Two Local Legends Receive Hockey Honors
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When looking back at the pantheon of great athletes who have graced the stage in the New York area, polarizing and charismatic stars such as Reggie Jackson and Joe Namath leap immediately to mind. But though they weren’t likely to ever be seen strutting down Madison Avenue wearing full-length furs, two steely-eyed hockey captains merit strong consideration amongst New York’s greatest all-time sports performers. Today in Toronto, the Rangers’ Mark Messier and the Devils’ Scott Stevens will be feted for their extraordinary accomplishments and inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
There are, for certain, many striking differences between Messier and Stevens, but it’s the ways in which they’re similar that serve as their defining characteristics. Both of their wills to win — and the manner with which they were able to strike fear into the hearts of underachieving teammates and unfortunate opponents — were what set these two captains apart. Messier’s defining moment came during the Eastern Conference Finals in 1994, when he guaranteed victory over Stevens’ Devils during Game Six of that thrilling series. The Rangers, of course, came out on top, and then went on to defeat the Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup Finals, ending 54 years of Cup-less misery.
Not one to wither away in defeat, Stevens’ Devils bounced back the following spring, leading the Devils to the Stanley Cup Finals against the heavily-favored Red Wings. In Game One, Stevens delivered a crushing check upon Wings forward Vyacheslav Kozlov. Afterward, Stevens glared at Kozlov’s teammate, Dino Ciccarelli, and appeared to yell, “You’re next!” The effect was devastating, and the Wings wilted under the intense pressure. Four games later, Stevens and the Devils were celebrating with the Stanley Cup for the first of what would be three times under his leadership.
Of course, there are the statistical accomplishments as well. For Messier, the numbers came more easily, as his status as a first- or second-line center ensured him plenty of opportunities to score. The Edmonton native finished with 1,887 points, second only behind Wayne Gretzky. And though Messier’s legend was certified with the Rangers’ Cup victory in 1994, the building blocks for that tremendous achievement were laid during his time playing alongside Gretzky with the Oilers.
That dynamic duo began their career while the Islanders’ dynasty was in full effect, and a four-game sweep at the hands of the Isles in 1983 provided Messier with a glimpse into what it took to become a champion. He helped Gretzky lead the Oilers to what would be the first of five Cup championships. The fifth victory, in 1990 over the Boston Bruins, came after Gretzky (and numerous other stars) had been traded away, raising Messier to even greater heights in the hockey world’s collective consciousness.
When the general manager of the Rangers, Neil Smith, acquired Messier in the fall of 1991, many skeptics believed that it was yet another case of the Blueshirts signing a fading star after his greatest seasons had passed. But “Moose” quickly dispelled that notion, winning his second Hart Trophy (NHL MVP) while leading the Rangers to the Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s winningest team. Two years later, he capped a storybook season — and captivated the attention of even New York’s most casual sports fans — when he led the Rangers to their thrilling Cup triumph.
In Stevens’ case, the individual accomplishments came in inverse proportion to the success of his team. Throughout his early years with the Washington Capitals, the brash and aggressive Stevens finished among the NHL’s leaders in both points for defensemen and penalties in minutes. Never afraid to drop the gloves, he was certainly one of the NHL’s most exciting players, and it led the St. Louis Blues to sign him as a restricted free agent in the summer of 1990. The maneuver cost the Blues five first-round picks, two of which turned out to be two key future NHLers, Sergei Gonchar and Brendan Witt.
Stevens’ time in St. Louis didn’t last very long, though. The next summer, the Blues once again forayed into the restricted free agent market, poaching a young Brendan Shanahan away from the Devils. Because they’d already surrendered their first-round picks to the Capitals, an arbiter was needed to decide what the appropriate compensation would be, and he ultimately decided in the Devils’ favor, awarding them Stevens for the loss of Shanahan.
Stevens joined the Devils for the 1991–92 season (arriving in the area at the same time as Messier), and was amongst the NHL’s top-scoring defensemen through his first three seasons in New Jersey. But after the loss to the Rangers in 1994, Stevens made wholesale changes to his style. In the 10 seasons that followed, Stevens never finished with more than 31 points, while the Devils emerged as a consistently excellent team, winning three Cups (1995, 2000, 2003) and appearing in the Finals once more (2001) during that stretch. It was no coincidence that the Devils’ rise to power coincided with Stevens’ dramatic style change. What he lost in points and gratuitous fighting majors, he more than made up for with his fearless crease cleaning. Indeed, his hit on Kozlov — as well as the thunderous check he laid upon Eric Lindros during the 2000 playoffs — serve as far better snapshots of Stevens’ influence on the game. Throughout the final decade of his career, no defenseman was the cause of as much fear and trepidation as was Stevens.
It is fitting that these two captains, who arrived here at approximately the same time, will now enter the Hockey Hall of Fame on the same day. Their importance to the area’s hockey scene cannot possibly be overstated. For a brief moment in 1994, Messier raised hockey to heights never before, and perhaps never again, to be seen. And without the success the Devils enjoyed under his leadership, it’s quite fair to say that their new arena in Newark would be but a figment of the imagination, and that they would instead be the subject of relocation rumors — if not already gone.
It was a privilege to watch these two great warriors deliver on promises and obliterate all reasonable expectations. Notwithstanding the years during which the Hall played catch-up following its opening in August of 1961, Messier and Stevens (along with Ron Francis and Al MacInnis) form the greatest Hall of Fame class ever.
Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.