NEW YORK — Chris Drury retired from the NHL on Friday after 12 seasons, unable to hook up with a new team after the New York Rangers bought out the final year of their captain’s contract in June.
The center struggled through a final injury-plagued season with New York that limited him to 24 games. He returned for the final regular-season game and scored his lone goal in a victory over the New Jersey Devils that helped the Rangers clinch a playoff spot on the last day. That was the only highlight for Drury, who posted just five points and then added an assist in New York’s first-round playoff loss to the Washington Capitals.
Drury, who turns 35 today, had 255 goals and 615 points in 892 NHL games with the Avalanche, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres and the Rangers. He scored 47 game-winning goals in the regular season, but he made his mark in the postseason, where 17 of his 47 goals in 135 playoff games were winners.
Drury was a Stanley Cup champion in 2001 with the Avalanche, but his winning ways go much further back. While playing for Trumbull, Conn., Drury pitched a five-hitter and drove in two runs to lead his hometown team to the 1989 Little League World Series title. He won the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s top player as a senior at Boston University in 1998, then the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie a year later with the Avs. He also won silver medals with Team USA at the Olympics, in 2002 and 2010.
