Chris Drury, Captain of the NHL’s New York Rangers, To Be Enshrined in Little League Hall of Excellence
Print“We had no idea how huge this was,” Mr. Drury said of his team’s post-World Series euphoria. “When we won the game, it was on TV, but I still hadn’t seen a newspaper or the TV news.
“Winning kicked in for me, when we flew home on chartered plane provided by Donald Trump,” Mr. Drury said. “On the bus ride home from the airport, 15 fire trucks and 40 police cars were out in front of us, and we all thought, ‘We must have just missed the biggest accident ever.’ What was going on was an escort for us into town and a huge parade.”
Mr. Drury played baseball throughout high school, graduating from Fairfield (Conn). Prep in 1994. During this time, he also was developing into an elite amateur hockey player, winning a youth championship at the age of 12, and later a state title while at Fairfield Prep.
Mr. Drury and his older brother, Ted, are the only Fairfield Prep graduates to have their number retired; both wore No. 18. Ted, and Mr. Drury’s other brother, Jim, also are Little League graduates.
Drafted out of high school by the NHL’s Quebec Nordiques, Mr. Drury elected to attend Boston University (BU), where in 1995, as a freshman, he won the NCAA Division I Ice Hockey National Championship. By the end of collegiate career, he was the first BU player to eclipse 100 goals and assists (113 and 100 respectively). As BU’s captain in 1998, Mr. Drury was recognized as the Hobey Baker Award winner.
Mr. Drury has played for the Colorado Avalanche, winning Rookie of the Year honors during the 1998-99 season, as well as the Buffalo Sabres and Calgary Flames. He won a Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2001. Mr. Drury has been a member of the United States hockey team (2002 and 2006 Winter Olympic Games), and has aspirations of playing for Team USA in the 2010 Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Mr. Drury is the only player to be selected as college hockey’s best player and the NHL’s top rookie. Following the 2007 NHL season, Mr. Drury signed a free agent contract with the New York Rangers and chose to wear No. 23 in honor of his childhood hero, former New York Yankees first baseman, Don Mattingly. In October 2008, Mr. Drury was named Rangers’ Captain, the 25th in team history, and only the second U.S.-born player to be so honored.
With all of his accomplishments to date, Mr. Drury said he does have many found memories of his Little League days and his team’s journey to the Little League Baseball World Series championship.
“The one picture I have is of me jumping in the air right after we won the World Championship,” Mr. Drury said. “For me, that picture is symbolic. It sums up the ecstasy of that whole summer.”
Mr. Drury resides in New York City with his wife, Rory, daughter Dylan (5) and son, Luke (4).
Established in 1988, enshrinement in the Little League Museum’s Hall of Excellence is conducted annually for a Little League graduate (or graduates) who have demonstrated a commitment to excellence in their chosen profession and exemplify the values learned as children in Little League Baseball or Softball. Enshrinees are selected through a defined voting system by the Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum Advisory Board.
Mr. McGovern saw the need for a physical structure to tell the story of Little League. To that end, he spearheaded the development of the Little League Museum. Opened during the 1982 Little League World Series, the museum is located on the Little League International complex. It was renamed in Mr. McGovern’s honor upon his retirement in 1983.
