Go beyond 'The Look' Three NHL cities can claim Mark Messier as their own. All three -- Edmonton, Vancouver and New York -- have had a profound effect on the NHL's second all-time leading scorer. The love of Edmonton was clearly evident in late November when Messier flew back to the "City of Champions" he helped create in order to play in the Legends game that preceded the outdoor Heritage Classic at freezing Commonwealth Stadium. For Messier, the chance to return and compete with Wayne Gretzky, Grant Fuhr, Paul Coffey and other great Oilers of the team's dynasty days had to happen. "I'm just going back there to be a part of the game, and it's a good way for me to say thanks to a lot of people in Edmonton,'' he said prior to the Heritage Classic. "I'm just going there to have a good time and be a part of something that's obviously very important to Edmonton, to the franchise, and obviously to the League.''
Ask Messier about his three seasons in Vancouver and the frown is pronounced. He is still bothered that the team did not enjoy collective success during his time there from 1997-2000. And while now a competitor against the hard charging Canucks of today, Messier is happy for their present success. "Like I've said before, it was a bit of a tough period for me in Vancouver because of the transition that the team went through early on," Messier said. "But the latter part of the second year, and especially the third year were probably the most fun I've had playing in the last six years. I really enjoyed (GM) Brian Burke, I enjoyed Marc Crawford, the coaching staff there. And obviously the players that they brought in there really seemed to develop a good attitude, good chemistry and good camaraderie. I think that has obviously carried over, and I think it was nice to have that feeling after a few years of transition that went through Vancouver." And in New York, he is "Mess" or "The Captain" and lives in a hallowed place occupied by the likes of Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Joe Namath and Willis Reed. Messier was the guiding force for the New York Rangers' 1994 Stanley Cup. Remember his guarantee of victory in the Eastern Conference Finals? The Rangers were teetering on the edge of elimination against the New Jersey Devils. Messier said a Game 6 win was in the bag and then netted a hat trick to insure it. The Rangers' subsequent championship ended a 54-year drought and prompted one fan to carry a banner at the Cup-clinching seventh game that read, "Now, I can die in peace." Those are sports moments, the ones in public for all to see. There are few NHL players past or present who have commanded so much of the stage and earned so much respect. Messier is likewise renowned for his leadership, hence the Sports Illustrated story several years ago title simply "The Look."
"The Look" is seen occasionally at an arena or a television set near you. It has been felt by friend and foe alike throughout the course of a remarkable career. Like Gordie Howe before him, Messier has taken on plenty of young whippersnappers looking to usurp the throne. He's still there. Many are now much older, telling stories of a losing encounter to Messier and "The Look." Those in Messier's same dressing room also have felt the wrath of "The Look". Best not get caught cutting too many corners or the intense, piercing gaze will fall upon you with lazer-like intensity. In the macho world of sports, stories like those involving "The Look" are legend. But Messier isn't all rock, nor all legend. Not by a longshot. His return to New York prior to the 2000-01 season left Messier too overcome by emotion to speak, especially after Brian Leetch gave the captaincy back to Messier. Mike Richter's retirement earlier this season was another moment that tugged profoundly at Messier's heart. But again, those are public moments. It is behind the scenes where "The Captain's" impact is felt most keenly. Like the visit to a New York-area children's cancer hospital. Unannounced, with no media entourage in tow, Messier stops by and visits a young boy rendered sullen and uncommunicative by the burden he faces. Some shared time with Messier and the youngster is suddenly chatting up a storm. Hospital staffers who deal with the horror of children with cancer are moved to tears by the transformation. September 11, 2001 in New York City was a day like none other. The attacks and destruction of the World Trade Center left a savage hole in the city's landscape and its collective heart. It is especially devastating for the city's firemen who have lost so many of their brothers, brave men who responded to those in need at the cost of their own lives. Athletes and celebrities from all over the United States and Canada come to Ground Zero and are moved in a primal way. Many donate time, money, whatever it takes. In typical Messier fashion, he offered his soul.
