Mark Messier - 11 Facts About #11

Mark Messier celebrates his 62nd birthday today. Although it has been more than three decades since Messier joined the Rangers and nearly two decades since he played his final NHL game, the impact that he made on the Blueshirts is still felt to this day.
Here are 11 facts about No. 11 from his legendary Rangers career.

1. Messier served as Rangers captain for 697 of his 698 regular season games and all of his 70 playoff games with the team. No player has been captain of the Rangers for more regular season or playoff games than Messier in franchise history. The only game that Messier played in with the Blueshirts that he was not the team's captain was his debut with the team on October 5, 1991 at Montreal, which was one day after he was acquired by the Rangers. Messier was named Rangers captain prior to the team's 1991-92 home opener on October 7, 1991.
   2. In his first season with the Rangers in 1991-92, Messier won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's Most Valuable Player, as well as the Lester B. Pearson Award (now the Ted Lindsay Award) as the NHL's Most Outstanding Player as selected by members of the NHLPA, while helping the Rangers win the Presidents' Trophy for having the best regular season record in the NHL. Messier tallied 107 points (35 goals, 72 assists) during the season; at the time, his 72 assists and 107 points were both the second-most by a Ranger in one season in franchise history.
   3. Messier was the recipient of nearly every Rangers team award during his 10 seasons in New York. He was named the team's Most Valuable Player on three occasions (1991-92, 1994-95, 1995-96), won the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award twice (1994-95 and 1995-96), received the Players' Player Award in 1995-96, was named the winner of the Good Guy Award (now John Halligan Good Guy Award) in 1991-92, won the Rangers Fan Club Frank Boucher Trophy (most popular player on and off the ice) on four occasions (1991-92, 1994-95, 1995-96, 1996-97), received the Rangers Fan Club Ceil Saidel Memorial Award (for dedication to the Rangers organization on and off the ice) in his final NHL season in 2003-04, and received the "Crumb Bum" Award in recognition of his service to New York youngsters in 1995.
   4. Messier registered both his 400th career NHL goal and his 500th career NHL goal while playing with the Rangers. Both milestone goals completed a hat trick for him in the game (he scored his 400th career NHL goal on Nov. 19, 1991 at Vancouver; he scored his 500th career NHL goal on Nov. 6, 1995 vs. Calgary). Messier is one of only two players who scored their 500th career NHL goal while playing with the Rangers (along with Mike Gartner).
   5. In his first six seasons with the Rangers (1991-92 - 1996-97), Messier tallied 518 points (183 goals, 335 assists) in 421 regular season games. He averaged at least 1.10 points per game in every season over the span, tallying at least 80 points in five of those seasons and 90 or more points in three different seasons. Messier is the only Ranger who has registered 80 or more points in five different seasons in franchise history, and he is one of two players who have tallied 90 or more points in three different seasons in franchise history (along with Jean Ratelle). In addition, Messier is one of only two players in Rangers history who have averaged at least 1.10 points per game in six different seasons (along with Andy Bathgate), and he is the only one has done so in six consecutive seasons.
   6. Throughout his career, Messier was considered a latter-day version of Gordie Howe, as both players possessed a unique combination of skill and toughness. Nine players in NHL history have registered at least 1,600 career points, while 105 players have recorded at least 1,600 career penalty minutes; Messier and Howe are the only players who registered both 1,600 career points and 1,600 career penalty minutes. In his final NHL season, on Nov. 4, 2003, Messier tallied two goals in a 3-0 Rangers win against Dallas at MSG. Messier's second goal of the game was his 1,851st career NHL point, which moved him ahead of Howe into second place on the NHL's all-time points list.
   7. Messier is the Rangers' all-time leader in regular season shorthanded goals (23) and playoff shorthanded goals (three). He is also the NHL's all-time leader in playoff shorthanded goals (14) and ranks second in NHL history in career regular season shorthanded goals (63).
   8. During the 1994 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Messier tallied a point in 21 of the Rangers' 23 games, which included a 13-game point streak over the team's first 13 games of the playoffs from Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Islanders through Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final against New Jersey. Messier's 13-game point streak is the longest playoff point streak by a Ranger in franchise history and is tied for the 11th-longest playoff point streak in NHL history (Messier also posted a 13-game point streak during the 1985 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as well as a 14-game point streak during the 1988 Stanley Cup Playoffs). In addition, Messier's 21 games with at least one point during the 1994 Stanley Cup Playoffs were tied for the third-most in one playoff year in NHL history.
   9. Messier's signature game as a Ranger was "The Guarantee" - with the Rangers trailing the New Jersey Devils three-games-to-two in the 1994 Eastern Conference Final, Messier guaranteed that the team would win Game 6 in New Jersey and then proceeded to score a natural hat trick in the third period to help the Rangers rally from a deficit and win the game, 4-2. The game marked the first time any Ranger scored three goals in one period of a playoff game in franchise history.
   10. By winning the Stanley Cup as the Rangers' captain in 1993-94, Messier became the first player in NHL history to serve as the captain of a Stanley Cup winning team for two different franchises (he also did so with the Edmonton Oilers in 1989-90). Messier remains the only player in NHL history who has accomplished the feat.
   11. When Messier announced his retirement from the NHL on Sept. 12, 2005, the Rangers immediately announced that they would retire Messier's No. 11 jersey. Messier's No. 11 jersey was raised to the MSG rafters on Jan. 12, 2006 in a pre-game ceremony prior to the Rangers' game against the Edmonton Oilers. No. 11 has been retired by six different franchises (including twice in New York, for Messier and Vic Hadfield), and Messier's No. 11 jersey has been retired by two franchises (the Rangers and the Oilers). Messier is one of nine players who have had their jersey number retired by two franchises.
   On the day the Rangers acquired Messier on October 4, 1991, Rangers General Manager Neil Smith said, "Whenever he leaves here, if it's seven months or seven years from now, he'll leave us with something we didn't have before he arrived. … We'll be a better organization for having had him. He will put something into the Rangers logo that you won't be able to see."
   Smith's words proved to be prophetic. Messier's impact on and off the ice changed this historic franchise forever.