logo) are painted above the entrance doors to the Classic Arena at Wonderland of Ice in Bridgeport, CT. He is one of the only players to become a successful NHL hockey player from the South-West Youth Hockey teams, such as the BIG 4 (Mid-Fairfield Youth Hockey, Southern Youth Hockey Org., Darien Youth Hockey, and Greater Bridgeport Youth Hockey.)

He later decided to go to Fairfield College Preparatory School along with his brother Ted Drury. Chris was the co-captain of the Varsity Hockey team his senior year with Rudolph Mauritz, who is a History teacher at the school today. Chris later attended Boston University where he played on the same line as now quadriplegic Travis Roy.

Chris and Ted Drury are the only players in Prep's hockey history to have their numbers retired. A banner hangs in the far left corner of Wonderland of Ice in Bridgeport, (Fairfield College Preparatory School's home rink). They both wore the number 18.

Drury with the Buffalo Sabres
Drury with the Buffalo Sabres

Chris Drury was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques 72nd overall in the third round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft. He won a state championship at the prestigious high school Fairfield Prep in Fairfield, Connecticut where he was a four year letterman on the hockey team. He also played for Boston University for four years, winning a national championship in the 1994-95 season, being the runner-up for in the Hobey Baker Award in 1997, and winning the Hobey Baker Award in 1998, given to the best NCAA ice hockey player, in the 1997-98 season. Drury is considered one of the best players ever to don a Terrier uniform, being the first BU player to reach 100 career goals and assists, finishing with 113 and 100, respectively. He was also named the top defensive forward in Hockey East in 1997-98. He started playing in the NHL with the Colorado Avalanche in the 1998-99 NHL season in which he won the Calder Trophy as the best rookie of the NHL. Drury won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in the 2000-01 season. He was traded to the Calgary Flames on October 1, 2002, and then to the Buffalo Sabres on July 3, 2003. Drury's role with the Sabres placed him as co-captain (he shared the captaincy with then fellow center Daniel Briere from 2005–2007). 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 with the Avalanche, and had one game-winner with the Sabres in the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

On April 12 and April 18, 2007, Drury scored his 13th and 14th playoff-game winners in a pair of 2-goal efforts against the New York Islanders in Games 1 and 4 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.[1] On May 4, playing in game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Drury scored the tying goal from between Thomas Vanek's legs with 7.7 seconds left in regulation time. The Sabres won 2-1 in overtime and closed out the series against the Rangers 4 games to 2. Drury later added his 15th career playoff game winner in Game 4 of the Conference Final against the Ottawa Senators. On April 18, 2008, Drury scored his 16th playoff-game-winning goal against Martin Brodeur, which was also the series-winning goal for the Rangers in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

Drury competed for the United States in 2002 Winter Olympics, 2006 Winter Olympics, 2004 World Cup of Hockey and several Ice Hockey World Championships.

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

On July 1, 2007, Drury signed a five-year, $35.25 million dollar contract with the New York Rangers.[2]

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.[3]

[edit] Jersey number

His current number 23 is to honor his childhood hero, New York Yankees first baseman Don Mattingly. During his career, he has also has had the numbers 37 and 18. He had 18 in High School and now that number is retired.

[edit] Little league baseball career

Drury was the Championship Game's winning pitcher and MVP on the championship team from Trumbull at the 1989 Little League World Series, pitching a complete game 5-hitter and driving in two runs. 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 and was on his way to New York City to go on Good Morning America.

[edit] Awards and achievements

  • 1995: Beanpot with Boston University (NCAA)
  • 1996: Beanpot with Boston University (NCAA)
  • 1995-96: Second All-Star Team (Hockey East)
  • 1995-96: East Second All-American Team (NCAA)
  • 1997: Beanpot with Boston University (NCAA)
  • 1996-97: Second All-Star Team (Hockey East)
  • 1996-97: Player of the Year (Hockey East)
  • 1996-97: Championship All-Tournament Team (NCAA)
  • 1996-97: East First All-American Team (NCAA)
  • 1998: Beanpot with Boston University (NCAA)
  • 1997-98: First All-Star Team (Hockey East)
  • 1997-98: Best Defensive Forward (Hockey East)
  • 1997-98: Player of the Year (Hockey East)
  • 1997-98: East First All-American Team (NCAA)
  • 1997-98: Hobey Baker Memorial Award Top U.S. Collegiate Player (NCAA)
  • 1998-99: All-Rookie Team (NHL)
  • 1998-99: Calder Memorial Trophy Rookie of the Year (NHL)
  • 2000-01: Stanley Cup champion with the Colorado Avalanche
  • 2001-02: Ice Hockey Silver Medal (XIX Olympic Winter Games)

[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] Notable quotations

Quotations from Drury
  • After a July 2003 trade from Calgary to Buffalo: "I just don't know what to think. I play in Colorado, they tell me they like me, and I get traded. I play in Calgary, and at the end of the season the GM tells me he likes me, and I get traded. I just hope my fiancée doesn't tell me she likes me."[4]
Quotations about Drury
  • "You want a goal, you're in overtime – you want him." –Joe Sakic[5]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Traikos, Michael. "'Captain Clutch' walks softly with big stick", National Post, 2007-04-20. Retrieved on 2008-02-02. 
  2. ^ "Rangers ink Gomez and Drury", Associated Press, 2007-07-02. Retrieved on 2008-02-02. 
  3. ^ "Rangers 3, Devils 1", Associated Press, 2008-02-01. Retrieved on 2008-02-02. 
  4. ^ Fitzpatrick, Jamie. "2003 Hockey Quotes of the Year", About.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-02. 
  5. ^ Price, S.L.. "The Winner", SI.com, 2007-04-10. Retrieved on 2008-02-02. 

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Miroslav Satan		 Buffalo Sabres captains
November 2003		 Succeeded by
James Patrick
Preceded by
Daniel Briere		 Buffalo Sabres captains
March-April 2004		 Succeeded by
Daniel Briere
Chris Drury
Preceded by
Chris Drury		 Buffalo Sabres captains
2005-07
co-captains with Daniel Briere		 Succeeded by
Jochen Hecht
Preceded by
Brendan Morrison		 Winner of the Hobey Baker Award
1998		 Succeeded by
Jason Krog
Preceded by
Sergei Samsonov		 Winner of the Calder Trophy
1999		 Succeeded by
Scott Gomez