LabattBlue Posted April 30, 2008 Report Posted April 30, 2008 Where has Captain Clutch/Intangibles been? Pretty quiet for 7 mil per year. I know Quinny was willing to match any offer, but I'm glad Drury chose to go to the Rangers.
X. Benedict Posted April 30, 2008 Report Posted April 30, 2008 Where has Captain Clutch/Intangibles been? Pretty quiet for 7 mil per year. I know Quinny was willing to match any offer, but I'm glad Drury chose to go to the Rangers. The way he is skating I wouldn't be surprised if he has a freshly torn MCL. He doesn't look strong on his skates at all and he is skating high. We'll see.
deluca67 Posted April 30, 2008 Report Posted April 30, 2008 I thought this thread was going to be about Stu Barnes.
nfreeman Posted April 30, 2008 Report Posted April 30, 2008 Where has Captain Clutch/Intangibles been? Pretty quiet for 7 mil per year. I know Quinny was willing to match any offer, but I'm glad Drury chose to go to the Rangers. Geez. Are you glad we didn't make the playoffs? Everyone's glad we didn't keep Briere, and Soupy, and now Drury wasn't worth it, blah blah blah. This is insane! Good teams are more than the sum of their parts. Drury is exactly the kind of blood-and-guts player the Sabres were so sorely lacking this year -- and if we don't get a couple of guys like him this offseason, we're going to miss the playoffs again next year. The way he is skating I wouldn't be surprised if he has a freshly torn MCL. He doesn't look strong on his skates at all and he is skating high. We'll see. He's definitely hurt with some kind of midsection injury. He skated off the ice in the 2nd period last night in obvious pain in the middle of a play.
SwampD Posted April 30, 2008 Report Posted April 30, 2008 The way he is skating I wouldn't be surprised if he has a freshly torn MCL. He doesn't look strong on his skates at all and he is skating high. We'll see. Being someone who just tore his MCL, I really hope that is not true..even if he is a Ranger. It also looked like he couldn't raise his arm above his head.
LabattBlue Posted April 30, 2008 Author Report Posted April 30, 2008 Geez. Are you glad we didn't make the playoffs? Everyone's glad we didn't keep Briere, and Soupy, and now Drury wasn't worth it, blah blah blah. At the salary level Drury is getting, I am glad he isn't here. At the salary level Campbell is going to get, I am glad he isn't here. Briere on the other hand got tossed to the curb by Quinny because of his man crush on Drury. Hey Quinny...how did it feel when Drury turned his back on you? Are you glad that we wouldn't have had the money to sign Pominville or Miller, if Briere, Drury & Campbell were all signed to mega contracts?
X. Benedict Posted April 30, 2008 Report Posted April 30, 2008 Being someone who just tore his MCL, I really hope that is not true..even if he is a Ranger. It also looked like he couldn't raise his arm above his head. Ahhh. Maybe that is it, based on what you and nfreeman said it sounds like a cracked rib(?), and would explain keeping his weight so high. Getting low with a cracked rib is murder because it pushes the diaphragm up. Ouch.
LabattBlue Posted April 30, 2008 Author Report Posted April 30, 2008 Being someone who just tore his MCL, I really hope that is not true..even if he is a Ranger. It also looked like he couldn't raise his arm above his head. Geez...even after he is no longer a Sabre, the excuse generator when is he not playing well is still working overtime. The Drury legend continues to grow. <_<
carpandean Posted April 30, 2008 Report Posted April 30, 2008 Where has Captain Clutch/Intangibles been? Pretty quiet for 7 mil per year. I know Quinny was willing to match any offer, but I'm glad Drury chose to go to the Rangers. While I do think $7 million per year was high for him, I would also argue that he would have been worth more to the Sabres than he is to the Rangers. He would have been "that guy" on our team. We would have used him as a top line center and, more importantly, our Captain. He would have been the unquestioned leader of this team. The Rangers have Jager, Shanahan, Straka and Gomez. They seemed to be using him more in the second half of the season than in the first, but he still is a smaller part for them. Personally, I think it was a bad move on his part. However, I digress before this follows the Briere thread to 20+ pages.
