LabattBlue Posted November 25, 2006 Report Share Posted November 25, 2006 I posted this on another board and would like to get some thoughts on this... Drury gets way too much leeway from the fans. He disappears for games at a time & is a terrible playmaker considering he plays the center position. When someone criticizes his play, the typical response will be... A. Great face-off guy(I watched him lose several key faceoffs last night) B. Great in the locker room(Only the players and coaches really know. I think this is overrated in that there are other players on this team who could be leaders) C. Great defensive player who is restricted offensively because his line is checking the opposing teams top line(not true at all. Lindy rarely matches lines in the regular season) D.Clutch scorer(true, but with all the offensive firepower this team has, I don't know if this is irreplaceable) I know the Briere/Drury debate will heat up after the season if neither one is signed at that time, but the way I see it now is that I'll take Breire at 5.5 mil over Drury at 3-4 mil any day of the week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X. Benedict Posted November 25, 2006 Report Share Posted November 25, 2006 I am not prepared to argue Briere vs. Drury - I see them as different players. But I do think that Drury has not looked like a dominant player recently. On the PP last night, you could tell how much Hecht is missed when he is not in the lineup. He clears a lot of space. I think Drury has been pressing a little, and more than a few times I have wondered if has some type of sprain or wrist issue. His normally accurate wrist shot seems to be missing wildly as if he can't turn his wrist over or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blugold43 Posted November 25, 2006 Report Share Posted November 25, 2006 i think drury vs. briere at the end of the season is a NO-BRAINER...you do whatever you can to keep briere. drury is a guy you can win with, but i think he's done his job well enough with regard to leadership, that we'll be able to get along without him after this year. btw, i am not critical of drury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Done Posted November 25, 2006 Report Share Posted November 25, 2006 I admire your yayas in starting this thread. If you tried that a few weeks ago....you would be eating sushi with a Russian spy. I've never been a fan of the "great leader in the lockerroom guy" statement. They used to say that about Peca....on the ice he would have a big hit on someone usually 6 foot or under, but if anyone with grit challanged him, he would walk away. To me that spoke volumes over anything he could pull out of his arse in the room. I like Drury...he's smart, he's solid, but he is no game changer. In fact, his best role in the playoffs would be playing on a line with Hecht and Gaustad and turning into a true shutdown line that can pop in a goal here and there. Put Danny between Max and Vanek and watch the sparks fly. I look at Briere as the leader of this team. He spoke out last year in the playoffs and said we were playing too scared. Ruff said he was full of crap, but then proceeded to take the chains off the boys and they went on to have better games. I don't think Darcy has the stones to do it, but we are so deep at forward that I would look to get a huge ransom from a Western team at the deadline looking for that "leader in the room" guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two or less Posted November 25, 2006 Report Share Posted November 25, 2006 i think this is a little bit unfair to anwser. No one player is good enough that they can take on an entire defense on their own and play at the highest level. Drury, plays with Paille, Stafford or Kotalik. Kotalik has been stuggling and Stafford hasn't been himself either. And when Paille plays with him, he still is a rookie. I can't wait til Connolly returns so he can center Vanek and Max and Roy can go onto Drury's line. And if Kotalik ever wakes up, then we will see the real Drury. It's unfair to judge him because his linemates are playing poorly, and despite them playing bad, that line is still creating and play great in its own zone. So no worries and this arguement is still months away to being legit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topshelf43 Posted November 25, 2006 Report Share Posted November 25, 2006 I like Drury alot, but I have noticed in recent games it seems he's been slacking a little. But hey, evryone goes through a rough patch during the season and I'm confident he'll step it up. I also think it's way to early to start debating Briere and Drury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wjag Posted November 26, 2006 Report Share Posted November 26, 2006 I think Drury is the rock of the Sabres. This team needs someone on it who has done it and can show the way. I also think our expectations are way too high after his first 10 games. We keep waiting to see him light the lamp. The problem is we are all way to spoiled... Irrevocably too... They only scored one goal last night.. Something must be wrong. Montreal played one of the strangest hockey games all year. They lulled us to sleep and then with 1 freakin second left they shoot the perfect shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FogBat Posted November 26, 2006 Report Share Posted November 26, 2006 Yeah, um, I'm waiting for a Chris Drury sighting as well. I hope he doesn't go to sleep like Alexei Yashin of the Fishstix did last year. He had such an awesome start to the year. Where did he disappear to? Quite honestly, I have more respect for Repo Man and Spock than I do for Drury right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffalOhio Posted November 26, 2006 Report Share Posted November 26, 2006 Quite honestly, I have more respect for Repo Man and Spock than I do for Drury right now. I'll bite. Who the heck is Repo Man? