Everywhere he went he seemed to bring a winning attitude. He brought his Little League team to the Championship Game in Williamsport in 1989. He won the Hobey Baker Award (MVP of D-I Hockey) while at Boston University and won the NCAA Division I Championship in 1995.
In his 1998-99 NHL rookie season he won the Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year). This made him the first and only player to win both the Hobey Baker Award and Calder Trophy. He won the 2001 Stanley Cup with the Avalanche while gaining an admirer in Avalanche Captain and future Hall of Famer Joe Sakic. Sakic once said of Drury, "You want a goal, you're in overtime, you want him."
In 2002 he was traded to Calgary where for the first time in his career he missed the playoffs. The following offseason he was traded to Buffalo, where his career would flourish. In two of his three season with the Sabres he co-captained them within just a few games of the Stanley Cup Finals.
July 1st, 2007 is thought of as one of the worst days in Sabres history; the day Chris Drury and fellow co-captain Daniel Briere left Buffalo for huge pay-raises the Sabres couldn't afford. Drury signed a 5-year $35.25 Million deal with the New York Rangers, while Briere left for Philadelphia.
In his four years with the "Blue-shirts" he only managed to lead them to one playoff series win in three appearances before having his career cut short by a knee injury. He was bought out in July by the Rangers and could not pass a physical to sign on with another team.
Drury also won two Olympic silver medals in his three Olympic Games (Salt Lake '02, Torino '06 and Vancouver '10). However he could not lead the Americans past rival Canada in the Gold Medal Games of 2002 and 2010.
In Buffalo Drury will be remembered as one of the best captains in team history despite only playing with the "Blue and Gold" for 3 seasons. His biggest moment with the Sabres is undoubtedly his game-tying goal in Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. With 7.7 seconds left in the game. Drury netted a rebound of a Tim Connolly shot in the final seconds of a crucial game. Maxim Afinogenov would end up winning the game in overtime, helping the Sabres reach their second consecutive Eastern Conference Finals. (Video Below)
I hope Drury can catch on somewhere as a coach or in a front office role. Drury is one of hockey's "good-guys" and I believe he would make a great coach.
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