On the night of March 31, 2004, the Rangers played their final home game of the 2003-04 season.
That night also marked the final game in one of the greatest careers in NHL history and in Rangers history. Although Mark Messier wasn’t entirely sure that it would be his last game at the time, the contest against the Buffalo Sabres that night at MSG turned out to be the final curtain call for No. 11.
As ‘The Captain’ reflected on that night and his Rangers tenure, he shared what made the game so special for him and provided insight into the unique mindset that made him the greatest leader in the history of the sport.
“I can’t believe that it’s actually been (that long) since I played my last game,” Messier said. “I know it has been a while, but it doesn’t feel like it in some ways.”
In the days leading up to the end of the 2003-04 season, there was speculation that Messier’s career would be over at the end of the year. At 43 years old and on the verge of completing his 25th NHL season (and 26th professional season including the one season he played in the World Hockey Association in 1978-79), Messier knew that his playing days were nearing its end.
Still, Messier had been an effective player for the team that season, even if he wasn’t playing in the same role that he had when he joined the Rangers and won the Hart Trophy in 1991-92. And most importantly, after wrestling with the decision in his mind prior to the end of the season, he still wasn’t sure if he would be retiring.
“I didn’t know for sure (if I would be retiring) and I didn’t want to make any rash decisions or say anything publicly that I just didn’t know,” Messier explained. “I think I was better off just to wait, play the game, finish the year out, and then re-evaluate after the season. Leading up to the game, I was very emotional. What I was able to do very well in my career was compartmentalize and once the puck dropped, I was able to stay focused.”
Knowing what could be unfolding in front of them, however, Rangers fans who attended Madison Square Garden that night prepared and acted as if they were seeing Messier on the ice for the last time. More fans than normal arrived early to the game to be down by the glass for warm-ups, holding signs that read “Messier Forever”, “One More Year, Mess”, “Thanks for the Memories, Mark”, and “Messier Square Garden”.
Messier prepared as if it would be his last game. Numerous family members were in attendance, and he posed for a picture with them by the ice during warm-ups. In addition, he signed several of his sticks upon arriving to the arena that night with the idea that he would use all of them throughout the game and give one to each of his teammates afterwards.
“No one wins alone,” Messier said, citing the title of his memoir that was published in the fall of 2021. “I was certainly the beneficiary of some amazing players who played alongside me and shared in all of the victories and heartache over the years. You really appreciate the players that you play with and the effort they put into the game and the team, and I never took it lightly. The fun thing for me was trying to galvanize a team around a common goal, and it takes a lot of hard work and effort to do that, not only from the leadership (group), but from everyone else.
“There were a lot of people in New York who put me in a position to have the success that I did. I was just trying to think of something to commemorate the game for the guys who I played with if indeed it was going to be my last one.”
As the game began, Messier admitted to feeling a little sluggish – he was battling an elbow injury and hadn’t played for the previous nine days before re-entering the lineup for the Rangers’ final home game of the season. However, in the final minute of the first period, the Rangers forced a turnover inside of the Sabres’ zone, and Messier was standing alone to the left of the net. He took a cross-ice pass from Jozef Balej and fired a backhand shot into the top corner of the net. The goal proved to be the last one of his NHL career, giving him 694 career goals and 1,887 career points. The crowd, as they had many times before, chanted Messier’s name following the announcement of the goal.
Once the game began to wind down in the third period, Messier wasn’t able to compartmentalize his emotions as well as he did so many times throughout his career. The Rangers trailed the Sabres, 4-3, and after an icing goal with one second remaining, Messier was visibly emotional on the ice.
“Towards the end, all of the emotions flooded back from my career,” Messier said. “It wasn’t an easy moment, for sure.”
After the final faceoff, Messier skated towards the Rangers’ bench and appeared to want to leave the ice. But when he turned back towards the ice, he saw all of his teammates, as well as all of the Sabres players, standing on the ice and tapping their sticks in appreciation of his great career.
“There’s nothing more important than having the respect of your peers – not only your teammates, but the peers around the league,” Messier said. “Winning the Lester B. Pearson Award (now the Ted Lindsay Award, which is given to the “most outstanding player” in the NHL as voted by fellow members of the National Hockey League Players' Association) twice meant a lot to me.
“To have done something in the game that warranted that kind of response was very emotional and rewarding, and I was thankful and grateful. I put a lot into the 26 years I played professionally, so it was a tough moment in a lot of ways, but a beautiful moment at the same time.”
To say that Messier did something in his career to warrant the response he got from his peers would be an understatement. Among his list of accomplishments are that he won six Stanley Cups, was the only player to serve as captain of a Stanley Cup winning team for two different franchises, and at the time of his final game, he had the second-most points in NHL history, trailing only Wayne Gretzky.
Messier’s legacy as a Ranger transcends the statistics he accumulated during his 10 seasons with the team. That is why it is only fitting that his final game took place on Madison Square Garden ice in front of Rangers fans.
“The relationship that the team had with the fans through the period I was there was incredible. Being a Ranger met every expectation that I had of playing for an Original Six team, playing in New York City, and living in New York City. It was such an incredibly rich experience on so many levels.
“I felt that if it was going to be my last game, I wanted it to be on Madison Square Garden ice because of what the fans meant to me personally and to the team through those years. I just wanted to share it with the fans for one last game.”