shrader Posted April 30, 2008 Report Posted April 30, 2008 Geez...even after he is no longer a Sabre, the excuse generator when is he not playing well is still working overtime. The Drury legend continues to grow. <_< But Chris Drury just knows how to win. :death: I'm sure most of you are sick of some of my rants on that subject.
apuszczalowski Posted April 30, 2008 Report Posted April 30, 2008 While I do think $7 million per year was high for him, I would also argue that he would have been worth more to the Sabres than he is to the Rangers. He would have been "that guy" on our team. We would have used him as a top line center and, more importantly, our Captain. He would have been the unquestioned leader of this team. The Rangers have Jager, Shanahan, Straka and Gomez. They seemed to be using him more in the second half of the season than in the first, but he still is a smaller part for them. Personally, I think it was a bad move on his part. However, I digress before this follows the Briere thread to 20+ pages. You could argue that with all the players that have left the Sabres. Those guys worked best in the Sabres system
Bmwolf21 Posted April 30, 2008 Report Posted April 30, 2008 Geez...even after he is no longer a Sabre, the excuse generator when is he not playing well is still working overtime. The Drury legend continues to grow. <_< LINK To make the uphill climb even steeper, the Rangers might have to go it without Chris Drury and Blair Betts. Drury suffered what is believed to be an injury to his ribs midway through the second, and though he somehow took a regular turn in the third, he essentially was a one-armed man. Betts was hit in the side of the head by a shot in the second period and was done for the night.
LabattBlue Posted April 30, 2008 Author Report Posted April 30, 2008 LINK To make the uphill climb even steeper, the Rangers might have to go it without Chris Drury and Blair Betts. Drury suffered what is believed to be an injury to his ribs midway through the second, and though he somehow took a regular turn in the third, he essentially was a one-armed man. Betts was hit in the side of the head by a shot in the second period and was done for the night. Thanks for the clarification, but if the article is true, what good is Drury doing taking up a roster spot when only able to play to a fraction of his ability?
Bmwolf21 Posted April 30, 2008 Report Posted April 30, 2008 Thanks for the clarification, but if the article is true, what good is Drury doing taking up a roster spot when only able to play to a fraction of his ability? They also lost Betts after taking a shot off the side of his head, so if Drury would have stayed out they would have been down to two centers. I'd take Drury at a fraction of his ability over a lot of guys, and if he would have called it a night I think Jagr would have mailed it in as well.
carpandean Posted April 30, 2008 Report Posted April 30, 2008 You could argue that with all the players that have left the Sabres. Those guys worked best in the Sabres system Sort of, but not really. Campbell is arguably a little bit better with the Sharks because they actually do have some stay-at-home defensemen to pair him up with that can cover some of his short-comings (though, even that doesn't seem to be working well enough.) While the Sabres system was a little better set up to support Briere, he is still being used as a top-line center (second line behind Richards) and they expected him to be a high-scoring, play-making center with PP abilities, just like he was here. They expected him to be an offensive leader, if not a team leader. Drury is being used as a third-line center, special-teams player in NY. They've got too many other big names.
