Biography

Considered 1 of hockey greatest players and leaders of all time, Mark Messier played 24 seasons in the NHL for 3 different teams. After spending the 1978/79 season between the Indianapolis Racers and the Cincinnati Stingers of the WHA, Messier’s hometown Edmonton Oilers drafted him in the 3rd round of the 1979 NHL Draft. Joining the Oilers immediately, Messier grew into a star with the likes of Glen Anderson, Paul Coffey, Jari Kurri, Grant Fuhr and of course, Wayne Gretzky. Through each of his first 4 seasons in the NHL, Messier points totals improved dramatically. Messier played an integral part in Edmonton 1980s dynasty, winning 4 Stanley cups (1984, 1985, 1987, 1988). Messier’s 26 points in 19 games in the 1984 playoffs earned him the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. After Wayne Gretzky was traded in the summer of 1988, Messier assumed the captaincy of the Oilers and led them to a 5th Stanley Cup in 1990. The 1989/90 season was a career season for Messier. His 129 points in 79 games earned him both the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP and the Lester B Pearson Award as the NHL’s MVP voted by the players. In the 1991 off-season, Messier was traded to the New York Rangers, who immediately named him team captain. In his first season with the Rangers, Messier won both his 2nd Hart Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Awards. Messier would captain the Rangers to the 1994 Stanley Cup, a playoff for which he is famous for guaranteeing a victory in game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, a statement he backed up with a natural 3rd period hat-trick, securing the victory for the Rangers. Messier would captain the Vancouver Canucks for 3 seasons from 1997 to 2000. In the off season of 2000, Messier returned to the Rangers and assumed the captaincy once again. In Messier’s final season of 2003/04, he’d pass Gordie Howe for 2nd place on the NHL’s all-time scoring list. With the NHL lockout cancelling the 2004/05 season, and Messier announcing his retirement in September of 2005, the 2003/04 season proved to be Messier’s last. In retirement, Messier has embarked on many endeavors, including working in the Rangers front office, being a spokesman for several products and does the occasional analyzing for NHL games.