Team USA forward Jack Drury (right) celebrates with Mikey Anderson during the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship.
photo: Minas Panagiotakis / HHOF-IIHF Images
The sting of defeat seems to ease over time.
Just under a year ago, Jack Drury and his American teammates clawed their way back from a 2-0 deficit in the gold medal game of the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship. Team USA fell behind 2-0 six minutes into the third, tied up the game with a pair of goals in under two minutes, only to lose a heartbreaker 3-2 to Finland as Kaapo Kakko scored the golden goal with under 90 seconds to play.
Drury has had some time to think about that game and that tournament and, although the loss still hurts, winning silver is an accomplishment he’s proud of.
“Initially, for a short period of time, it was just a feeling of devastation and frustration. To get that close and to come up short, it’s really tough. It weighs on you,” says Drury. “But looking back, after a few months and especially almost a year later now, it’s something to be proud of. Everyone worked incredibly hard, we bounced back from tough games, we put ourselves in a great spot and came up a little short, unfortunately.”
Drury is back at the IIHF World Junior Championship this year and he and his teammates are hungry to get another shot at gold. The Americans have become one of the tournament favourites each year thanks to recent success, with four consecutive medals at the WJC, including last year’s silver, bronze medals in 2016 and 2018 and gold in 2017, which marked the fourth time that the United States won the event.
Team USA’s selection camp wraps up last Tuesday in Plymouth, Michigan and USA’s 28-man camp roster was trimmed to the final 23-man team on Monday. Drury, a forward, is one of just five returnees, the others being goaltender Spencer Knight, defencemen K’Andre Miller and Mattias Samuelsson, and forward Oliver Wahlstrom, who has been loaned to the junior team by the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers – and is expected to take on a much larger role than the one he had in 2019 in British Columbia, Canada.
Drury is enjoying a fine sophomore season with the Harvard Crimson of the Eastern College Athletic Conference, with 10 points in 10 games. He has the ability to score and make plays but Drury takes pride in his complete game, calling himself a two-way centreman with high hockey IQ.
He is the latest in a good line of Drurys who have found success as centres. Jack’s father Ted, who also went to Harvard, played more than 400 games in the NHL for Calgary, Hartford, Ottawa, Anaheim, the New York Islanders and Columbus. Jack’s uncle Chris, meanwhile, came just short of 900 NHL games for Colorado, Calgary, Buffalo and the New York Rangers.
Both Ted and Chris competed for Team USA on numerous occasions, with Ted playing in the 1990 and 1991 WJC, 2003 IIHF Men’s Worlds and 1992 and 1994 Olympics, and Chris donning the American sweater at the 1996 WJC, 1997 Worlds and 2002, 2006 and 2010 Olympics.
Jack says this time of year has always been special in the Drury household.
“Looking at the World Junior tournament specifically, my dad played in two of them and my uncle played in one,” says Jack. “Growing up, every year right after Christmas, that was all we would have on TV. It was celebrated like a holiday. In our household, it was always a huge tournament.”
Drury became the first of his family to medal at the event with last year’s silver, a moment he was able to share with his family. Drury is the oldest of five Drury children, with sister Lily (17), and brothers Owen (14), Teddy (12) and Ryan (8) all having the chance to watch the 2019 World Juniors live in Vancouver. The four boys all play hockey and Lily is a lacrosse player.
Drury isn’t expecting as large of a family contingent at this year’s event, given it is being held across the Atlantic in Czech Republic, but will certainly lean on his siblings for some help throughout the tournament.
“I think they follow the rosters, the stats, everything more than I do,” he says with a laugh. “If I ever have any questions about who I’m facing, I can just ask one of them.”
Team USA will start the 2020 World Juniors with a tough test against rival Canada on 26 December and also has preliminary-round games against Germany, Russia and the host Czechs before the medal round begins on 2nd January.
Scott Sandelin will be head coach of Team USA for the second time, having overseen a fourth-place U.S. team in 2005, along with being an assistant coach last year and in 2012, when the Americans finished seventh. Sandelin has seen the growth of USA Hockey first-hand and knows the expectations with his team are as high as ever.
“I think it’s been a good run here and I think it has lifted the expectations. That’s a really good thing,” he says. “That’s something that was impressed upon the kids even at the summer camp. Guys know the successes and medals over the last four years. You get a lot of the kids that have been successful at the under-17s or under-18s. They know where we stand and what the expectations are when you put that jersey on for this tournament.”
