Mark Messier

At 63 years old, Mark Messier has this physical status:

Born January 18, 1961) is a former professional ice hockey center of the National Hockey League and a former special assistant to the president and general manager of the New York Rangers.

He appeared in the NHL (1979-1994–2004) with the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, and Vancouver Canucks.

He also competed with the Indianapolis Racers and Cincinnati Stingers of the World Hockey Association (WHA).

He was the last active player to play in professional hockey and the last active player to play in the NHL in the 1970s. Messier is regarded as one of the finest ice hockey players of all time.

He ranks second on all-time career charts for playoff points (295) and regular season games played (1756), and third for regular season points (1887).

He has been a six-time Stanley Cup champion, five with the Oilers and one with the Rangers, and is the only player to cap two professional teams to championships.

His playoff service while in New York, which ended a 54-year Stanley Cup drought in 1994, earned him the nickname "The Messiah," a play on his name.

He was also known as "The Moose" for his insurgent and tenacity throughout his career.

In 1990 and 1992, he twice won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's Most Valuable Player, while 1984, he became the league's Most Valuable Player during the playoffs.

He is a 15-time All-Star.

In 2007, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

Messier was named one of the 'Best NHL Players' in history' in 2017 by Governor General David Johnston for his contributions to hockey as an outstanding player and captain as well as his leadership in encouraging youth to participate in the sport.'

Early life

Messier was born in St. Albert, Alberta, and the nephew of Mary-Jean (Dea) and Doug Messier. He was his second son and the third child of four; his siblings, Paul, Mary-Kay, and Jennifer were all present; When Mark was young, the Messier family moved to Portland, Oregon, where Doug played for the Portland Buckaroos of the minor pro Western Hockey League. After Doug retired from hockey, the family returned to St. Albert in 1969. Messier played junior hockey at St. Francis Xavier High School in Edmonton, where Doug was his coach and mentor for his early years.

Paul Messier was drafted by the Colorado Rockies 41st overall in the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft, but he only played nine games with the club from 1978 to 1979 before embarking on a long career in the German Eishockey-Bundesliga. In Harbour Island, Bahamas, Paul helps with the operation of a Messier family hotel. Mitch and Joby, Messier's cousins, also played for NHL clubs. Joby was Mark's teammate on the Rangers for a brief period.

Personal life

Lyon, Messier's uncle, was born on August 16, 1987, and he spent two seasons with the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL, as well as the Charlotte Checkers and New Mexico Scorpions of the Central Hockey League. Kim's mother Kim gave birth to Mark's second son, Douglas Paul, on July 15, 2003, and daughter Jacqueline Jean on August 2005.

On the pink sand beach on Harbour Island, the Messier owns the Runaway Hill Club.

Messier, a Cold-fX ambassador, is a promoter of preventative medicine. He is also active in philanthropy, including the New York Police and Fire Widows' and Children's Benefit Fund, which he serves on the Board. Messier is also known for his off-ice charitable work, particularly in Alberta, Alberta. On February 26, 2007, a portion of the St. Albert Trail between St. Albert and Edmonton was renamed to Mark Messier Trail in Edmonton.

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Playing career

Messier's dad, Doug Messier, was coaching the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) in 1976. Doug didn't expect him to make the team when Messier was 15 years old (the league's age of 20), but he was shocked and was drafted to the roster. In 57 games with the Mets from 1976 to 1977, Messier scored 66 points. The team, which relocated to St. Albert the following season and was renamed the St. Albert Saints, won the Messier captain for 1977–78, scoring 74 points in 54 games. He played for the Portland Winterhawks of the major junior Western Hockey League (WHL) at the end of the season (not the same league Doug played in) for the playoffs, playing in 7 games and scoring 5 points.

Messier was looking for alternatives to another season with the Saints prior to the 1978-1979 season because he was too young for the AJHL. He was not keen to participate in the WHL, so he started out for the Canadian Olympic team, which was preparing for the 1980 Winter Olympics. Doug talked to his former junior teammate Pat Stapleton, who was then coaching the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association, who needed someone to replace Wayne Gretzky, another young player the team had just traded. Doug called him and offered Messier a deal to play hockey in Indianapolis for $30,000. Messier decided against playing out in a 5-game amateur tournament, meaning he'll be able to return to junior hockey if necessary.

