Chris Drury’s influence, ‘tenacity’ felt in nephew Jack’s game with Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Rangers’ and Hurricanes’ second-round playoff series is doubling as a Drury family affair.

With Blueshirts president and general manager Chris Drury in a suit looking down on the game from his private booth in the press box, his nephew, Jack Drury, is donning a Carolina jersey and skates on the other side of the ice. 

The hockey-centric family is going about it how most would, but still with familial pleasantries.

“He sent me a text after our last series,” Jack Drury said before his Hurricanes stayed alive in the series thanks to a 4-3 win over the Rangers in Game 4. “We both just kind of said, ‘Good luck, and we’ll talk in a few weeks.’ ”

Jack Drury is the son of Chris Drury’s brother, Ted, who enjoyed an eight-year NHL career of his own with the Flames, Whalers, Ducks, Islanders and Blue Jackets. The Drury brothers overlapped for just four seasons before Ted retired in 2007, which is the same year Chris started with the Rangers.

The 24-year-old forward, whose Hurricanes won 4-3 in Game 4 on Saturday, said his uncle used to give him hockey tips and tricks when he was younger, but that starts to fade whenever a player gets older. Still, Jack Drury maintains that Chris Drury had a major influence on his hockey career.