Messier lauds young talent, state of game with NHL.com

In NHL.com's Q&A feature called "Sitting Down with …" we talk to key figures in the game, gaining insight into their lives on and off the ice. In this edition, we feature Hockey Hall of Famer Mark Messier.

NEW YORK -- Mark Messier goes on ESPN every week and breaks down the game, the plays and the players, the teams and what they're doing well, and can do differently or better.

He's a Hockey Hall of Famer, a six-time Stanley Cup champion, one of the greatest leaders the game has ever known, and the third leading scorer in NHL history, but when you turn on ESPN and you see Messier, you see a studio analyst doing the job of a studio analyst.

It's been a challenging yet exhilarating role for the 64-year-old. It has not only kept him up to date with the happenings in the NHL, but has given him insight he otherwise wouldn't have if he didn't keep up so closely with the game today.

Messier is a co-founder of a new multi-faceted sports brand, GAME 7, along with Danny DeVito and Isaac Chera. GAME 7 is a multi-platform sports and entertainment brand with content, such as its five-part docuseries on Amazon Prime, community experiences and consumer products.

He shared some of his insight with NHL.com last week before taking part in an event to launch an NHL apparel line from GAME 7 at the NHL Shop NYC, discussing his new business venture, role as an analyst, and the state of the game.

What do you think of these young guys in the League, of Connor Bedard, of Macklin Celebrini, and the impact they're making?

"You can see every year, we think we've maxed out on the talent coming in the League and every year, you're just amazed by the kids coming in. Really some of the kids now are in their second and third year and they're starting to take the game over. Ten years goes by so quick. You think about (Leon) Draisaitl, (Connor) McDavid, (Nathan) MacKinnon, (Cale) Makar, these guys that have been around now, some are going into their 10th, 11th year if I'm not mistaken. It goes by quick. Now these young guys, the next wave are coming in. You can see it in the scoring races, challenging for the goal scoring lead, the points lead, and their teams are starting to play better. Wow, when you talk about a league being in good shape for the future; the talent pool coming into the NHL is incredible."

We hear a lot about Celebrini and Bedard, but I'm curious about your thoughts on Leo Carlsson in Anaheim. He's not talked about as much as those two, but he's been at least as impactful as them.

"If you're paying attention to the League, you're hearing about him because the whole team is starting to come along. (Ducks GM) Pat Verbeek, who I played with here in New York, has done an amazing job there. I love their team for a lot of reasons. One is they've got a lot of talent, but they've got a lot of size and they're playing a hard brand of hockey, which I really like. And Leo Carlsson, when you talk about getting a young player coming into your franchise that's a big 6-foot-3 talented forward like a (Evgeni) Malkin, like some of the greatest players that have played, you give your franchise a chance. For me, championship teams are built down the middle with guys you can build your team around. I've been really impressed by him. It's another reminder that you've got to give these kids time to develop too not only to learn the league and get up to the speed and strength, but they come in at 18 years old and it's such a hard league to dominate at that age. They're not man strong yet. Now these kids are starting to get more experience there. They know what they can and can't get away with. They're getting stronger. They're getting better conditioned. And you can really start to see it. From 18 to say, 23, those five years are massive, just massive. Even in the 1980s, Wayne (Gretzky) had some of his best years in his late teens and early 20s. They're starting to hit their peak now and it's just awesome for hockey."

From a League perspective, have you seen an impact with the condensed schedule with this being an Olympic year?

"Everybody is talking about the condensed schedule. I don't know if the players really think about that that much. We're conditioned to play. It has always been four games a week for six months with travel. If it's a little bit more, a little bit less, I don't think it really matters to the players. I think if anything the competition, the competitiveness of the league is starting to get better and better and better. I think there are only a handful of teams in the East that are below .500. I mean, I don't know who is losing. If everybody is winning, who is losing? So I think that probably plays more into the fact that the league is so balanced now that so many teams can win on any given night. That puts a lot of pressure on the teams, not so much the schedule."

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Let's bring it closer to home. As we stand here, you're wearing your Rangers' GAME 7 gear with the logo, so what do you think of the Rangers now?