Messier appeared in 13 games with the Saints to begin the season, before joining the Racers on November 5 for his professional debut against the Winnipeg Jets. He appeared in four games with the Racers and two more with the Saints before his last game with Indianapolis on November 28. Messier's contract was longer, but he held off signing it, which was fortuitous as the team dissolved on December 15; his only cheque from them bounced. Messier, who is also a member of the WHA, appeared in junior hockey for the Saints for the second time before being signed by the Cincinnati Stingers. Messier has signed a $35,000 contract to play with the Stingers for the remainder of the season. He scored his first career goal against Pat Riggin of the Birmingham Bulls on March 20, 1979. Messier appeared in 47 games for the Stingers, total, tallying one goal and ten assists.

Following the completion of the 1978–79 season, the WHA folded, and four of the six remaining teams were able to play in the NHL; the Stingers and Bulls were not included in the merger; instead, the minor Central Hockey League was added. The players were dispersed to teams that already owned their NHL rights or allowed to draft the 1979 NHL Entry Draft; being under the age of 20 years old Messier was ineligible for the draft and the Edmonton Oilers selected him in the third round, 48th overall, and 48th overall. He refused the Oilers' initial contracts, a four-year two-way contract or one-year at $20,000 per year, but instead wanted four-years at $50,000 a year, but the Oilers turned down the offer.

During his first year in the NHL Messier, he had several discipline issues, and by the end of October, he missed a team flight and was then re-assigned to their CHL affiliate, the Houston Apollos, for four games. Messier and his parents returned to Edmonton after finding their St. Albert home.

Messier, a tenacious, tough competitor whose ardent leadership in the dressing room was as relevant as the goals he achieved on the ice. He was not known as a scorer early on, but his offensive numbers increased steadily over his first few years with the Oilers. He played for the first time in 1981-82, his first 50-goal season. He spent the majority of his time with the Oilers on a line with Glenn Anderson.

Messier, who was drafted to the NHL First All-Star Team in 1982–83 on left wing), moved to center in the 1984 playoffs, and the results were fantastic. For example, Messier's goal in Game 3 of the 1984 Finals, with his Oilers trailing the four-time defending champion New York Islanders by a point, sparked a comeback by the Oilers. The Oilers had won their first Stanley Cup and Messier had been named the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs by the end of the series.

Messier was banned for ten games for cracking Jamie Macoun's cheekbone with a sucker punch from behind during a match against the Calgary Flames on December 26, 1984. Messier was retaliating for being boarded by Macoun earlier in the game, but the NHL ruled he had initiated the brawl.

Messier lost control of his Porsche and tore it out by three parked cars on September 6, 1985. He was charged with assault and reckless driving, as well as careless driving, which resulted in a fine.

He played four more Cups with the Oilers, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, and 1990, for the last of which he led the Oilers to a five-game win over the Boston Bruins. Despite the fact that the Oilers were a 1980s powerhouse, the 1990 victory, two years after Wayne Gretzky was traded away, surprised many. Messier also won the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP for the upcoming season, edging out the Bruins' Ray Bourque by just two votes, the lowest margin in the award's history.

Though Messier was technically under lockout with the Oilers until 1993, his rep and dad Doug Messier unsuccessfully applied for a new deal in 1990. Messier was angry that the Oilers were able to let Adam Graves leave the team following the 1990-91 season. During the Canuck Cup tournament, Messier declared that if the Oilers were not able to do what was necessary to keep key players safe. Messier was traded to the New York Rangers by October 4, 1991, in one of many cost-cutting moves by Edmonton's leadership, for Louie DeBrusk, Bernie Nicholls, and Steven Rice.

Messier won his second Hart Trophy and led the Rangers to their best record in the NHL in his first season with the Rangers. They were also disqualified in six games by the eventual champions of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round of the playoffs.

The Rangers missed the playoffs in 1992-93, the first time in Messier's career that he did not participate in the post-season. Mike Keenan was hired as head coach after the season.

The Rangers recovered from last year in the 1993–94 NHL season, winning the Cup for the first time. The Rangers' path to the Cup would be much more difficult after easily defeating the Islanders and Capitals in the first two rounds.

Messier, who was down 32-0 in the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals against the New Jersey Devils, confronted the New York media and publicly promised a Game 6 victory. With fans and players on both directions reading the news headline, it became a marvel similar to Babe Ruth's called shot and Joe Namath's Super Bowl III promise, and he backed it up by scoring a natural hat trick in the third period on an empty net goal with ESPN analyst Gary Thorne boasting, "Do you believe it?"

Do you believe it?!

We will win game six, and he has just picked up the hat trick!" It helped the Rangers recover a two-goal deficit. In a thrilling seventh game double overtime tie, the Rangers won the series for the seventh time.

