Drury vs. Tanguay vs. Hejduk

[IggyFan12]

All 3 players were key contributors to the Avalanche's 2001 Stanley Cup championship. At the time the sky was the limit for all 3 players as they all looked to have a very bright future ahead. My question is rank these 3 players in historical terms.

Drury: Career: 892GP 255G 360A 615P Best season:77GP 37G 32A 69P
Tanguay: Career:818GP 225G 461A 686P Best Season: 81GP 22G 59A 81P
Hejduk: Career: 910GP 357G 400A 757P Best Season: 82GP 50G 48A 98P

For me it goes: Hejduk, Tanguay and then Drury. This may change however when all 3 are retired as Hejduk has not cracked 60 points in the last 4 years and seems to be on the down side of his career while Tanguay has been reborn playing along side Jarome Iginla. Hejduk's best season was far better than Tanguays or Drurys as well.

Click to read more...

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

1. Hejduk
2. Drury
3. Tanguay

drury's advantages in anything but scoring more than make up for the marginal edge Tanguay has in scoring.

In a certain situation, Tanguay would be better - he's a rare playmaking wing, so if you are lacking a playmaker at C, he's quite valuable. But Drury was the better overall player

 

[seventieslord]

I think it's clear that Drury is by far the least talented offensively. I think it's also clear that he did so much more on the ice than they did. He was much more competitive, much better defensively, more physical, more versatile, and a better leader. He's also more "clutch" than either.

It might be enough, actually, that it bridges the gap that exists between their regular season offensive records. Keep in mind, too, that Tanguay and Hejduk have been the beneficiaries of far greater linemates in their careers than Drury has had.

I am not committing to a choice, but I think Drury's got a better HHOF case… that is, if the hall suddenly decided to induct the 500 next-most deserving players.

 

[RabbinsDuck]

1. Hejduk
2. Drury
3. Tanguay

drury's advantages in anything but scoring more than make up for the marginal edge Tanguay has in scoring.

In a certain situation, Tanguay would be better - he's a rare playmaking wing, so if you are lacking a playmaker at C, he's quite valuable. But Drury was the better overall player

Agree with this order.

 

[shadow1]

For their careers, it's Hejduk, Drury, Tanguay.

For the time when all three were members of the Colorado Avalanche, it's Drury easily. Guy was a beast.

 

[IggyFan12]

My main reason why I picked Tanguay over Drury is how Drury has fallen so far from when he came into the league until now. Also comparing players year to year since they were both in the league Tanguay has beated Drury in almost every single year and by a considerable margin as well.

99/00 Tanguays rookie year: Drury 67 points over Tanguays 51.
00/01 Tanguay 77 over Drury 65
01/02 Tanguay 48 over Drury 46
02/03 Tanguay 67 over Drury 53
03/04 Tanguay 79 over Drury 53
05/06 Tanguay 78 over Drury 67
06/07 Tanguay 81 over Drury 69
07/08 Tanguay and Drury tie at 58
08/09 Drury 56 over Tanguay 41
09/10 Tanguay 37 over Drury 31
10/11 Tanguay 69 over Drury 5

Totals: 8 Tanguay wins 2 Drury wins and 1 tie.

I know Drury brings alot of intangibles and scoring is not everything but the wide gap in scoring is the difference for me.

 

[seventieslord]

Drury has scored just 18% fewer points per game, over a full season's worth of extra games, and with lesser linemates and in more defensive roles. It's definitely arguable that his intangibles make up for it. Heck, defensive ability alone makes up for it.

I could give you dozens of examples of contemporaries with a 20% gap in per-game production where the lower scorer is universally regarded as the better player.

I learned before, too, that the percentage of goals Drury participates in when he is on the ice, is also abnormally high, which is an indication that he's been held back by weaker linemates.

 

[Zaphod]

All of them have certainly had their lows, but Hejduk's relative consistency probably puts him on top.

Drury might be done, but he was the better, more valuable player, Hejduk's had the best career (and I'd say 'stability' has a lot to do with that) and Tanguay probably has more skill than both of them, but if I'm comparing the complementary player Hejduk to the complementary player Tanguay, Hejduk brings more than offensive skill.

 

[NOTENOUGHJTCGOALS]

It might be enough, actually, that it bridges the gap that exists between their regular season offensive records. Keep in mind, too, that Tanguay and Hejduk have been the beneficiaries of far greater linemates in their careers than Drury has had.

Drury wanted more money than he was worth so got traded away from Colorado. Then he disapointed in Calgary and was traded away to Buffalo. Then got overpaid in New York as well.

As an Avalanche fan I'll always remember his great performances, especially in the playoffs and I'm glad they did have him. But Drury was always a complimentary player, he wasn't the type of guy to build a team around, yet he always wanted to be paid like the biggest fish in the pond.

Contrast that to Hejduk who put up 98 points (led league in goals) and 75 points seasons then after the lockout took a discounted salary, only $4M to ensure the Avs could keep a better team together.

If the Avs had kept Drury and Hejduk around I think they would've remained competitive much longer.

 

[Unaffiliated]

Tanguay/Hejduk play with either Sakic or Forsberg.

Compared to those two, Drury is playing with no one.

 

[Pual Statsny]

My main reason why I picked Tanguay over Drury is how Drury has fallen so far from when he came into the league until now. Also comparing players year to year since they were both in the league Tanguay has beated Drury in almost every single year and by a considerable margin as well.

99/00 Tanguays rookie year: Drury 67 points over Tanguays 51.
00/01 Tanguay 77 over Drury 65
01/02 Tanguay 48 over Drury 46
02/03 Tanguay 67 over Drury 53
03/04 Tanguay 79 over Drury 53
05/06 Tanguay 78 over Drury 67
06/07 Tanguay 81 over Drury 69
07/08 Tanguay and Drury tie at 58
08/09 Drury 56 over Tanguay 41
09/10 Tanguay 37 over Drury 31
10/11 Tanguay 69 over Drury 5

Totals: 8 Tanguay wins 2 Drury wins and 1 tie.

I know Drury brings alot of intangibles and scoring is not everything but the wide gap in scoring is the difference for me.

The word I used for Tanguay was "lackadaisical" when he was in Denver. Sometimes a wizard offensively, sometimes alright defensively, but there's nothing elite in his game.