"Well, they've made some big changes. Any time you change your coach, you change your systems. They've changed the nucleus and any time you change the nucleus, you change the culture and new guys have to step into that role and create their own culture and their own chemistry and it could take years for that. The Rangers are obviously not rebuilding but they've made some big changes and it's going to take some time. They've just got to be careful not to play themselves out of it in these first 40 games so they kind of get their footing and get their structure and everything is not so new so they're not so much thinking on the ice but more reacting. They've won some good games. Yes, they've struggled to score at home, but ultimately in the end, they've got a great goaltender, they've got some talent on the team, it's just whether they can play that consistent hockey that you need to get into the playoffs. You can't play inconsistent hockey and get into the playoffs."

One team that we've seen come on this season that we didn't expect to see is the Pittsburgh Penguins. And it's still Sidney Crosby leading the way. What do you think of Sid doing what he's doing now and doing it at 38 years old?

"I think everybody knows what I think of Sid and his career and of him as a person and a player. It's just unbelievable. But that's what you get when you're a pro. He's a consummate pro. He does the right things on and off the ice. He trains. He's dedicated. He gives himself a chance to be successful later in his career because of the way he takes care of himself and the way he's dedicated to the training that is required to play at this level. It's not easy when you get older. The NHL is a young man's league. It just is. We've seen it with the greatest players that it eventually catches up to you, but you can compete later into your career if you're conditioned and you're willing to put the work in. It's just unbelievable what he's doing. Just when you think Pittsburgh is going to take some time and rebuild, here he is and Malkin is playing well, leading the team, they're in a playoff position right now. He's an example of what a pro means and what a pro looks like."

He's going to break Mario Lemieux's record for most points by a Pittsburgh Penguins player. That's not just any guy who holds a record. It's Mario Lemieux. So in that context, what do you think about what Sid has been able to do over his career?

"There's only one guy that I would even consider speaking about in the same vein as Wayne and that's Mario. Mario's career was cut short because of injuries and his cancer battle and all of that, but you talk about one of the most talented players ever and what he did for Pittsburgh and that organization, carried it on his back. I don't get too caught up in the points and passing him. What I do get caught up in is that they're both Pittsburgh Penguins for life. That's where they've stayed and they've built a career out of that. Regardless of how many games they end up playing each, you can't deny the success that either of them had in that organization. It's an organization that had Mario Lemieux and then Sidney Crosby back-to-back. Like, it doesn't get any better than that."

You're a guy who lived by the challenges for your whole career. How does your role at ESPN challenge you?

"It's been great. It was much more difficult than I expected, because I see hockey and I watch hockey and I can speak about hockey, but doing it in a very compact way and being able to articulate a point very quickly was something I had to learn. Also, I didn't want to be critical of the players, but I realized that my new team was basically the audience, and I really had to be honest with anything that we chose to talk about. If someone did make a mistake, I had to highlight their mistake. I don't look at it as being so critical as opposed to just educating and teaching the game; what could have happened, what should have happened and maybe what could have happened differently. So now I'm more comfortable being more honest with the audience and that's taken me at least three years."

It is an Olympic year and that's the one thing you never got to be a part of. Is that still a regret for you that you never got to play for Canada in the Olympics?

"Yes, totally. I would have loved to play in the Olympics. I'm a huge Olympic fan. I went to the 1976 Olympics in Quebec when I was 15 and I stood from me to you with Bruce Jenner after he won the decathlon. I love the stories about guys working four jobs and still finding time to train and win medals, the inspirational stories. I grew up on that. To not have had a chance to play in the Olympics for Canada, I did represent Canada in the World Cup and Canada Cups and such so that lessened the blow a little bit. but it would be nice to have an Olympic medal."

Finally, we're at the NHL Shop here in Manhattan where the GAME 7 merchandise is available and on sale. Tell me about GAME 7 and what this brand means to you.

"We've been working at the GAME 7 brand now for quite some time now. We started with the five-part docuseries on Amazon Prime, which was an Emmy-nominated series. That was really our first bit of content to start to get our brand out in the public. Then, of course, partnering with the Rangers and the Rangers patch in a Centennial year and working with the NHL to do a collaboration with GAME 7 merch, it's been quite a whirlwind to be honest with you. A lot of hard work. A lot of fun work. We think we're onto something really exciting and important being able to help everybody I guess in a way understand Game 7, what a Game 7 means, the mentality of a Game 7 and what it takes to thrive in the most pressurized moments in sports. You think about Game 7, when you talk about the two greatest words in sports, it all comes down to this, win or go home. I think there's a lot to learn from the people that have excelled in those moments."