In Game 7 at Madison Square Garden, Messier scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal, giving the Rangers their first Stanley Cup in 54 years. He was the first (and to this date, the only) player to captain two teams to the Stanley Cup, something his ex teammates Wayne Gretzky couldn't do last year and released two of the best photos of the Stanley Cup Finals. With overwhelming emotion as the ticker tape fell, the first thing he heard was jumping up and down; fans and colleagues rejoiced. The other, which will be a signature photograph for the Rangers and their followers, was shot by George Kalinsky, photographer at Madison Square Garden, with awe-inspiring expression as he accepted the Stanley Cup from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. Rudy Giuliani, who was winning his first New York sports team championship just five months after being mayor, dubbed Messier "Mr. October" during the ticker tape parade honoring his Rangers' victory, dubbed "Mr. October" by Reggie Jackson, summoning his nickname.

Messier came as close as he had since 1991–92 to breaking the 100-point plateau in 1995–96, when he was 35 years old and in 1995–96. Wayne Gretzky, a former Oilers teammate, joined the Rangers in 1996-97, but Messier retained the captaincy and had a respectable 84-point regular season. Eric Lindros and his "Legion of Doom" linemates defeated the Rangers in five games, putting the Rangers out of contention. Messier left the club at the end of the season (see below), bringing Messier and Gretzky's brief reunion to the team after just one season. It will also be the players' last playoff appearances.

Messier wanted to complete his career with the Rangers, but Madison Square Garden's president, Dave Checketts, said the team did not agree Messier was worth $20 million USD for the next three years, although Messier denied that he had signed a one-year contract extension for less than $6 million per season. Despite having public opinion support for Messier's decision to name Gretzky and Pat LaFontaine as top centremen and the Stanley Cup, GM Neil Smith was content to have him as top centremen and came close to releasing Joe Sakic from the Colorado Avalanche in the summer of 1997. (The Avalanche met the offer, but Sakic stayed in Colorado for the remainder of his career.)

Messier, a 36-year-old boy, has signed with the Vancouver Canucks on a high-priced free agent contract. Smith's decision to keep Gretzky and LaFontaine backfired, as LaFontaine suffered a career-ending injury during the 1997-98 season, and Gretzky would retire after the following season.

Messier's return to Canada after six years with the Rangers was emotional and high-profile, but the bliss was brief. Captain Trevor Linden relinquished the captaincy to Messier right away, a move that did not go over well with Canucks fans. Linden was eventually traded by interim and acting general manager Mike Keenan to the New York Islanders, where he replaced Bryan McCabe, who was fired along with Todd Bertuzzi as a result of a turbulent season in which president and general manager Pat Quinn and head coach Tom Renney were fired. Messier's nassance for the number No. He had played with the Oilers and Rangers throughout his career, but the Canucks had unofficially suspended him after Wayne Maki's unexpected death in 1974, affecting his image as well.

MSG produced a video for him in Messier's first game back on Broadway, which was shown on the big screen at the Garden. Any supporters as well as Messier himself shed tears during the emotional euphoria. He went on to score a goal in the game against his former team, where he received applause for doing so despite wearing a different uniform. One fan held a sign that read: "You will always be our captain Mess."

In 1997–98, he was his lowest point in a full year since his first NHL season; his next two seasons were cut by sickness and ended with 158 points over three years, down from average centremen earning $60 million US a season. Steve Yzerman and Joe Sakic were among others' expectations. Messier was still supposed to be selected to the Canadian men's hockey team for the 1998 Olympics, in which the NHL allowed its best players to compete for the first time; however, General Manager Bobby Clarke unexpectedly dropped him.

Keenan was fired from his position as Canucks' coach midway in the 1998–99 season, but the team did not qualify for the playoffs during Messier's three years as coach. Messier's contract was never attempted to re-sign him, and the team became a free agent after the 1999-2000 season.

The Rangers had fired Neil Smith as general manager after three seasons of non-playoff seasons. Messier's former coach in Edmonton, Glen Sather, began negotiating with the veteran team captain and Messier, who agreed to a contract to return to Madison Square Garden for the 2000-01 season. A press conference was called to announce Messier's return to the Rangers; during the course of the event, Messier's replacement as captain, Brian Leetch, ceded his position to his returning teammate; and, in a conciliatory gesture, a hatchet was buried in filth, a hatchet was buried in dirt. Messier also went one step farther and said that the Rangers would return to the playoffs.

