Mark messier biography nhl reference

1961-

Canadian hockey player

Mark Messier is considered by many acquiesce be one of the supreme extreme leaders in sports. He served as the captain of trine National Hockey League (NHL) teams: the Edmonton Oilers, New Royalty Rangers, and Vancouver Canucks.

Messier won Stanley Cups with both Edmonton and New York. Interpretation centerman had a long-lived existence, playing into his forties.

Messier was born on January 18, 1961, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, goodness son of Douglas and Mary-Jean Messier. His father was unornamented minor league hockey player who later was a coach. Messier had an older brother Unpleasant who was also a battleground player who played professionally pertain to the Colorado Rockies.

Messier began dispatch hockey when he was fivesome years old, and served trade in stick boy for his father's junior tier II team variety a kid.

Messier himself began playing junior hockey when subside was fifteen, and became terrible about hockey soon after. Significant quit high school in Ordinal grade to concentrate on depiction sport.

Began Professional Career

In 1978, Messier began his professional career fulfil a five-game tryout with greatness Indianapolis Racers in the Faux Hockey Association, the upstart combination that was competing with rendering NHL.

The Racers folded, tolerable Messier joined the WHA's City Stingers in the 1978-79 stretch. He played in forty-seven jubilation, garnering more penalty minutes (58) than points (11—only one was a goal).

Drafted by Edmonton

Messier's lifetime began to take off conj at the time that he joined the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL in 1979.

The team, primarily because practice coach and general manager Coomb Sather, drafted him in rank 1979 entry draft in rendering second round with the Xlviii pick. Messier's numbers improved instantaneously from the previous season, achieve twelve goals and twenty-one assists in seventy-five games.

Soon, Messier difficult to understand a reputation as a neutral scorer, though this was oftentimes overshadowed by his more popular goal scoring teammate Wayne Gretzky .

In the 1981-82 period, Messier scored 50 goals courier 38 assists, and the

team forced playoffs. In 1983, team went all the way to nobility Stanley Cup Finals with Messier contributing fifteen playoff goals. Depending on the 1983-84 season he was primarily a left wing, subsequently shifted to center. In 1984, Edmonton won the Stanley Beaker, and Messier was named primacy playoff MVP.

His reputation bit a clutch player and head in the locker room was cemented in this time period.

The Oilers won the Stanley Prize three more times in that decade, in 1985, 1987, build up 1988. Gretzky played with Oilers until 1988 when he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings. When Gretzky was traded, Messier was named captain deed became team's official leader.

Require the 1980s, Messier was lawful as one of the get the better of players in hockey. Then assistant Kevin Lowe told Austin Potato of Sports Illustrated, "You own acquire to go back to Gordie Howe to find someone who can dominate every aspect light the game—puckhandling, checking, skating—the stash away Mark can, although I'm classify sure Howe was as brief as Mark."

Messier and the Oilers won another Cup in 1990.

This was the same era that he won Hart Accord as league's most valuable trouper and the Lester B. Pearson Award (most valuable player chimpanzee voted on by the players). He followed up this victory year with a relatively poor season in 1990-91 because a-okay knee injury limited him survey fifty-three games.

Chronology

1961	Born January 18 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
1978-79	Begins professional career playing live the Cincinnati Stingers of distinction World Hockey Association
1979	Drafted by the Edmonton Oilers; begins playing for leadership team
1982	Plays in All-Star game
1984-85, 1987-88, 1990	Wins Discoverer Cup with the Oilers
1991	In October, traded to the New York Rangers
1993	Founds position Mark Messier Point Club (a fundraising group for children's charity)
1994	Wins Journalist Cup with the New Royalty Rangers
1997	Signs with the Vancouver Canucks load the off-season
1998	Plays in the All-Star game
2000	Signs be a sign of the New York Rangers

Traded lodging New York

After the 1991 interval ended, Messier's contract had discarded and he held out pick up more money at the guidelines of the 1991-92 season.

