Chris Drury

Lore & Background

Drury excelled at a variety of sports as a child, including hockey and baseball. Playing for his hometown baseball team from Trumbull, Connecticut, he pitched a complete game, five-hitter and drove in two runs to win the 1989 Little League World Series championship game against Chinese Taipei. He also won a national pee wee championship with his hockey team from Bridgeport the same year. He attended Fairfield College Preparatory School, where he was co-captain of the varsity hockey team in his senior year and received Connecticut all-state honors. His number 18 is retired at the school. Drury was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques 72nd overall in the third round of the 1994 NHL entry draft. He played four years at Boston University, winning a national championship in 1995, and won the Hobey Baker Award in 1998. He began his NHL career with the Colorado Avalanche in 1998–99, winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as top rookie. He won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2000–01. He was traded to the Calgary Flames in 2002, then to the Buffalo Sabres in 2003, where he served as co-captain. He signed with the New York Rangers in 2007 and was named captain in 2008. He won Olympic silver medals with the United States in 2002 and 2010.

In Their Own Story

The arena hummed with a tense silence, the air thick with the scent of ice shavings and anticipation. It was Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals, and every shift felt like an eternity. Drury dropped the puck at center ice, his eyes locked on the play developing in front of him. With a quick pass and a burst of speed, he found himself behind the net, shielding the puck from a desperate defender before firing a wrist shot that beat the goalie glove-side, sending the crowd into a frenzy that would echo through franchise history.

Reader's Guide

Chris Drury never played for the Anaheim Ducks. He won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001, not with Anaheim. He did not win the Conn Smythe Trophy. He was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015, not the Hockey Hall of Fame. His career NHL teams were the Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, and New York Rangers.

Did You Know?

• Drury is the first player in history to have won both the Hobey Baker Award and the Calder Memorial Trophy.
• He pitched a complete game to win the 1989 Little League World Series with his hometown team from Trumbull, Connecticut.
• He was captain of both the Buffalo Sabres and New York Rangers.
• He scored the go-ahead goal in a critical round-robin game against Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics.