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 told The Post with a smile after the Canes’ practice on Friday. “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 Hurricanes forward 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.
“I remember his tenacity, how hard he played,” he said of what he remembers about Chris Drury’s playing days. “Good on faceoffs. When he was in the Olympics in Vancouver, I remember getting to go watch and that was one of my best childhood memories. Very grateful for getting to watch him and the influence he’s had on me.”
The young Drury is coming off his first full NHL season, over which he scored eight goals and dished 19 assists through 74 games.
After appearing in just two games in 2021-22, Drury played 38 games for Carolina last season.
“I’ve liked his year,” Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour said of Drury earlier in the playoffs. “It started out, he was probably not in that role as much, and he earned it. I guess that’s the simplest way to put it. Every time you put him there, good things happen, and again the other night.
“We know what we’re getting. You’re getting that consistent effort, and he can make plays. This time of year, it’s all about that. That consistency. At the end of the day, he’s earned the ice time.”
He was especially active through the first two games against the Rangers in this series, bringing an impactful physical presence and sporadically making things happen whenever he was on the ice.
Finishing with four blocks, one hit and three shots on goal through Games 1 and 2, Drury was noticeable.
When Matt Rempe skated right up to Carolinagoalie Frederik Andersen in Game 1, in response to Andrei Svechnikov clipping Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin behind the net a few shifts earlier, it was Drury who stepped up and shoved the 6-foot-8 ½ forward to the ice.
“A lot,” Drury said of his uncle’s influence on his hockey career. “I think both him and my dad, growing up, getting to go to their games. I have a lot of really good memories of going to watch him play and he’s been a big supporter of me through my whole career.”
No matter how this series swings, Jack agreed the next Thanksgiving should be OK.