But it was left for others to tell the tale. Messier won't comment on the trip to Engine Company 74 in Manhattan shortly after 9-11. There, with a few teammates and Rangers officials, Messier shared some time with New York's Bravest. "I've never seen anybody quite like that," Rangers President Glen Sather told Tom Gulitti of the Bergen Record. "He walks in the door and those guys are just all over him. He's as much in awe over those guys as they are over him and it's genuine as hell." Hell is where the firemen have been, and like the rest of us, Messier cannot imagine it, cannot imagine what these men went through hauling so much equipment with them to save others. So, Messier literally walked in their footsteps. "He put on the full fireman's regalia -- the hat, the big tank, the jacket," Sather recalled. "He wanted to see how tough it would be to carry the stuff up the stairs in the World Trade Center. He said it was heavy, about 90 pounds." Messier, Eric Lindros and Richter also visited Ground Zero in the weeks after the attack. As is customary for these visits by Messier, the trip was unannounced. The three Rangers simply wanted to pay their respects to the men and women who worked so tirelessly at the site. "Obviously, he's a hell of a player, but he's got kind of an aura about him and he's a very special person," Richter said. "I've seen him in so many situations where he doesn't just get by, he thrives. That was a difficult situation to go into with the loss of life that obviously was there and Mark was having people looking to him for answers. It's amazing. I guess he comes with the precedent of being such a great leader that people expect him to lead in many, many contexts and he does. He really does. He knows what to say." And that ability doesn't come along automatically with the ability to score goals and make plays. Sports history is rife with players who could hit a baseball, run a football, dunk a basketball or shoot a hockey puck who weren't leaders. To combine a rare talent with the ability to lead makes for a singular performer and when those qualities are taken beyond the playing field, all the rarer still.
"One thing about leaders, they don't just walk in the room and say, 'I'm the leader'," Sather said. "They're accepted by the team and it's created by the team. And Messier is the undisputed leader of this hockey team no matter who is here. Not because the role was given to him. The players give it to him. They accept him for that." At age 43 as of Jan. 18, Messier is in a different place as a player these days. The Rangers desperately need a return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs after missing the postseason for the last six seasons. It's again a grueling battle on a nightly basis. In a time when Messier should ideally be the team's venerated elder statesman, he nevertheless continues to play nearly 16 minutes a game, down a couple minutes from last season, but still quite a workload. And his ice time has been earned. Through 42 games, his 13 goals leads the Rangers. More goals than Alex Kovalev, Eric Lindros, Petr Nedved, Anson Carter and Bobby Holik. "I think up till right now, I am feeling good and I think that I've had a few bumps and bruises through the first half of the season, but nothing too serious," Messier reports. "That, obviously, is a big help -- playing with out a lot of injuries. We have a lot of players on the team that can play a lot of minutes and trying to disperse that and find the players that are playing the best any given night is what's important for our team. And as far as I'm concerned, I didn't have any expectations going into the season. So whatever role the team needs me to play, I'm willing to do that." Thus far, he has been an example of how a player should go about his business. Despite being the NHL's second-oldest player -- New Jersey's Igor Larionov already is 43 -- Messier still won Player of the Week honors for the week ending Jan. 4, 2004. Messier scored a pair of goals and four assists in four road games to earn the honor. He had last been NHL Player of the Week in December, 1996. Messier recently admitted that he never envisioned such longevity. "Well, there have been some interesting years, so I don't think anybody could have predicted that," he said. "I don't think anybody really comes into the League thinking they are going to play 20 years. I know when I came in the League, my focus was on trying to first of all make the team.
"Then once you establish yourself as a player, you try to figure out how to win a Stanley Cup. And so that's a focus as a young player coming to the League and trying to be a part of a winning team -- and not how long you're going to play or how many goals you're going to score or things like that. As the years have gone by, it's just seemed to add up, but that certainly wasn't my intention as a youngster coming into the League. "Let's face it, it's a young man's game," Messier said. "When someone like myself is playing, or someone like (Chris) Chelios (42 on Jan. 25) or Ronnie Francis (40) or Larionov (43), it is a little bit of an oddity. It's just going to bring some discussion, for sure. I've just got to take it in stride." Messier said he hasn't addressed the future yet. In recent years he has put off a decision on returning until late in the off-season. He said that philosophy has worked and he will use it again to address whether there are more seasons to come. "It's been good for me to do it that way," he said. "It's allowed me to really concentrate on the season at hand, not get wrapped up into thinking about my future, when obviously you have to be pretty present in the game that demands a lot of your time and energy. It’s allowed me just to enjoy the season game-to-game and not put any pressure on myself having to make a decision as the season goes on." The transformation has been seamless for Messier. The high-spirited leader of Edmonton's "Boys on the Bus" in the 1980s, he is the NHL's most respected voice today. "Obviously, I'm not the player I was at 20," Messier told reporters last season. "Or 30, for that matter. I'm just trying to reinvent myself so that I can contribute to this team at this age.'' Veteran journalist George Johnson recalled a Stanley Cup Playoff battle between the Oilers and archrival Flames in Edmonton 19 years ago when Messier was a one-man wrecking crew -- literally. Paul Reinhart, Mike Eaves and Al MacInnis all had come up short in physical battles with Messier, causing the late Bob Johnson to just about explode after the game.
"That Messier!'' Johnson fumed. "That Messier! He knocked three of our guys out of the game! Three! That was ... '' "That was ... "That was ... "That was ... '' "... Amazing!'' Yep, it's been that kind of a career for Messier, both on and off the ice, where there is much more to the man than simply "The Look." But you best duck that, too, just to be safe. |