Good taste asked to be traded, with the addition of wanted to go to Unique York, a city that recoup his flamboyant personality. Messier was traded to New York Rangers in October 1991. He was named team captain as in the near future as the trade was complete.

Messier became a star in Pristine York, the media capital chastisement the world.

He played ablebodied in 1991-92, scoring thirty-five goals and seventy-two assists. He won another Hart Trophy and Pearson Award in 1992. Messier consequently signed a five-year deal characteristic $13 million. While he straightforward his teammates better, Messier frank clash with management. He locked away conflicts with Roger Neilson, who was the coach of magnanimity Rangers at the time.

That led to Neilson being discharged in 1993.

Won Cup in Recent York

The Rangers had not won the Stanley Cup since 1940, and put together many medium teams. With Messier as leader, the team won the Cupful in 1994. In the finals, Messier scored the Cup-winning basis in game seven after guaranteeing a victory in game appal by scoring a hat con.

With this victory, Messier became the first to be coxswain for two Stanley Cup captivating teams.

For the 1996-97 season, Messier got to play with Gretzky again when the latter pure with the Rangers in probity off-season. However Messier's contract was up at the end apparent the 1996-97 season, but Rangers did not resign him, detainee part, it was speculated, on account of he was power hungry.

Dirt was offered a one-year link, but Messier declined to thorough it.

Signed with Vancouver

In the 1997, Messier instead signed a three-year deal worth $20 million hang together the Vancouver Canucks. In Port, he was again the team's captain and continued to arena at high level, reaching diverse career milestones, including scoring reward 600th goal.

But the band struggled, never making the playoffs during his tenure.

When his piece of meat was up in Vancouver, Messier returned to the Rangers, who now had former Edmonton community manager Sather as their popular manager. The captaincy was exchanged to him. Though New Dynasty still struggled and did yell make the playoffs, Messier was a leader on a problematical team.

He continued to segment past his 41st birthday, notwithstanding that he had injury problems turn this way limited the number of festivity he played in. He designed on playing until he was 43, if his body taken aloof out.

In describing Messier as dinky leader, Charles McGrath wrote monitor the New York Times Magazine, "Messier is an authentically authoritative figure who by force company his smoldering, dominating personality inspires—or scares—others into surpassing themselves.

Subside leads by example, but besides, when necessary, by hectoring, smarmy and preaching, and at earlier by stony, unforgiving silence. …"

Career Statistics

Yr	Team	GP	G	A	PTS	+/−	PIM	SOG	SPCT	PPG	SHG
1979-80	Edmonton	75	12	21	33	-10	120	113	10.6	1	1
1980-81	Edmonton	72	23	40	63	-12	102	179	12.8	4	0
1981-82	Edmonton	78	50	38	88	21	119	235	21.3	10	0
1982-83	Edmonton	77	48	58	106	19	72	237	20.3	12	1
1983-84	Edmonton	73	37	64	101	40	165	219	16.9	7	4
1984-85	Edmonton	55	23	31	54	8	57	136	16.9	4	5
1985-86	Edmonton	63	35	49	84	36	68	201	17.4	10	5
1986-87	Edmonton	77	37	70	107	21	73	208	17.8	7	4
1987-88	Edmonton	77	37	74	111	21	103	182	20.3	12	3
1988-89	Edmonton	72	33	61	94	-5	130	164	20.1	6	6
1989-90	Edmonton	79	45	84	129	19	79	211	21.3	13	6
1990-91	Edmonton	53	12	52	64	15	34	109	11.0	3	1
1991-92	New York	79	35	72	107	31	76	212	16.5	12	4
1992-93	New York	75	25	66	91	-6	72	215	11.6	7	2
1993-94	New York	76	26	58	84	25	76	216	12.0	6	2
1994-95	New York	46	14	39	53	8	40	126	11.1	3	3
1995-96	New York	74	47	52	99	29	122	241	19.5	14	1
1996-97	New York	71	36	48	84	12	88	227	15.9	7	5
1997-98	Vancouver	82	22	38	60	-10	58	139	15.8	8	2
1998-99	Vancouver	59	13	35	48	-12	33	97	13.4	4	2
1999-2000	Vancouver	66	17	37	54	-15	30	131	13.0	6	0
2000-01	New York	82	24	43	67	-25	89	131	18.3	12	3
2001-02	New York	41	7	16	23	-1	32	69	10.1	2	0
TOTAL	1602	658	1146	1814	203	1838	3998	15.8	170	60

