The New York Rangers received a bit of unexpected bad news Friday when Chris Drury announced his retirement after 12 NHL seasons.
Drury played in 892 games for the Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres and the New York Rangers, and he finished his career with 255 goals and 615 points.
The former New York Rangers captain signed a five-year, $35.25 million contract with the Rangers on July 1, 2007 and had 25 goals and 58 points in his first season, but those numbers slipped to 14 goals and 32 points by the 2009-10 campaign and he was only able to play 24 games this past season because of multiple injuries.
Drury won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2001, and after a year in Calgary he had his best offensive seasons with Buffalo after arriving in a trade before the 2003-04 season. He had 30 goals and 67 points in 2005-06 and topped that with 37 goals and 69 points the next season.
Rangers fans can probably relate to the mixed emotions expressed by Rangers goaltender Martin Biron on the retirement of Drury.
“It’s sad because he’s still a very young guy that may have so much to offer, but when your body limits you to certain things it’s probably very difficult. You never get to retire the way you planned it, for all of the Ray Bourque story endings, there’s a thousand guys that aren’t retiring on their own terms that might not have it the way they expected it to be. I wish him the best obviously.”
