Captain Chris Drury is back, and he'll be back in the Buffalo lineup Wednesday night when Joe Sakic and The Av's skate into Buffalo.

Surprisingly, Dru did not miss much time on the ice.

He stayed off the ice for a week after the Chris Neil hit, then, he was cleared to begin skating only.



Though he was dinged, and not cleared to practice with the full squad, Drury was able to jump in on Jaro Spacek's conditioning "bag skate" sessions with James Patrick last week.

For those of you who've never witnessed the "bag skate", its the one where you are worked so vigorously that you need a bag to hold the contents of your stomach when you're done.

Dru passed with flying colours. He was given clearance Sunday to start practicing with his teammates.


Drury has centered a line with Dainus Zubrus and Mike Ryan the past two days.

You'll remember that before his injury , Drury had found some instant magic with Drew Stafford on the right side and Mike Ryan on the left side. The All America Line was quickly shuffled in the wake of Drury's injury.

Drury's used to the revolving door on his wings. He's grown accustomed to it.

Zubrus is well-versed in both centre and the wall. He plays both positions well, and he'll create seams and gaps for Drury and Ryan to get scoring chances below the hashmarks.


Zubrus, like Kotalik, uses his gerth to shield the puck and to win wall battles. Zubrus has an above average shot, however, is a skilled passer for a man his size.

"In Washington, Zubrus played more of a defensive role, being on a line with Alex Ovechkin. He would be the third man high on that line to prevent the long stretch pass and the odd man opportunities", Ruff said of Zubrus.


On the Drury line, Zubrus will have more freedom to cycle the puck and improvise down low.

This line is intriguing for many reasons.

It can skate, it can pass the puck, it can win wall battles, it has two options at centre ice--Dru and Zubie-- for key faceoffs late in games, and, it can put the biscuit in the basket.

Its good to see Drury back in the trenches in March, when the games take on a new meaning.

Its hard to keep a good man down !!


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Other line combos:

Vanek-Roy-Stafford

Hecht-Briere- Pommer

Mair-MacArthur-Kaleta


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