BetweenThePipes00 Posted April 30, 2008 Report Posted April 30, 2008 I'm not glad he is hurt and obviously I wish he was still in Buffalo for the deal they supposedly agreed to in November '06 (NOT at any price) ... but I was thinking about it ... Other than the LLWS (during which I think we can all agree his leadership qualities were less of a factor than his fastball), when has Chris Drury LED a team to winning ANYTHING? Again, I loved the guy when he was in Buffalo, wish he still was, but ... the only time a team that he was a LEADER on a good team was with the Sabres, and they fell short twice. Last season they did so in part because they got complacent and could not flip the intensity switch back on ... does that not fall at the feet of the team leaders? I mean, it happened all season this year and everyone blamed loss of leadership. Yeah, I know, he won a Cup in Colorado ... I find it interesting that Drury gets all klinds of credit for being a winner and a leader on a team with Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Ray Bourque, Rob Blake AND Patrick Roy .... that's FIVE Hall of Famers! I mean, I think Phil Esposito and Bobby Clarke played a few shifts too, but I can't prove it. Plus they had Hejduk (41 goals, 79 points, 23 playoff points) and Tanguay (77 points, 21 playoff points) before you get to Drury (65 points, 16 playoff points) ... why in the world does Drury ALWAYS get extra credit for being a winner and a leader on THAT team? If he was never born, that's still one of the greatest teams of all-time (at least for a couple months down the stretch, I know they added some of those big names late ... not trying to compare them to the 76-77 Habs or anything) ... Agian, love the guy but ... just sayin' ....
X. Benedict Posted April 30, 2008 Report Posted April 30, 2008 Thanks for the clarification, but if the article is true, what good is Drury doing taking up a roster spot when only able to play to a fraction of his ability? (Nice find B-wolf!) If it is his ribs you would have to think he is done - every time he touches the puck someone is going to put a body on him. That is going to be hard to play through. Not only that, but if he has to skate so high, somebody is going to take his head off as well. What is worse than playing, is sneezing, or the hic-ups. Those are murder.
LabattBlue Posted April 30, 2008 Author Report Posted April 30, 2008 I'm not glad he is hurt and obviously I wish he was still in Buffalo for the deal they supposedly agreed to in November '06 (NOT at any price) ... but I was thinking about it ... Other than the LLWS (during which I think we can all agree his leadership qualities were less of a factor than his fastball), when has Chris Drury LED a team to winning ANYTHING? Again, I loved the guy when he was in Buffalo, wish he still was, but ... the only time a team that he was a LEADER on a good team was with the Sabres, and they fell short twice. Last season they did so in part because they got complacent and could not flip the intensity switch back on ... does that not fall at the feet of the team leaders? I mean, it happened all season this year and everyone blamed loss of leadership. Yeah, I know, he won a Cup in Colorado ... I find it interesting that Drury gets all klinds of credit for being a winner and a leader on a team with Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Ray Bourque, Rob Blake AND Patrick Roy .... that's FIVE Hall of Famers! I mean, I think Phil Esposito and Bobby Clarke played a few shifts too, but I can't prove it. Plus they had Hejduk (41 goals, 79 points, 23 playoff points) and Tanguay (77 points, 21 playoff points) before you get to Drury (65 points, 16 playoff points) ... why in the world does Drury ALWAYS get extra credit for being a winner and a leader on THAT team? If he was never born, that's still one of the greatest teams of all-time (at least for a couple months down the stretch, I know they added some of those big names late ... not trying to compare them to the 76-77 Habs or anything) ... Agian, love the guy but ... just sayin' .... Stop interfering with the legend of Drury. :D
BetweenThePipes00 Posted April 30, 2008 Report Posted April 30, 2008 Stop interfering with the legend of Drury. :D Damn I forgot, I think Tedy Bruschi and Doug Flutie were on that team too ... ;)
Bmwolf21 Posted April 30, 2008 Report Posted April 30, 2008 I'm not glad he is hurt and obviously I wish he was still in Buffalo for the deal they supposedly agreed to in November '06 (NOT at any price) ... but I was thinking about it ... Other than the LLWS (during which I think we can all agree his leadership qualities were less of a factor than his fastball), when has Chris Drury LED a team to winning ANYTHING? Again, I loved the guy when he was in Buffalo, wish he still was, but ... the only time a team that he was a LEADER on a good team was with the Sabres, and they fell short twice. Last season they did so in part because they got complacent and could not flip the intensity switch back on ... does that not fall at the feet of the team leaders? I mean, it happened all season this year and everyone blamed loss of leadership. Yeah, I know, he won