Mark Messier’s no. 11 was retired at Madison Square Garden last night in a ceremony that befitted his considerable legend. For a solid 75 minutes, the Rangers’ most-important all-time player was celebrated for delivering one of New York’s all-time great sports moments.

And when it finally came his turn to speak to the adoring crowd, the man known as “The Captain” paid homage to all those who helped him cultivate his legend. The ceremony reached a raucous climax when the capacity crowd watched Messier lift the Stanley Cup in the air for one final time before his banner was raised to the rafters.

Messier’s pro hockey career spanned four separate decades, and he is the NHL’s second all-time leading scorer with 1,887 points, but Messier’s number was retired last night for one reason alone: After 54 years of frustration – and after watching the cross-town rival Islanders take home four consecutive Stanley Cups in the early 1980s, it was he who led the Rangers to the promised land back in 1994.

One of the most charismatic sports stars ever to perform on the New York stage, Messier guaranteed victory before a dramatic Game 6 battle with the Devils in the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals. And when he delivered on his promise – scoring a hat trick to lead the Blueshirts to victory – Messier a spot in the pantheon of all-time great New York City athletes. Put simply, Messier made his teammates – and everyone associated with the team – believe that winning the Stanley Cup was their destiny.

A leader by example, Messier’s steely eyed glare and top-tier hockey ability made him one of the most feared competitors of his generation. In the early days of his career, Messier cultivated a reputation as a dominant power forward for the Edmonton Oilers, demonstrating both the talent and the viciousness needed to will his teams to triumph.

After teammate and friend Wayne Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in the summer of 1988, those depleted Oilers became Messier’s team. He delivered a stellar performance in the 1990 Stanley Cup Finals that culminated with his fifth Stanley Cup ring in just his 11th NHL season.

Messier’s first tour of duty with the Blueshirts began when he was acquired on October 4, 1991 (along with Jeff Beukeboom) in exchange for Bernie Nichols, Louie DeBrusk, and Steven Rice in what turned out to be one of the most lopsided trades in NHL history. He remained with the team for six seasons, and in what turned out to be the final year of his first tenure with the Rangers, Gretzky joined him. The two aging superstars led the Blueshirts all the way to the Eastern Conference finals. But the Rangers moved slowly to offer Messier a new contract that summer, and so he chose to sign a free agent contract with the Vancouver Canucks.

When Messier made that abrupt exit, he left a leadership chasm that has only begun to be filled this season by Jaromir Jagr and Darius Kasparaitis. A large part of the problem was the Rangers’ ill-fated decision to name the soft-spoken Brian Leetch – rather than Adam Graves, a born leader – as Messier’s replacement. For those three seasons when he was gone, Messier still cast an ominous shadow over the Rangers’ locker room.

When “Moose” made his much-celebrated return to New York for the 2000-01 season, he was immediately reinstated as team captain. But the three years in Vancouver had robbed the once dominant Messier of his ability to lead by example, and his unceremonious exit three years earlier scrubbed some of the luster from his once-shining reputation. He remained a fan favorite, and deservedly so, but Messier was no longer able to will his team to victory. In each of his final seven seasons, Messier’s teams failed to reach the postseason.

Last night, nearly every member of the Rangers’ 1994 championship team was present for the celebration, reminding everyone in the Garden both how poignant that moment was … and how distant. When Leetch appeared on the Jumbotron to offer his words of appreciation, a few fans’ chants of “Bring him back” faded quickly, gathering no momentum from a crowd ready to let 1994 be what it is: a great memory to be cherished forever.

Today, the Rangers’ roster does not feature a single player from that 1994 squad, and their surprising success is likely due in no small part to the elimination of the shadow that historic moment – and Messier, it’s unrivaled star – has cast over the team.

The Messier era delivered one tremendous moment that allowed an entire city of hockey fans to collectively exhale and celebrate. But it also brought tremendous disappointment; for most of his tenure as the Rangers’ captain, the team’s results varied from disappointing to catastrophic. Only in 1994 and 1997 did Messier consistently deliver the types of heroic performances for which he was feted last night.

And so, with each victory celebration the Blueshirts earn on the ice this season, they are also celebrating the absence of Messier’s shadow. Finally able to establish their own identity, today’s Rangers are better off without “the Captain.” Better off remembering 1994 but leaving it in the past. Better off moving on. Messier’s 1994 triumph was an unforgettable moment for the Rangers and their fans, but now it’s finally time to embrace something else, a new cause for celebration. It’s time to embrace the Rangers’ bright and shining future.

Mr. Greenstein is the editor-in-chief of InsideHockey.com.