Messier says Canucks positioned to win Cup in Q&A with NHL.com

Mark Messier is a legend by any definition of the word. 
 
The six-time Stanley Cup champion is the only man to win NHL titles as captain of two different teams – the Edmonton Oilers in 1990 and the New York Rangers in 1994. 

Widely considered one of hockey’s greatest clutch players, Messier was at his best in the game’s biggest moments. He won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player in 1990 and 1992, was awarded the Ted Lindsay Award – the NHL Players’ Association MVP prize – those years as well and was voted winner of the 1984 Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the postseason.

Twenty years this month since his last game, Messier ranks third all-time in regular-season points scored, with 1,887; third in games played, with 1,756; and ninth in goals scored, with 694.

Since 2021, he has served as lead studio analyst for ESPN’s NHL coverage, his sharp insight and unique view of the game on and off the ice taking viewers not only into the action, but often into the mindset of players.

Edmonton Oilers captain Mark Messier lifts the Stanley Cup between teammates Kevin Lowe (left) and Jari Kurri on May 24, 1990, NHL President John Ziegler at left, NHL Executive Vice-President Brian O’Neill at right.

Messier, 63, recently spoke at length with NHL.com in a wide-ranging interview that covered his Hall of Fame career, his work as an analyst, today’s NHL and of course, the 1994 Stanley Cup championship of the Rangers, that team’s most recent title won 30 years ago this spring.

Today, the first of three parts of that conversation. Parts 2 and 3 will follow Thursday and Friday.

It's been 31 years since a Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup. If the playoffs began today, the Vancouver Canucks, Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs are in. You’ve got a history with the Canucks, having played for them between 1997-2000. What’s your take on a team that’s been formidable this season, and what do you think of their chances for a long run?

“When I think of long runs, it’s best for me to back it up. Look at the way teams are winning and how they win during the regular season. Are they winning just with great goaltending or are they winning with a really balanced attack?

“Depth in the playoffs is massive, and not only from the 18 skaters and two goalies in the lineup. Theoretically, you need nine defenseman who are able to play going into the playoffs and then you need at least 15 forwards who are able to be ready to play on any given night – the 12 that are in uniform and then three who can come in at any given time. Can those six extra skaters play and can they contribute?

“Vancouver has had an incredible year. I’ve got to take my hat off to (coach) Rick Tocchet and the job he's done there. He's really centered and focused that team. They do have a lot of talent, but you know, focusing that talent is not always easy.

Mark Messier with Vancouver GM Pat Quinn on July 28, 1997 after having signed a three-year contract with the Canucks.

“(Thatcher) Demko seems to be an excellent goalie. Obviously not a lot of playoff experience (four games for Vancouver in 2019-20), so that's different. And I think Elias Lindholm, who they acquired by trade with Calgary, was a great addition. He's a really solid hockey player who provides a lot of offense and can play a 200-foot game.

“So Vancouver has set themselves up. One of the things I like about the Canucks is they have a really big, strong defense. In playoff hockey, playing for two months, your defense is going to be tested – ground and pound – and they’ve got to be able to absorb that.

“Other than some inexperience in Vancouver, which is probably the thing that they're lacking the most right now, you’ve got to look at their team as being really positioned well to play well in the playoffs.”

Mark Messier’s famous intensity is captured as a member of the Vancouver Canucks.

Barring the unforeseen, Toronto’s Auston Matthews seems like a lock to win his third Maurice Richard Trophy as the NHL’s leading goal-scorer. What makes Matthews the sniper that he is?

“His size for sure (6-foot-3, 215 pounds). His skating. He’s never skated better, in my opinion. As you get a little bit older, you get stronger, more mature. One of the things you do when you're four, five, six years in the League, you start to become way more focused or you know how to focus better. Your consistency increases because of it. And I think that you're seeing him play with a tremendous amount of consistency right now.

“I mean, he is the best, most natural goal-scorer in the game right now. There's no question about it. You add up all of his physical skills and then you add the experience that he's getting now – the focus and the maturity. He’s a tremendous hockey player, incredible, incredible goal-scorer.

“I don't know actually how you eliminate or stop a guy who can skate that well with that size and his shot, because he can score from the inside and from the outside. I'm really looking forward to seeing him in the playoffs again this year.”

Matthews now has two 50-plus goal seasons. Ninety-eight different players have scored 50 or more in a season. You’re among them, No. 32 on that list chronologically, scored with the Oilers on March 31, 1982 at home against Los Angeles -- two goals, an assist, No. 50 coming with 23 seconds left in your team’s second-last game of the season …

“I remember starting as a pro as a 17-year-old (in the World Hockey Association) for Indianapolis, then Cincinnati) with a very raw skill set at that age. One goal in 52 games, then being drafted into the NHL (in 1979) by the Oilers (third round, 48th overall), basically maturing and working on my skills at the pro level. Normally, players drafted into the NHL are way further along in skill development than I was.

“It was challenging for me. I felt incredibly grateful that I could play pro hockey at age 17, but it was very difficult to work on my skills at the pro level. Even when the Oilers drafted me, I was playing on the fourth line as a left-winger, an aggressive game, fighting, just trying to stay in the lineup.

“Two years later, scoring 23 goals, getting at least a little more established, trying to figure it out as a pro. Then scoring 50 goals in my third year in the NHL…”

Mark Messier (right) on the set with P.K. Subban for a December 2023 “NHL on ESPN” telecast.

Your celebration following your 50th was one for the books. Edmonton columnist Terry Jones wrote, “Mark Messier set an NHL record for artistic impression while celebrating his 50th goal. He won the all-time dance-marathon contest. He turned the Edmonton Coliseum ice surface into a ballroom floor …”

“Back then, 50 goals was a real benchmark. Think about all the greats who had scored 50. It was really exciting for me to put the work in and see the results. I watched Wayne (Gretzky) in practice, I worked on my skills hard. I put a lot into it. To get the kind of reward as an individual was incredibly gratifying. At the same time, I grew up in a complete team environment.”

That night, you told reporters of your wild celebration, “I just lost it. It was such a feeling of exhilaration. I just lost control of everything in my body and we just took a trip together. If the game had been played on a river, I’d have skated like that all the way to the next province. …”

“I was never a numbers guy or thinking about scoring goals. I was just trying to help the team win the game. But that particular moment, scoring my 50th, was a different feeling for me because I'd never really thought too much about it. But when I had the chance to score 50 goals and join that elite company of players in the National Hockey League who had, it was incredible.”

Where’s that milestone puck today?

“I have stuff all over. It’s probably somewhere. I wasn’t a collector when I was young, I didn’t really understand the whole thing. I probably have it in a chest somewhere, my mom probably kept it for me.”

Six goals shy of a nice, round 700 in your career. Any idea how many goal posts or crossbars you hit?

“I haven’t a clue. I’m incredibly grateful that I was able to just play in the National Hockey League, then to play 25 years -- 26 professionally. I just look at how lucky I was to be able to play with the players I did and to have the success that we enjoyed together.”

Top photo: ESPN lead NHL analyst Mark Messier in a 2021 portrait.