Farewell to the Captain: Messier Retires After 25 Years

New York Rangers legend Mark Messier formally announced his retirement yesterday, ending a 25-year career that will without question earn him a place in hockey’s Hall of Fame. “Moose” won six Stanley Cup championships during his storied career, and ranks second only to Wayne Gretzky on the NHL all-time scoring list.Where Messier is concerned, of course, the numbers only tell part of the story; more important was his well-deserved reputation as a great leader and hard-nosed competitor. He will be remembered as much for his icy glare as for his trademark wrist shot; put simply, Messier always did whatever it took to lead his team to victory.“I’ve had a long career and I’ve achieved a lot and there was nothing left for me to really achieve,” the 44-year-old Messier announced on a conference call. “It was time for me to move aside and go into something else.”The announcement was expected for quite some time. The Rangers’ captain all but said goodbye on March 31, 2004, following the Blueshirts’ final home game before the lockout that wiped out all of last season. Messier was showered with applause from teammates, family, friends, fans, and even the Buffalo Sabres when he skated off the ice. It turned out to be a fitting – if understated – exit for the 16-time All-Star.“I’ve really had the opportunity to take my time and see how I felt physically and emotionally,” the two-time Hart Trophy winner said. “As tough as it was to make the decision, I think it’s the right one and I feel good about it.”Messier explained that he made the announcement via conference call because, “no one wants to see a blubbering idiot at the podium.”Messier began his career alongside Gretzky in Edmonton, where the dynamic duo led the Oilers to Stanley Cup victories in 1984, 1985, 1987, and 1988. That high-flying team was an offensive juggernaut, and Messier contributed regularly, both on the score sheet and with his fierce physical play. An old-time hockey player in the truest sense of the term, Messier carried on Gordie Howe’s legacy throughout his career as no other player has over the past quarter-century.When Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in the summer of 1988, Messier proved that he was capable of leading a team to victory on his own. He captained an overachieving Oilers squad to the 1990 Stanley Cup Finals, where they defeated the Boston Bruins. That achievement, because it occurred in Gretzky’s absence, cemented Messier’s legacy as an unflappable leader, and it set the stage for what was perhaps his finest triumph.In the fall of 1991, then-Oilers GM Glen Sather couldn’t come to terms on a new deal with Messier, and was forced to find a trade partner willing to meet Messier’s contract demands. Few NHL GMs felt that the aging Messier had much left in the tank at 30, so Rangers GM Neil Smith’s offer of Bernie Nichols, Steven Rice, and Louie De-Brusk landed Messier on Broadway. No one could have predicted the impact that he’d have.In his first season in New York, Messier scored 107 points in 79 games to win his second Hart Trophy in three seasons. But an early playoff exit – followed by a last place finish in 1992-93 – left Rangers fans wondering if the Messier era was going to end in disappointment.As it turned out, their worries were unfounded. Messier got the Blueshirts back on track under new head coach Mike Keenan in 1993-94, and a series of brilliant trades and dramatic playoff series propelled the Rangers all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they squared off against the New Jersey Devils. Down three games to two, Messier made a bold proclamation not seen in the Big Apple since Joe Namath’s historic promise in 1969 – “We’ll win tonight!” – then backed it up by scoring a hat trick to knot the series.The Rangers won a dramatic Game 7 when mid-season acquisition Stephane Matteau scored the winner in double overtime. Two weeks later, the Blueshirts finally won the Cup, ending 54 years of futility and cementing Messier as one of New York’s greatest athletes ever.Three seasons later, Gretzky joined Messier in Madison Square Garden, and they rekindled their Edmonton-era magic one final time, leading an injury plagued team all the way to the 1997 Eastern Conference Finals, where they were defeated by Eric Lindros and the Philadelphia Flyers. Against the Devils in an earlier playoff round, Messier demonstrated just how ruthless he could be, crosschecking Doug Gilmour in the face and setting the tone for what was to be yet another Rangers’ playoff victory over the Devils.During the following off-season, the Rangers’ attempt to play hardball with Messier backfired miserably. He indignantly signed a three-year deal with Vancouver, setting the Rangers into a funk from which they have not yet recovered.Messier’s Canucks – and the Messierless Rangers – were notable only for their futility, and the Captain’s emotional return to New York in 2000 only yielded more frustration. One of the biggest winners in hockey history, Messier’s career ended with seven consecutive years without a playoff appearance.Edmonton General Manager Kevin Lowe, Messier’s longtime teammate on the great Oilers teams, tried to convince him to return to his hometown for a farewell tour. Messier really only wanted to play in New York, where he has a young family, and though Sather left the door open for his return, he decided it best to retire.“I don’t know that I ever really considered it,” Messier said of returning. “I was definitely open to listening to his offers and things like that but I knew in my heart that if I was going to play it was going to be in New York.”Messier is the only player in NHL history to captain two franchises to the Stanley Cup. He leaves with 1,887 NHL regular-season points, 970 fewer than Gretzky and 37 more than Howe, who sits in third place. His career also ends with him only six goals short of 700 – a milestone reached by only six players – and 11 games shy of tying Howe’s career mark of 1,767.Messier always did things on his own terms, and his retirement is no different. On January 12, the Rangers will raise his no.11 to the rafters before a game against the Oilers. Needless to say, Messier won’t be the only one holding back tears when he addresses his minions one last time. There will be many more captains in the Rangers’ future, but there will always be only one Captain.Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.

Farewell to the Captain: Messier Retires After 25 Years

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