Just under a year ago, Jack Drury and his American teammates clawed their way back from a 2-0 deficit in the gold medal game of the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship. Team USA fell behind 2-0 six minutes into the third, tied up the game with a pair of goals in under two minutes, only to lose a heartbreaker 3-2 to Finland as Kaapo Kakko scored the golden goal with under 90 seconds to play.
Drury has had some time to think about that game and that tournament and, although the loss still hurts, winning silver is an accomplishment he’s proud of.
“Initially, for a short period of time, it was just a feeling of devastation and frustration. To get that close and to come up short, it’s really tough. It weighs on you,” says Drury. “But looking back, after a few months and especially almost a year later now, it’s something to be proud of. Everyone worked incredibly hard, we bounced back from tough games, we put ourselves in a great spot and came up a little short, unfortunately.”
Drury is back at the IIHF World Junior Championship this year and he and his teammates are hungry to get another shot at gold. The Americans have become one of the tournament favourites each year thanks to recent success, with four consecutive medals at the WJC, including last year’s silver, bronze medals in 2016 and 2018 and gold in 2017, which marked the fourth time that the United States won the event.
Team USA’s selection camp wraps up last Tuesday in Plymouth, Michigan and USA’s 28-man camp roster was trimmed to the final 23-man team on Monday. Drury, a forward, is one of just five returnees, the others being goaltender Spencer Knight, defencemen K’Andre Miller and Mattias Samuelsson, and forward Oliver Wahlstrom, who has been loaned to the junior team by the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers – and is expected to take on a much larger role than the one he had in 2019 in British Columbia, Canada.
Drury is enjoying a fine sophomore season with the Harvard Crimson of the Eastern College Athletic Conference, with 10 points in 10 games. He has the ability to score and make plays but Drury takes pride in his complete game, calling himself a two-way centreman with high hockey IQ.
He is the latest in a good line of Drurys who have found success as centres. Jack’s father Ted, who also went to Harvard, played more than 400 games in the NHL for Calgary, Hartford, Ottawa, Anaheim, the New York Islanders and Columbus. Jack’s uncle Chris, meanwhile, came just short of 900 NHL games for Colorado, Calgary, Buffalo and the New York Rangers.
Both Ted and Chris competed for Team USA on numerous occasions, with Ted playing in the 1990 and 1991 WJC, 2003 IIHF Men’s Worlds and 1992 and 1994 Olympics, and Chris donning the American sweater at the 1996 WJC, 1997 Worlds and 2002, 2006 and 2010 Olympics.
Jack says this time of year has always been special in the Drury household.
“Looking at the World Junior tournament specifically, my dad played in two of them and my uncle played in one,” says Jack. “Growing up, every year right after Christmas, that was all we would have on TV. It was celebrated like a holiday. In our household, it was always a huge tournament.”
Drury became the first of his family to medal at the event with last year’s silver, a moment he was able to share with his family. Drury is the oldest of five Drury children, with sister Lily (17), and brothers Owen (14), Teddy (12) and Ryan (8) all having the chance to watch the 2019 World Juniors live in Vancouver. The four boys all play hockey and Lily is a lacrosse player.
Drury isn’t expecting as large of a family contingent at this year’s event, given it is being held across the Atlantic in Czech Republic, but will certainly lean on his siblings for some help throughout the tournament.
“I think they follow the rosters, the stats, everything more than I do,” he says with a laugh. “If I ever have any questions about who I’m facing, I can just ask one of them.”
Team USA will start the 2020 World Juniors with a tough test against rival Canada on 26 December and also has preliminary-round games against Germany, Russia and the host Czechs before the medal round begins on 2nd January.
Scott Sandelin will be head coach of Team USA for the second time, having overseen a fourth-place U.S. team in 2005, along with being an assistant coach last year and in 2012, when the Americans finished seventh. Sandelin has seen the growth of USA Hockey first-hand and knows the expectations with his team are as high as ever.
“I think it’s been a good run here and I think it has lifted the expectations. That’s a really good thing,” he says. “That’s something that was impressed upon the kids even at the summer camp. Guys know the successes and medals over the last four years. You get a lot of the kids that have been successful at the under-17s or under-18s. They know where we stand and what the expectations are when you put that jersey on for this tournament.”