a Cup in Colorado ... I find it interesting that Drury gets all klinds of credit for being a winner and a leader on a team with Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Ray Bourque, Rob Blake AND Patrick Roy .... that's FIVE Hall of Famers! I mean, I think Phil Esposito and Bobby Clarke played a few shifts too, but I can't prove it. Plus they had Hejduk (41 goals, 79 points, 23 playoff points) and Tanguay (77 points, 21 playoff points) before you get to Drury (65 points, 16 playoff points) ... why in the world does Drury ALWAYS get extra credit for being a winner and a leader on THAT team? If he was never born, that's still one of the greatest teams of all-time (at least for a couple months down the stretch, I know they added some of those big names late ... not trying to compare them to the 76-77 Habs or anything) ... Agian, love the guy but ... just sayin' .... I don't mean to sound like I'm attacking you, BTP - but when has anyone ever said that Drury "led the Avs to a Cup" or was a leader on that team? Seriously, I'm asking. Because from what I've seen, people have given him credit for being a Stanley Cup Winner (as in name on the Cup) but no has been foolish enough to claim he led that team to the title. FWIW, when he left the team as a UFA, he took with him the one and only Stanley Cup ring on the roster. Considering how much this board has been begging for a grizzled playoff vet all year long, you'd think that people wouldn't be cutting down a guy who helped lead the team from being out of the playoff hunt (03-04) to back-to-back ECF appearances. And all the stuff that keeps coming up about "didn't lead this team anywhere" - seriously? Forgetting the fact that the team was one frigging staph infection from a Cup Finals appearance (against a team that Buffalo was clearly superior to) in 05-06 and that the FO systematically rid the roster of every role player and nearly every ounce of grit before the 06-07 season, I'd say that despite the team's inability to get over the hunt in the two previous seasons, they did pretty damn well under Dru and Danny's co-captaincy.
nfreeman Posted April 30, 2008 Report Posted April 30, 2008 At the salary level Drury is getting, I am glad he isn't here. At the salary level Campbell is going to get, I am glad he isn't here. Briere on the other hand got tossed to the curb by Quinny because of his man crush on Drury. Hey Quinny...how did it feel when Drury turned his back on you? Are you glad that we wouldn't have had the money to sign Pominville or Miller, if Briere, Drury & Campbell were all signed to mega contracts? It depends on what "mega contracts" means. I would not be glad with Briere at $50 million or Soupy at $40 million. I'm not sure where I stand on Drury at $35 million. If we have the same kind of season next year that we had this year, I'd probably be fine with Drury at $35 million. To be clear, I would be glad if we had signed Drury to $6 million x 4 years and Soupy to $5 milliion x 5 years, both of which were there for the taking, at the right time, and the Sabres blew both through sheer incompetence. And, having blown the Drury deal, I would have been glad if we had signed Briere on January 1, 2007 for $6 million x 6 years (which I think he would've taken). And none of those steps would have required us to let go of Pominville or Miller -- although we would've had to unload a couple of Max, Connolly, and Tallinder -- which I would be glad to do in order to keep the more important guys. And let's not anoint Pominville and Miller as MVPs just yet -- I like both of them, but they didn't manage to get us into the playoffs. This team's return to contender status is far from certain. Without an infusion of veteran leadership and toughness, we will have the same type of season next year. What is to certain is that we subtracted 3 veteran leaders from the team that won the President's trophy and made the final 4 two years in a row, and the team immediately went to pieces. So it would almost certainly have been worth giving those veteran leaders big contracts in order to get them to stay, even if it meant sacrificing some of the other guys. And away we go...
tom webster Posted April 30, 2008 Report Posted April 30, 2008 At the salary level Drury is getting, I am glad he isn't here. At the salary level Campbell is going to get, I am glad he isn't here. Briere on the other hand got tossed to the curb by Quinny because of his man crush on Drury. Hey Quinny...how did it feel when Drury turned his back on you? Are you glad that we wouldn't have had the money to sign Pominville or Miller, if Briere, Drury & Campbell were all signed to mega contracts? Why do people insists on tainting their well thought out posts with facts that are not in evidence? This is the simple management response to why they let these guys go when it is not even close to the truth. You can forgive them for making errors in judgement, you can say that the opposite side is using 20/20 hindsight, you can even argue that they are overrated and the Sabres are better off without them, but it is not true to say that they couldn't have afforded them! Blue, you know you are better than that!
