Mark Messier—Fearless Leader
Mark Messier, the son of Doug Messier
(the man who
helped the minor-pro Edmonton Flyers win their last
Western Hockey League (WHL) championship), was making headlines
as a star centre for the St. Albert Saints of the Alberta
Junior Hockey League.
Knowing of his skill, the Portland Winter Hawks of the
WHL plucked Messier from the Saints, but before he played a game with the
Hawks, he signed as a 17-year-old with the Indianapolis
Racers of the upstart World Hockey
Association.
Messier played just five games with
the Racers before the financial ills of owner Nelson
Skalbania forced a move to Cincinnati. The
17-year-old
Messier did not play well for the new Cincinnati
Stingers,
and his one-goal season with the team did not
impress many.
The Oilers decided to give
Messier a second chance; Messier entered the NHL draft
pool and the Oilers used their third-round selection to
pick the Edmontonian.
As a player he was known for his skating power and a
bit of a mean streak. He would quickly assume the
role of second-line centre behind Wayne
Gretzky, forming
a lethal partnership with fellow speedster Glenn
Anderson.
In 1981-82, Messier proved to the NHL
that he was a true star in his own right with a 50-goal
campaign. He topped the 100-point mark in both 1982-83
and 1983-84; in the latter season he also sat in the
penalty box for 165 minutes. Messier was the prototypical
“power forward” before the term came into
vogue in the NHL some time in the mid-1990s.
It was in the 1984 playoffs that
Messier established his legend as a big-game-breaker.
Messier earned 26 points in 19 playoff games and earned
the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of
the post-season.

Messier would go on to enjoy a
glorious Oilers’ career. He ranks second all-time in
Oilers games played with 851 and is third on the team’s
all-time points list with 1,034. He was a key part of
five Stanley Cup wins, and was the natural choice to
replace Gretzky as captain. In 1990, he won his first
Hart Trophy as the League’s most valuable player with a
129-point season. While he won the Conn Smythe in 1984,
it can be argued that Messier’s performance in the 1990
Stanley Cup win was his finest as an Oiler; he earned 31
points in 22 games, and had it not been for the heroic
performance of Bill Ranford in net, would likely have
taken his second Conn Smythe Trophy.
In his time with the Oilers, Messier
also represented his country in three Canada Cups and a
World Championships.
In 1991, Messier left Edmonton for
Broadway, where he would captain the New York Rangers. In a city
where sporting icons are scrutinized, adored and reviled,
Messier became a larger-than-life figure. He registered 107 points in his first
season as a Ranger, and his play earned him the 1992 Hart Trophy
as the League’s most valuable player. His most
glorious season as a Ranger came in 1993-94. That
season, general manager Neil Smith assembled a cast of players from the Oilers dynasty
who were led by Messier, and included Kevin
Lowe, Glenn
Anderson, Jeff
Beukeboom, Adam
Graves, Esa Tikkanen
and Craig MacTavish.
During that Cup run, Messier became a folk hero. The
Rangers trailed the New Jersey Devils three games to two
in the Eastern Conference finals. Rangers fans had long
been used to seeing their team choke, and it seemed the New York papers already
wrote the epitaphs.
Messier then guaranteed a win; a move that grabbed
headlines across North America. Messier backed it up
with a hat trick that sparked a Rangers comeback and an
eventual Cup triumph over the Vancouver Canucks.
Messier remained with the Rangers
until 1997 and played in for Canada in the 1996 World
Cup. However, before the 1997-98 season, he was signed by
the Vancouver Canucks. Messier was seen as the
veteran presence that would help build the Canucks into
an elite franchise. In 2000, he returned to New
York, and continued to play with the Rangers well into
his 40s.
Over his career, Messier has been
named to play in the NHL All-Star Game 15
times.
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