Messier's 67-point record in 2000–01 as a 40-year-old man in Vancouver was a mark higher than any he crafted in his Vancouver years, proving that he could still be a valuable presence in the playoffs for the fourth year in a row. Messier missed half of 2001-02 due to an arm injury, but he did not make it to the playoffs next year, posting a 40-point record.

Mark Messier's rights were sold to the San Jose Sharks in a fourth-round draft pick on June 30, 2003. This draft pick was used to select Rochester, New York native Ryan Callahan, a future Rangers captain. Although he would eventually re-sign with the Rangers as a free agent, the Sharks kept his rights for just a few hours.

Messier scored two goals against the Dallas Stars on November 4, 2003, taking second place behind only Wayne Gretzky in all-time point scoring history. Messier, the Edmonton native, was the only active participant in the Legends Game at Edmonton's Heritage Classic, teaming up with the Oiler alumni. Messier's last game at Madison Square Garden (a 4-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on March 31, 2004), received a standing ovation after the game ended and marched to every section of the stands. Messier was expected to resign at the age of 43, according to the majority of media outlets. The NHL lockout has been postponed until next season. All rumors came to an end on September 12, 2005, when he announced his retirement on ESPN radio.

Messier retired eleven games after Howe's NHL record of 1,767 regular-season games played. Messier holds the most regular season and playoff season games played at 1,992. Messier is one of a select few players to have played 25 NHL seasons, many of whom have played for more than four decades.

Messier won the silver medal at the 1989 World Ice Hockey Championships in Sweden, but only played for Canada once outside of North America. He has also won three consecutive Canada Cups and claimed gold at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, four tournaments that he described as "my true opportunity to play international hockey."

Post-playing career

The New York Rangers retired his number 11 in a game against the Edmonton Oilers on January 12, 2006, during a tense gathering that featured the majority of the 1994 Stanley Cup team and the Stanley Cup itself. The Rangers defeated the Oilers during the game. He is the Rangers' fourth number retired. His number was cut by the Edmonton Oilers on February 27, 2007, against the Phoenix Coyotes, then coached by former teammate Wayne Gretzky.

Messier expressed enthusiasm in returning to the NHL as the Rangers' general manager in February; however, Glen Sather, the then-current GM, denied that he had no intention of stepping down from his position. Messier's name had been attached to prospective replacements following his resignation from the Rangers organization in May 2007. Messier was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the players category on November 12, 2007.

Messier coached Canada in late 2010 at two European tournaments—the Deutschland Cup and the Spengler Cup.

In addition, Messier has been named in the NHL's Mark Messier Leadership Award, which is given to a player that exemplified on-ice leadership and leadership within their organizations.

Messier is also a fixture in New York, with Messier appearing for the New York Rangers against the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2012 NHL Winter Classic Alumni Game in Philadelphia on December 31, 2011. Messier had 1 assist during the game, which was decided 3-1 by Philadelphia. Messier also ran in the New York City Marathon on November 6, 2011, clocking in at 4:14:21. Messier, alongside Sarah Hughes, is also involved in the construction of the Kingsbridge National Ice Center, a $250 million USD, 795,000 square foot redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx, into the world's largest indoor ice center, with nine ice rinks.

Messier starred in Versus television special in the United States highlighting his "Mark Messier Leadership Camp" which allowed New Yorkers to mix seminars in leadership and playing with others with hockey games against former Rangers, including a scrimmage at Madison Square Garden. Messier has appeared on NHL on Versus as a studio analyst, spent an in-game analyst on The NHL All-Star Game on Versus, and has appeared as a guest commentator on NHL on NBC, and has appeared as a guest commentator on NHL on Versus. Messier joined Rogers Communications in 2014 as a spokesperson and occasional analyst for the company's national NHL coverage. He appeared on various Rogers GameCentre Live ads, including the Vancouver Canucks-themed ad, which attracted backlash from their fanbase. Messier landed a new look studio coverage with ESPN/ABC in 2021, the first time in 17 years.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Messier was featured in a Lay's chips commercial that aired in Canada. Messier was first introduced to a bet by a local hockey fan who bet that Messier will not eat just one potato chip in re a Lay's slogan "bet you can't eat just one." Messier loses the bet and plays in a local "beer league" hockey tournament (for a team called "The Pylons"), which he easily wins. Messier himself would make the same bet if later versions. He was also in Lay's ads in the United States, where he begged neighbors to borrow ice, sugar, or a hairdryer (playing on his bald head) to get chips.

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