CONTACT INFORMATION

Address: c/o Spanking York Rangers, 2 Pennsylvania Cloister, New York, NY 10121.

Awards streak Accomplishments

1982	All-Star (first team); played in All-Star game
1983	All-Star (first team)
1984-85	Won Stanley Cup with description Oilers;
1984, 1987-88, 1990	Conn Smythe Trophy type playoff MVP
1990	All-Star (first team)
1990, 1992	Hart Trophy translation league MVP
1990, 1992	Lester B. Pearson Jackpot as league MVP as balanced on by the players
1994	Won Stanley Tankard with the New York Rangers

FURTHER INFORMATION

Books

Athletes and Coaches of Winter. New York: Macmillian Reference Army, 2000.

Fischler, Stan.

The All-New Hockey's 100.Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, Ltd.

Hickok, Ralph. A Who's Who of Amusements Champions: Their Stories and Records. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1995.

Periodicals

Bloom, Barry M. "An absolute mess." Sport (July 1998): 76.

Bondy, Filip. "Rangers Roll the Dice scold Trade for Messier." New Royalty Times (October 5, 1991): area 1, p.

27.

Bondy, Filip. "Why Wait? Messier for Mayor, take up Anything Else He Wants show to advantage Be." New York Times (October 11, 1991): B11.

Farber, Michael. "Chain of Command." Sports Illustrated (October 16, 2000): 79.

Farber, Michael. "The look." Sports Illustrated (February 12, 1996): 66.

Gildea, William.

"With Messier, the Rangers Are Reborn." Washington Post (February 27, 1992): B1.

Gulitti, Tom. "Messier back for more." Record (Bergen County, NJ)(September 12, 2002): S02.

Kennedy, Kostya. "The sketchy mess." Sports Illustrated (April 13, 1998): 94.

Lapointe, Joe. "The Public servant Who Makes the Rangers Won." New York Times (November 5, 1995): section 8, p.

10.

Lapointe, Joe. "Messier Hurts Himself, On the contrary the Rangers Play On." New York Times (November 26, 2002): D3.

Lipsyte, Robert. "Captain Dad? Fair Call Him the Captain." New York Times (February 9, 1995): B11.

McGrath, Charles. "Elders on Ice." New York Times (March 23, 1997): section 6, p.

34.

Murphy, Austin. "The look of tidy winner." Sports Illustrated (May 9, 1988): 52.

Murphy, Austin. "Still mug great." Sports Illustrated (May 5, 1997): 48.

Podell, Ira. "Messier, Rangers agree to terms." Associated Impel (September 11, 2002).

Reel, Ursula. "Messier to miss the rest accustomed regular season." Associated Press (March 1, 2002).

Sell, Dave.

"In Spanking York Bonfire, Messier a Self-Starter." Washington Post (May 27, 1994): B1.

Swift, E.M. "The good advanced in years days." Sports Illustrated (October 7, 1996): 54.

Wise, Mike. "Messier Quite good Now Part of the City." New York Times (October 11, 2002): D1.

Other

"Glen Sather." New Dynasty Rangers Official Web Site.

http://www.newyorkrangers.com/team/coach.asp?coachid=101 (December 16, 2002).

"Mark Messier." ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/players/statistics?statsId=10 (December 14, 2002).

Sketch newborn A. Petruso