Messier says he'd build team around Crosby in Q&A with NHL.com

Since 2021, Hockey Hall of Fame legend Mark Messier 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.

Messier is a legend by any definition of the word for his statistics and leadership. Twenty years this month since his last game, he ranks third all-time in regular-season points scored (1,887), third in games played (1,756) and ninth in goals scored (694).

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

Today, the second of three parts of that conversation. Part 1 appeared Wednesday; Part 3 will follow Friday.

A September 2021 portrait of Mark Messier.

As lead NHL analyst for ESPN, how differently do you view the game now compared to how you did as a player? Is it an entirely different way of seeing it, or are you still a player in some ways?

"I still see it as a player lacing up the skates and I think that's actually one of the assets I can bring. My hope is that I can bring the viewer inside the player's mind. You know, we watch the games from up high and it looks so easy but there are many factors that go into the end result of what we see on the ice, starting with everything that happens off the ice.

"It's an extremely challenging game from many different perspectives. Obviously, you need to have four incredible skill sets to play at the National Hockey League level -- you have to be able to shoot, pass, stickhandle and skate. And then of course, you get into all the mental aspects of the game, the competitive aspects. And then playing hurt. There are just so many variables that are a factor in the end result.

"I have an incredible appreciation for the players. There's a saying: it's one thing to speak about the bull in the ring. It's another thing to be in the ring with the bull, so I look at it from that perspective.

"I never lose sight of how hard a game it is to play. I have a lot of respect for the players. It's also my job to be very honest with my assessment of anything that's happening on the ice, whether there's a mistake or a great play.

"It's my nature to highlight everything positive, but it's also my responsibility to say when the players have made mistakes. Of course, it has nothing to do with their character. It's just that sometimes mistakes happen, and you have to own up to them."

Mark Messier hoists the Stanley Cup at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 20, 1995, opening night of the shortened season, between teammates Brian Noonan and Glenn Healy.

How is criticism best handled by a player?

"The best that I played with all wanted and needed to be coached. It's just a fact. Where you draw the line is that you have to be able to give correction without resentment.

"I think the fine line that coaches walk is all established through interpersonal relationships. You have to have a trusting relationship, to be honest with a player or anybody else that you're leading.

"To me, John Wooden (the legendary UCLA basketball coach) had a great assessment of coaching, very simple: give correction without resentment, and then you move on. But often the correction is met with 'He doesn't like me, he's got it out for me, I'm not a good player' and all the negative things that are surrounded by it, which it shouldn't be, so I think that's a really important element."

Wayne Gretzky has ESPN interview fun with Edmonton Oilers teammates Mark Messier (center) and Paul Coffey during the 1982-83 season.

What has to happen for any team to win, to go all the way?

"If you're going to win, everybody needs to be an overachiever. I don't care how well you play during the regular season. I don't care how many goals you score during the regular season.

"You have to look at it like this: 'We have to be overachievers from the best player down all the way through the roster. What can I do more? How can I contribute more? If I'm not a shot-blocker, how do I block shots? If I don't take the body, how do I do that?'

"You've got to be willing to put your face in front of shots. You have to do more than you've ever thought possible. If you come into the playoffs with that kind of mentality, as an individual and as a team, that just gives you a chance."

And of all the analytics in the game today, there is no category that defines the size of a man's heart….

"It has to mean more to you than to the other guy across the ice. I did not want to lose. You know what I mean? Under any circumstance. I would do anything not to lose. That is a different kind of mindset than ‘I hope I'm going to win, I hope we're going to win,' and leaving it to chance.

"There's a reason why the Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy in sports to win. It's not easy. If you're going to win it, you're going to earn it. You're not going to back into it in a polite way."

Mark Messier on the set for a December 2023 "NHL on ESPN" telecast.

The 1983 movie "Trading Places" has Eddie Murphy's Billy Ray Valentine character in jail demonstrating karate moves to a few fellow prisoners, speaking of his "quart of blood technique," how just those moves would defeat an opponent without ever touching him. Your intensity is legendary. Were you aware that it was your "quart of blood technique," your steely glare a factor of intimidation?

"I realized that the game has to be played with emotion. There are a lot of really good players in the National Hockey League because of their skill set, but the intensity, the willingness to do whatever it took to win, separates a lot of players.

"I grew up in an era that was very focused on intimidation, watching the (Philadelphia) Flyers' Broad Street Bullies and the Boston Bruins fight their way to championships (in 1970 and 1972) … it was a culture I grew up with. Intimidation was a big part of the game.

"You had to fight for your ice. That's just the way the game was played when I was young. I developed that. I was either going to be pushed out of the League or I was going to stay in the League, and I wanted to stay. How was I going to do that? That becomes a test of will at times and I wasn't going to be the one who was pushed out."

From left: ESPN's Steve Levy and Mark Messier on set at Amalie Arena with Chris Chelios and Alex Ovechkin during the 2023 NHL All-Star Game in Tampa, Florida.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks have recently retired the numbers of Jaromir Jagr and Chris Chelios, who look like they could still play today. If you're their coach, how many minutes do you play them?

"Maybe I shouldn't say this, but I don't like the minute monitoring. I think the best players are underplayed. They're conditioned incredibly well. They can log many more minutes. I think the best players play their best when their engines are running hot and they're more involved in the game.

"I like when the best are killing penalties and involved in all facets of the game. I want my best player to be instrumentally involved in everything that's going on in the game, from last-minute face-offs to penalty-kill to power-play.

"I look at the great players who had the oxygen tanks and the conditioning to do it. I liked playing a lot myself. If I played 18 minutes in a game, it was like a walk in the park. If I wasn't around 23, 24 minutes, I didn't even feel like I was in the game.

"You can say the game today is more competitive, there's more balance, every game is hard. That may be true, but I think the players can be played more."

Mark Messier presents Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby with the 2010 Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas.

You're a general manager and you can choose a single player in today's NHL around whom you'll build your team. Who's that player?

"(Pause) It's hard not to say Sidney Crosby. Think about everything he's done on and off the ice. His focus, his commitment, his professionalism, his leadership, his willingness to take less money so the Penguins could build a team around him to win.

"Look at everything you'd want in a franchise player to lead a team to (the) Stanley Cup. He's checked every box, all along the way, and has never backed down from it, never complained. It's remarkable, actually, to have a player who came into the League with a tremendous amount of expectation then electrified the League with his speed and his power.

"Talk about a superstar who could have played in any era. I always say that Sidney Crosby is an electrifying open-ice player, but he's also probably the best corner man in the last 75 years. That is quite a combination. Then you talk about the leadership.

"Of course, there's Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon and Edmonton's Connor McDavid, guys who are showing much more maturity now, showing a willingness to learn how to win. But it's hard for me to get away from Sidney Crosby because of what I've been able to witness over his career."

Top photo: Mark Messier on the set of ESPN's The Point in December 2023.