BetweenThePipes00 Posted April 30, 2008 Report Posted April 30, 2008 I don't mean to sound like I'm attacking you, BTP - but when has anyone ever said that Drury "led the Avs to a Cup" or was a leader on that team? Seriously, I'm asking. Because from what I've seen, people have given him credit for being a Stanley Cup Winner (as in name on the Cup) but no has been foolish enough to claim he led that team to the title. FWIW, when he left the team as a UFA, he took with him the one and only Stanley Cup ring on the roster. Considering how much this board has been begging for a grizzled playoff vet all year long, you'd think that people wouldn't be cutting down a guy who helped lead the team from being out of the playoff hunt (03-04) to back-to-back ECF appearances. And all the stuff that keeps coming up about "didn't lead this team anywhere" - seriously? Forgetting the fact that the team was one frigging staph infection from a Cup Finals appearance (against a team that Buffalo was clearly superior to) in 05-06 and that the FO systematically rid the roster of every role player and nearly every ounce of grit before the 06-07 season, I'd say that despite the team's inability to get over the hunt in the two previous seasons, they did pretty damn well under Dru and Danny's co-captaincy. No offense taken, I agree with you for the most part. As I said, I wish he was still on the Sabres. Maybe people don't call him THE leader of THAT Avs team, but somewhere along the way he HAS developed the reputation of being a good leader, and it was already there when he got to Buffalo ... so I am wondering where it came from. All I can figure is that it is because, as you say, he won a Cup. So I am just pointing out that a lot of guys could have won a Cup on that team. It was an unbelievable collection of talent, and some people DO give him more credit that he deserves for that team, I believe. I DO believe he was a good leader for the Sabres, especially when they desperately needed one on a team "led" by Satan. But I also stand by my statement that the leaders, including and perhaps especially Drury, since he is the guy who won a Cup, after all, need to take some of the blame for the 06-07 team not ever bringing the same playoff intensity that the 05-06 team brought.
Hawerchuk Posted April 30, 2008 Report Posted April 30, 2008 I still like and respect Chris Drury. Even if he is a F#$ing NYRanger! Sabres were stupid and cheap, not to negotiate with him sooner. :thumbdown:
Bmwolf21 Posted April 30, 2008 Report Posted April 30, 2008 No offense taken, I agree with you for the most part. As I said, I wish he was still on the Sabres. Maybe people don't call him THE leader of THAT Avs team, but somewhere along the way he HAS developed the reputation of being a good leader, and it was already there when he got to Buffalo ... so I am wondering where it came from. All I can figure is that it is because, as you say, he won a Cup. So I am just pointing out that a lot of guys could have won a Cup on that team. It was an unbelievable collection of talent, and some people DO give him more credit that he deserves for that team, I believe. I DO believe he was a good leader for the Sabres, especially when they desperately needed one on a team "led" by Satan. But I also stand by my statement that the leaders, including and perhaps especially Drury, since he is the guy who won a Cup, after all, need to take some of the blame for the 06-07 team not ever bringing the same playoff intensity that the 05-06 team brought. Fair enough. I just saw so much of that stuff after he left from people who were obviously pissed off and went on the attack that it's hard to separate objective analysis from the ubiquitous "he's no longer a Sabre so he sucks and I'm going to cut down everything he does" attitude that has really increased this past year. FWIW, I don't think it's just his Cup win or one individual thing that has cemented his leader rep; rather it's a culmination of things - his attitude toward teammates, his game prep, his consistent effort, his "take no BS" attitude. I thought it was all summed up pretty well in the SI piece, and when you see the stuff that his contemporaries and coaches say about him, it's hard not to be impressed.
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