Calgary Flames 37 Days Until the Season Starts: #37 Chris Drury
By Ramina Shlah
Only 37 days until the regular season starts again! We’re almost there! With 37 days left, let’s take a look at a former Calgary Flames player with that number.
Since the start of August, we’re counting down the number of days left until the regular season starts up again! Everyday until the start of the season, we’ll be talking about a Calgary Flames player whose number correlates with how many days there are left.
Yesterday we talked about a guy with a super fun and weird nickname. It was #38 Jeff Cowan aka Cowan the Bra-barian.
Today, let’s talk about another retired player and another player who didn’t spend a lot of time with the Calgary Flames. With 37 days left until the regular season starts, let’s look at #37 Chris Drury.
Related Story: 38 Days Until the Season Starts: #38 Jeff Cowan
Who is Chris Drury?
Name: Christopher Ellis Drury
Birth place: Trumbull, CT, USA
Position: C
Shoots: Right
Birthdate: 1976-08-20
Height: 5’10” / 178 cm
Weight: 86 kg / 190 lbs
Drafted by: Quebec Nordiques, 72nd Overall 1994
Stats with all NHL teams, regular season:
| Scoring | Goals | Assists | Shots | Ice Time | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Age | Tm | Lg | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | EV | PP | SH | GW | EV | PP | SH | S | S% | TSA | TOI | ATOI | FOW | FOL | FO% | HIT | BLK | TK | GV | Awards |
| 1998-99 | 22 | COL | NHL | 79 | 20 | 24 | 44 | 9 | 62 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 7 | 0 | 138 | 14.5 | 1047 | 13:15 | Calder-1 | ||||||||
| 1999-00 | 23 | COL | NHL | 82 | 20 | 47 | 67 | 8 | 42 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 31 | 16 | 0 | 213 | 9.4 | 1521 | 18:33 | |||||||||
| 2000-01 | 24 | COL | NHL | 71 | 24 | 41 | 65 | 6 | 47 | 13 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 22 | 19 | 0 | 204 | 11.8 | 1281 | 18:03 | |||||||||
| 2001-02 | 25 | COL | NHL | 82 | 21 | 25 | 46 | 1 | 38 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 10 | 1 | 236 | 8.9 | 1471 | 17:57 | |||||||||
| 2002-03 | 26 | CGY | NHL | 80 | 23 | 30 | 53 | -9 | 33 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 224 | 10.3 | 1484 | 18:33 | |||||||||
| 2003-04 | 27 | BUF | NHL | 76 | 18 | 35 | 53 | 8 | 68 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 11 | 3 | 152 | 11.8 | 1373 | 18:04 | |||||||||
| 2005-06 | 29 | BUF | NHL | 81 | 30 | 37 | 67 | -11 | 32 | 12 | 16 | 2 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 0 | 172 | 17.4 | 1466 | 18:06 | Byng-20,Selke-15 | ||||||||
| 2006-07 | 30 | BUF | NHL | 77 | 37 | 32 | 69 | 1 | 30 | 17 | 17 | 3 | 9 | 22 | 10 | 0 | 199 | 18.6 | 1446 | 18:47 | AS-7,Byng-11,Hart-13,Selke-4 | ||||||||
| 2007-08 | 31 | NYR | NHL | 82 | 25 | 33 | 58 | -3 | 45 | 13 | 12 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 17 | 2 | 220 | 11.4 | 350 | 1623 | 19:48 | 745 | 613 | 54.9 | 46 | 76 | 64 | 40 | Byng-19,Selke-12 |
| 2008-09 | 32 | NYR | NHL | 81 | 22 | 34 | 56 | -8 | 32 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 10 | 1 | 219 | 10.0 | 395 | 1640 | 20:15 | 603 | 580 | 51.0 | 42 | 90 | 48 | 31 | Byng-44,Selke-33 |
| 2009-10 | 33 | NYR | NHL | 77 | 14 | 18 | 32 | -10 | 31 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 148 | 9.5 | 267 | 1369 | 17:47 | 638 | 568 | 52.9 | 67 | 97 | 58 | 17 | Byng-24,Selke-24 |
| 2010-11 | 34 | NYR | NHL | 24 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 3.8 | 55 | 288 | 12:01 | 127 | 98 | 56.4 | 19 | 12 | 9 | 3 | |
| 4 yrs | COL | NHL | 314 | 85 | 137 | 222 | 24 | 189 | 56 | 29 | 0 | 16 | 84 | 52 | 1 | 791 | 10.7 | 5321 | 16:57 | ||||||||||
| 4 yrs | NYR | NHL | 264 | 62 | 89 | 151 | -19 | 116 | 37 | 24 | 1 | 10 | 52 | 33 | 4 | 613 | 10.1 | 1067 | 4920 | 18:38 | 2113 | 1859 | 53.2 | 174 | 275 | 179 | 91 | ||
| 3 yrs | BUF | NHL | 234 | 85 | 104 | 189 | -2 | 130 | 41 | 38 | 6 | 16 | 59 | 42 | 3 | 523 | 16.3 | 4285 | 18:19 | ||||||||||
