Christopher Ellis Drury (born August 20, 1976) is a retired American professional ice hockey player who most recently played with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League.
 He currently serves as the assistant general manager for the New York Rangers and as the general manager of their American Hockey League affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack.
 Drury is a Hobey Baker Award-winner with Boston University, a Calder Trophy winner with the Colorado Avalanche, a Stanley Cup champion with the Avalanche, a two-time Olympic silver medalist with the United States, and a former captain of the Buffalo Sabres and New York Rangers.
 As a child, he also won the Little League Baseball World Series Championship with his hometown team from Trumbull, Connecticut.
 Chris is the brother of the NHL hockey player Ted Drury.
The 1996–97 New York Rangers season was the Rangers' 71st season.
 The highlight of the season was that it was Wayne Gretzky’s first season in New York.
Rodrigue Gabriel Gilbert (born July 1, 1941) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey forward who played for the New York Rangers in the National Hockey League (NHL).
 He played right wing on the GAG (goal-a-game) line that also featured Vic Hadfield and Jean Ratelle.
 He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1982, and was the first player in New York Rangers history to have his number retired.
 Gilbert currently works for the New York Rangers Organization.
The 1932–33 New York Rangers season was the seventh season for the team in the National Hockey League.
 In the regular season, the Rangers finished third in the American Division with a 23–17–8 record.
 New York qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs, where the Rangers defeated the Montreal Canadiens 8–5 in the quarter-finals and the Detroit Red Wings 6–3 in the semi-finals to reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the fourth time in franchise history.
 In the Cup Finals, New York defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs, three games to one to win the second Stanley Cup in New York Rangers history.
Frederick Alexander "The Fog" Shero (October 23, 1925 – November 24, 1990) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach, and general manager.
 He played for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL).
 However, he spent most of his playing career in the minor leagues.
 Following his playing career, Shero went into coaching.
 He spent 13 years coaching in the minor leagues before making it to the NHL.
 As the head coach of the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers, Shero won the Stanley Cup in 1974 and 1975 and reached the Stanley Cup Finals a third time, in 1976.
 He also had four consecutive seasons of having a 0.700 or better winning percentage and remains the Flyers all-time leader in coaching victories.
 Shero controversially left the Flyers following the 1977–78 season to become the head coach of the New York Rangers, whom he led to the Stanley Cup Finals in his first season.
 He resigned from the Rangers after coaching for less than three seasons.
 Shero had a unique style of coaching that led to several innovations that are still used today.
 He was the first coach to hire a full-time assistant coach, employ systems, have his players use in season strength training, study film, and he was one of the first coaches to utilize a morning skate.
 In 2013 Shero was recognized for his contributions when he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder.
John Vanbiesbrouck (born September 4, 1963), nicknamed "the Beezer" and "VBK", is an American professional ice hockey executive and former player.
 A goaltender as a player, he was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007.
 Vanbiesbrouck played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers, Florida Panthers, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders, and New Jersey Devils.
 He began his career playing major junior hockey for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).
 Following a successful season with the Greyhounds, he was drafted by the New York Rangers in the fourth round, 72nd overall, in the 1981 NHL Draft.
 After his junior career ended, he played for the Rangers minor league affiliate, the Tulsa Oilers of the Central Hockey League.
 Despite the team's near collapses due to financial concerns, Vanbiesbrouck led the Oilers to a league championship and shared the league's MVP honors.
Lars Niklas Sundström (born June 6, 1975) is a former professional ice hockey player who started his professional career in Modo Hockey.
 He was drafted eighth overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers.
 He was also on Wayne Gretzky's line.
 He was not known for his goal scoring ability, but for his defensive play.
 He was traded to the San Jose Sharks in 1999, and to the Montreal Canadiens in 2003.
 Sundström plays forward and specializes in defensive roles.
 When he was a junior player he formed a line in Modo with future NHL stars Peter Forsberg and Markus Näslund.
 He wore the number 24 for the San Jose Sharks and the New York Rangers but wore the number 37 for the Montreal Canadiens.
 After 11 NHL seasons, he returned to play in Sweden at the start of the 2006–07 season, leading Modo to a surprise title during his first season, scoring several vital goals in the playoffs.
 He formed an effective partnership with Norwegian Per-Åge Skrøder, leading to Skrøder winning the top scorer rankings in 2009.
 Modo still missed the playoffs that year, despite Sundström having the best plus-minus rating in the entire series.
 On December 3, 2013, Sundström officially announced his retirement.
The 1976–77 New York Rangers season was the 51st season of the New York Rangers franchise in the National Hockey League.
 The Rangers placed fourth in the Patrick Division and did not qualify for the playoffs.
 The Rangers had a better regular season record than two playoff teams and the league would change the rules in the following season to place the top twelve teams in the playoffs, regardless of division.
The 2008–09 New York Rangers season was the National Hockey League franchise's 82nd season of play and their 83rd season overall.
 It saw the Rangers qualify for the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.
 The Rangers started the season in Europe.
 First, as part of the inaugural Victoria Cup being held in Switzerland, the Rangers played an exhibition game against SC Bern on September 30, and then the main game against the 2008 European Champions Metallurg Magnitogorsk on October 1 (the first game between a Russian club and an NHL team since 1991).
 They won both games, and were awarded the first Victoria Cup.
 The Rangers battled from a 3-0 deficit in the Victoria Cup to win the game by a score of 4–3.
 Ryan Callahan scored the game-winning goal with 20 seconds left.
Wayne Douglas Gretzky {'1': ", '2': ", '3': ", '4': "} ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach.
 He played twenty seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999.
 Nicknamed "The Great One", he has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters, players, and the league itself.
 He is the leading scorer in NHL history, with more goals and assists than any other player.
 He garnered more assists than any other player scored total points, and is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season – a feat he accomplished four times.
 In addition, he tallied over 100 points in 16 professional seasons, 14 of them consecutive.
 At the time of his retirement in 1999, he held 61 NHL records: 40 regular-season records, 15 playoff records, and six All-Star records.
 As of 2015, he still holds 60 NHL records.

Question: Who started their career in 1979 and played their first season for the New York Rangers in 1996-1997?
Answer: Wayne Gretzky