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NEW JERSEY
VS.
CAROLINA
OTTAWA
VS.
TORONTO
WASHINGTON
VS.
PITTSBURGH
PHILADELPHIA
VS.
BUFFALO
COLORADO
VS.
VANCOUVER
DETROIT
VS.
LOS ANGELES
DALLAS
VS.
EDMONTON
ST. LOUIS
VS.
SAN JOSE
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Thursday, April 26
Drury destined for playoff greatness
Brian A. Shactman
ESPN.com
Predicting which superstar will rise above all others in the playoffs is a tough proposition. Figuring out who the next great playoff superstar will be isn't much easier.
Take a look at all the 25-and-under NHL players in the postseason and four names jump off the page immediately:
Colorado's Chris Drury and Milan Hejduk.
New Jersey's Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora.
Interestingly, they could very well meet in the Stanley Cup finals.
All four have playoff experience. All four have done something special in previous playoff appearances, but they've either been overshadowed by teammates or simply haven't scored a game-winning goal that assure a spot in playoff lore.
That doesn't mean they aren't pivotal factors.
Drury and Hejduk have played in just two playoffs, but already their totals rival some of the greats in the game. Drury's 22 postseason points equal Mike Modano, Pavel Bure and Jeremy Roenick in their first two seasons. Hejduk is just one point behind.
Sykora and Elias are just as young as Drury and Hejduk, but have been in the league longer. Sykora played four playoff games from 1996-98 and seven in 1999 before skating in all 23 en route to the Stanley Cup last year. Elias played 12 games between 1996 and 1998, as well as seven in 1999.
Elias scored the game-winner in Game 7 of last season's Eastern Conference finals against the Flyers. Sykora did the same in Game 3 of the Cup finals to beat Dallas.
Though all four players play on great teams, at various points the last two postseasons they've stuck out in ways that only great players can. Game-winning goals. Tireless backchecking. Sacrificial body positioning.
And for some, it didn't take playoff highlights to prove their potential greatness.
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Scoring leaders:
First two playoff seasons
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Top scorers among active players in their first two playoff seasons.
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Name
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Years
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GP
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G-A-P
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J. Jagr**
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'91-92
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45
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14-23-37
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A. Oates
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'87-88
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33
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12-19-31
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C. Lemieux*
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'86-87
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37
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14-14-29
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P. Forsberg*
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'95-96
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28
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12-15-27
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C. Drury
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'99-00
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36
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10-12-22
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P. Bure
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'92-93
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25
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11-11-22
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J. Roenick
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'89-90
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30
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12-10-22
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M. Modano
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'90-91
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30
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9-13-22
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M. Hejduk
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'99-00
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33
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11-10-21
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B. Hull
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'88-89
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20
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12-7-19
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* - Stanley Cups
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"I remember we had a preseason game against the Avs in Las Vegas, and Drury scored the winning goal in the last minute of that one," said Kings GM Dave Taylor. "He's a big-time player."
Drury's the one player of the group who may be destined for greatness. He has won major championships and awards at every level of sports he's played, from the Little League World Series, to an NCAA hockey title, to the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as the best U.S. college player, to the Calder Trophy as the NHL's rookie of the year.
Next up, the Stanley Cup.
"With Drury, you're talking about a winner, and that's a guy who's hard to find," said Sharks GM Dean Lombardi. "Drury showed last year he wanted the puck, and the puck followed him in tight situations. And he got it done."
In just two playoffs, Drury already has amassed six game-winning goals, two of them in overtime. In that same span, Hejduk has four game-winning goals, two in overtime.
In a similar way that Phil Mickelson and David Duval cannot eclipse Tiger Woods in golf, regardless of how well they play, Hejduk skates in Drury's shadow, despite outscoring him the last two regular seasons (77-74-151 to 44-88-132).
"Today, there's a bigger category of superstar," Lombardi said. "The only thing left to separate the truly unique athlete is a winner, and Drury, he's a good one."
Brian A. Shactman covers the NHL for ESPN.com. He can be reached at brian.shactman@espn.com. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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