Chris Drury's time on Broadway has not been a smash hit. The former Sabres center has just 10 goals and 22 points this season, so it was a surprise to some that the Rangers forward was named to the U.S. Olympic team.
But when you think about the clutch performances throughout his life, he's exactly the type of player you want in an important game. USA coach Ron Wilson echoed those thoughts after Tuesday's 3-1 victory over Switzerland.
"Throughout his career and actually his whole life, the bigger the moment, the better Chris Drury plays. Everybody knows that," Wilson said. "At some point in this tournament, I think he's going to be a hero for us in one of these games. I know this is going to be corny, but he reminds me of a Mike Eruzione-type player. I'm not saying if we get to the gold-medal [game] that it's going to be Dru who is going to score, but he's that type of person. The glue in the room."
ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun tells the story of Drury's new role, which has him killing penalties and skating as the 13th forward.
"Dru will do anything to help your team win," Wilson said. "We talked yesterday at practice that I saw his role as a primary penalty killer and then I would fit him in and keep him involved. He's accepting of that. He's the one guy that, almost to a man, you guys [the media] have questioned as to why he's on the team. He's there because of the way he played today. He's going to do the little detailed grunt work.
"We've got plenty guys that can score, and he can still score. But we need people dedicated to being on the right side of the puck 100 percent of the time and to lead by example. We've got so many young guys, having his voice and experience in the room is huge."
---John Vogl
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ex-Sabres | Olympics
