Mark Messier
Mark Messier
Mark Douglas Messieris a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre of the National Hockey League and former special assistant to the president and general manager of the New York Rangers. He played a quarter of a century in the NHLwith the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, and Vancouver Canucks. He also played professionally with the World Hockey Association's Indianapolis Racers and Cincinnati Stingers. He was the last former WHA player to be active in professional hockey, and the last active...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionHockey Player
Date of Birth18 January 1961
CityEdmonton, Canada
CountryCanada
If I had to compare any of the two, I'd compare the first one in Edmonton, the first one here in New York because it had been so long in New York since we had won. Obviously, being the first time to ever win the cup in Edmonton, they were fairly similar in that regard.
I never was brought into the league thinking as far as, you know, statistics, things like that. We were really brought into the league in a team concept. Everything was focused around winning.
Really the team often will take on the personality of its coach.
Well, my transition into being a captain was easy.
Obviously every one of them was special to that particular team, all the people that were involved with it.
I haven't celebrated coming in No. 2 too many times.
I think the thing you always got to keep in mind, you know, hockey is a game of one-on-one battles.
I would never say one was more important or more gratifying than the next because there's a tremendous amount of work, as you know, that goes into winning a cup.
You always really have to remain consistent in your beliefs and philosophy.
The only pressure I'm under is the pressure I've put on myself.
Bravery is not the absence of fear, but the action in the face of fear.
But I felt that I was fairly confident in what it took to win a Stanley Cup coming off five Cups in seven years, ... And I was lucky to be a part of a team that was willing to sacrifice themselves for the benefit of the team.
I came into the league as a fourth-line grinder that played a limited role,
A big part of me felt like I had had enough, achieved as much as I could achieve and I didn't feel there was a lot more for me to play for, ... Hockey Night in Canada.