Drury's Role on Team USA

Pierre LeBrun at ESPN.com writes about Chris Drury's role as the 13th forward on Team USA...

"But let me say this: There's a positive flip side to what coach Ron Wilson decided to do with Drury. When you have a 33-year-old veteran with Drury's international experience willing to suck it up for the team and accept a diminished role, it sends a message to a youthful squad: No one is bigger than the team."

Team USA coach Ron Wilson said this about Drury...

"Dru will do anything to help your team win," Wilson said. "We talked yesterday at practice that I saw his role as a primary penalty killer and then I would fit him in and keep him involved. He's accepting of that. He's the one guy that, almost to a man, you guys [the media] have questioned as to why he's on the team. He's there because of the way he played today. He's going to do the little detailed grunt work."

Drury on his role...

"It's about winning, it's not about ice time," Drury told ESPN.com after the game. "We will do whatever Coach Wilson and [GM Brian Burke] wants us to do. That's the bottom line."

...as Drury does with the Rangers, he will be the consummate professional and not complain once. He knows he was brought in to kill penalties and play a checking forward role. And I have no doubt he will succeed.

...to have a successful team you need role players and Team USA seems to have learned that lesson and I think are setup for a nice run in the Olympics.