| 1 yr | CGY | NHL | 80 | 23 | 30 | 53 | -9 | 33 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 224 | 10.3 | 1484 | 18:33 | ||||||||||
| Career | NHL | 892 | 255 | 360 | 615 | -6 | 468 | 151 | 96 | 8 | 47 | 210 | 142 | 8 | 2151 | 11.9 | 2605 | 16010 | 17:57 | 2113 | 1859 | 53.2 | 174 | 275 | 179 | 91 |
Provided by Hockey-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 8/29/2017.
Chris Drury was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques in 1994, but he didn’t start his NHL career until 1998. He was playing with Boston University of the NCAA until then. But growing up, hockey wasn’t the only sport Drury played.
He was also big into baseball. So much so that he was a big factor in his team winning the 1989 Little League Baseball World Series Championship when he was just 13 years old. Because of this, he got to throw the ceremonial first pitch in game 2 of the World Series that year, he met the President of the United States at the time, George H.W. Bush, and he appeared on Good Morning America.
It was all very impressive, but he decided to continue down the hockey route.
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Going back to his BU days, he won the Hockey East’s player of the year in his Junior and Senior year, was a runner-up for the Hobey Baker award in his Junior year and won the Hobey Baker finally in his senior year as NCAA’s player of the year.
When he finally made his NHL debut in 1998, it was for the Colorado Avalanche since the Nordiques relocated. With 20 goals and 44 points in 79 regular season games, he won the Calder Trophy that year. He also became the first person ever to win the Hobey Baker and the Calder. I mean, Johnny Gaudreau came close. He won the Hobey Baker and was a finalist for the Calder… just saying.
Drury stayed with Colorado for four years and even went on to win the Stanley Cup with them in 2001! Those playoffs, he had 11 goals and 16 points in 23 playoff games. But what’s impressive about him and left a lasting impression with Avs fans was his clutch. He would be the guy to score those game-winning goals.
In four straight playoff series with the Avs, he had 11 game-winning goals. Four of Drury’s 11 goals during the playoffs when they won the cup were game-winners. The Captain of the Avs at the time, Joe Sakic, even complimented his clutch abilities.
Via the National Post:
"You want a goal, you’re in overtime — you want him. He loves that time. His level of play rises."
In 2002, Drury was traded to the Calgary Flames (yay!) before the season started. He finished third in scoring on the team with 53 points. But again, he’d have to pack his bags because he was traded in the off-season of 2003.
Drury went to the Buffalo Sabres for a few years then to the New York Rangers where he finished his career. With the Rangers, he was named Captain and he was only the fourth active player at the time who had been a captain for more than one team. He was also only the second American captain in Rangers franchise history.
Drury retired in 2011. He is currently the GM of the Rangers AHL affiliate team, the Hartford Wolf Pack.
Drury’s also had quite a lot of international experience as well. He’s played in one World Juniors, three World Championships, one World Cup of Hockey, and three Olympics. He has two Olympic silver medals and one bronze WC.
Actually a fun fact: In one of his Olympic silvers, it was in 2002 in Salt Lake City. Team USA made it all the way to the Gold medal game against Canada (which came as somewhat of a surprise), but of course, since he won a silver medal, they lost. However, this was the first time that USA made it to the Gold medal game since the whole Miracle on Ice fiasco in 1980.
Next: Michael Frolik's Case for the Non-Olympics
Drury’s got some medals and a Stanley Cup to his name. I’d say those are some successful accomplishments on his resume.