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Screamin'Weasel Posted November 26, 2006 Report Share Posted November 26, 2006 I'll bite. Who the heck is Repo Man? A "repo man" is the unfortunate soul whose job it is to repossess vehicles and items that the purchaser has stopped paying on. They are quite hated by deadbeats that don't pay for thier belongings. They are occassionaly shot at as they are thought of as "stealing." Repo Man is also a cult classic 1984 film starring Emilio Estavez about a punk rock teen that gets a job as, you guessed it, a repo man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topshelfcookies Posted November 26, 2006 Report Share Posted November 26, 2006 It's going to take Drury to pull a Yashin or Alfredson over the course of a playoff run for me to sour on him. I think that there's no way this club is where they're at if Drury hadn't come in and change the mentality inside the Buffalo locker room over the past 3 years. Dru is a gamer and in my opinion, the type of player who can carry a team in the playoffs. I think why I love what the Sabres have going is because even if Briere racks up 150 pts this season, and Drury only finishes with 50 something (and I do think he'll get to 50pts...sooner or later he's going to start scoring again), come the second season, there are few players in the league that are more "valuable" than Chris Drury. This isn't intended to be taken as a slight against Briere, who is turning into a superstar this season, and should begin to be mentioned in the same breath as the Thortons, Ignilias, Jagrs, Sundins etc. Danny in many ways is the face of the franchise, and the guy who is always in front of the camera, which helps becuase he's so congenial. In my opinion though, you need guys like Briere to help you get to the playoffs, and you need guys like Drury to help you win in the playoffs. I realize this point would be much more valid if Briere wasn't rediculously clutch (and he is), but having a guy like Drury who does EVERYTHING well is irreplaceable on a team with a lot of young talented, offensive minded players. Having guys like Vanek, Roy, Novotny, Paille, Campbell able to see an example of a guy who always puts his teamates first and never takes a shift off is important. With Drury, even if he doesn't get a point a night, you can always notice a few small things that he does to help set the tone of the game. Might as well enjoy it that we have both Briere and Dru to watch this season. One of them won't be in blue and gold next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted November 26, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2006 ...but having a guy like Drury who does EVERYTHING well is irreplaceable on a team with a lot of young talented, offensive minded players. Having guys like Vanek, Roy, Novotny, Paille, Campbell able to see an example of a guy who always puts his teamates first and never takes a shift off is important. With Drury, even if he doesn't get a point a night, you can always notice a few small things that he does to help set the tone of the game. Might as well enjoy it that we have both Briere and Dru to watch this season. One of them won't be in blue and gold next season. Don't get me wrong. I like Drury to remain a Sabre at 3 million per year.. I just don't think he is worth 4 mil a year or more. Which leads back to my original statement... If I have to choose between the two, I'll take Breire at 5.5 mil over Drury at 3-4 mil any day of the week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matter2003 Posted November 27, 2006 Report Share Posted November 27, 2006 Well, not to make excuses, because I am sure that would be last thing Drury would do, but on the pregame show, Paul Hamilton was talking to Lindy Ruff and he basically said in a roundabout way that Drury has been battling some injuries the past few games and gutting it out on the ice... Perhaps his hand was still bothering him from the game where he got slashed or hit with a puck and they showed him over on the bench doubled over in pain holding his hand.... Either way, I am not sure what you are trying to get at in this thread, but I am not buying what you are selling. Drury was brought in by this franchise to build around, and what they have built is one of the best, if not the best, team in the NHL. Not to mention this guy is serious money in the clutch(aka playoffs), and of that there can be no debate. It is obvious that the people in the know around the NHL have tremendous value for a player like Drury because he is the kind of player that others look to when times get hard. He goes out every shift and competes hard, and that sets the tone for the rest of the team. He does a lot of things that aren't reflected in the stat lines for this team, and you CANNOT win Stanley Cups without players like Drury, which is probably why he already has a ring.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wjag Posted November 27, 2006 Report Share Posted November 27, 2006 Way to call him out.. Game winner in OT tonight on a beautiful deflection to top shelf... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matter2003 Posted November 27, 2006 Report Share Posted November 27, 2006 Way to call him out.. Game winner in OT tonight on a beautiful deflection to top shelf... Yeah, I was just gonna say the same thing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X. Benedict Posted November 27, 2006 Report Share Posted November 27, 2006 Paul Hamilton reports that everyone knows that Drury has been playing hurt for some time. I suspected it, but I am still surprised to hear it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted November 27, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2006 Way to call him out.. Game winner in OT tonight on a beautiful deflection to top shelf... I knew this post was coming! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawerchuk Posted November 27, 2006 Report Share Posted November 27, 2006 I love Captain Clutch! Drury is awesome and glad he's a Sabre!! OT Game Winner baby!! Plus, he a hellova good penalty killer and a USA Hockey Olympian. GO DRU!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topshelfcookies Posted November 27, 2006 Report Share Posted November 27, 2006 What a night for Drury. I'm glad he checks The Harbor Club 300 before each game, and FINALLY got his act together (wink-wink). It was interesting to hear Hamilton on the post-game report make it sound so obvious that Dru has been playing with a nagging injury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Playfair Posted November 27, 2006 Report Share Posted November 27, 2006 how the hell did he get a stick on that shot with a guy on his back? amaznig play. i wonder if he had any clue where it was going? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wjag Posted November 27, 2006 Report Share Posted November 27, 2006 how the hell did he get a stick on that shot with a guy on his back? amaznig play. i wonder if he had any clue where it was going? I've watched the play many times. I don't have TiVo yet (santa you listening) but it is on the NHL site. It happened so fast that it can only have been a set play and a great deal of luck. He barely got to the spot when the shot was launched. My guess is that he is a professional and guessed instinctively. He put himself in a position to make the play and did. The fact that he got it and it found its way to the back of the net was luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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