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Chris Drury retires from NHL after 12 seasons

New Jersey Devils v New York Rangers

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 09: Chris Drury #23 of the New York Rangers skates in warmups prior to the game against the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden on April 9, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jonathan Klein/Getty Images)

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After 12 seasons in the NHL, Chris Drury is calling it a career and retiring from the NHL.

It’s a career that many will reflect back upon with warm thoughts and memories from being a clutch performer in Colorado with the Avalanche winning the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year in 1998-1999 and helping the team win the 2001 Stanley Cup. Even Buffalo Sabres fans can reflect up on Drury’s time there with a smile as he and Daniel Briere teamed up to bring offensive firepower to Buffalo that they haven’t seen since then.

Drury’s career spanned 892 games and saw him score 255 goals and finish with 615 points. While in Colorado, Drury was the perfect complimentary piece on those teams that featured Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg. Drury’s role as a depth player and scorer saw him score 20+ goals in each of his first four seasons with the Avalanche. In his one season in Calgary courtesy of a trade, Drury showed that he could be a playmaker and scorer as he potted 20 goals and added 33 assists.

Calgary would deal Drury to Buffalo and that’s where his career took off. In three seasons with the Sabres, Drury would score 85 goals including back to back 30+ goal seasons. There, Drury would lead the Sabres to back-to-back appearances in the Eastern Conference finals losing to Carolina in 2006 and Ottawa in 2007. After that 2007 season, however, Drury would leave the Sabres as a free agent and head to Broadway to play for the Rangers.

Drury’s first two seasons in New York were solid as he totaled 58 and 56 points respectively. His final two years in New York would see him struggle with his play and then ultimately his health last season.

As Adrian Dater of The Denver Post notes, Drury will go down as a favorite of his from his days in Denver in a career that seems to have ended too soon.

It hardly seems possible his career is finished. I can still remember the first time he came to Avs camp back in 1998, just a doughy-faced kid not that far removed from being a Little League World Series hero for his town of Trumbull, Conn. I remember his first Burgundy-White game down in Colorado Springs, when he immediately got challenged to a fight by Pascal Trepanier. Drury aced his first rite of passage by standing up for himself – something almost every NHL rookie has to do at some point.

While Drury isn’t going to get much consideration for the Hockey Hall Of Fame, he does leave behind numerous great memories for NHL fans and yes, even fans of his from his Little League days. From his Calder and Stanley Cup wins in Denver, to his efforts in nearly willing the Sabres to the Stanley Cup finals two years in a row, to closing out a solid career in Manhattan he’ll always be a crowd favorite and a guy we wished could’ve kept shining brightly for a lot longer.

Update: Rangers GM Glen Sather released this statement on Drury’s retirement:

“Throughout his career, Chris Drury was always a great competitor, a tremendous leader and teammate, and the heart and soul type of player that every team would love to have. His commitment, determination and will to win were apparent each and every day. Those characteristics will have a lasting impact on all those who were fortunate enough to learn from Chris over his 12 years in the National Hockey League.”