Mark Messier
Mark Douglas John Messier ( born January 18, 1961 in Edmonton, Alberta ) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player who with 1,887 points ( 694 goals and 1,193 assists) to Wayne Gretzky 's second best scorer of all time for the National Hockey League was and six Stanley Cups won, five with the Edmonton Oilers, one with the New York Rangers, he is the only player who was captain at two different Stanley Cup winners, both teams no longer awarded his shirt number. His playing career lasted from 1978 to 2004, he won two Hart trophies ( MVP season ) and Conn Smythe Trophy one ( Stanley Cup MVP).
- 3.1 International
Career
After a meaningless season in 1979 set WHA (World Hockey Association ), he was selected in the NHL Entry Draft in 1979 until the third round as 48th by the Edmonton Oilers, who had also moved from the WHA to the NHL. The Oilers were the dominant team of the eighties, the legend Gretzky played by storm with Jari Kurri and Messier, plus there was the superior defender Paul Coffey, Messier won with Gretzky and Kurri four Stanley Cups, but standing in her shadow. After the surprising trade of Gretzky to Los Angeles in 1988, he showed how good he really is and the Oilers won the Cup in 1990 again.
In 1991 he went to New York. He was captain of the New York Rangers, who were faced with the departure of the Eastern Conference finals in 1994. Mark Messier promised in the media that his team will win the next game, which actually succeeded. He achieved even in the last third of three goals in a row, making a two - goal deficit could be made up. The Rangers eventually won for the first time after 54 years again the Stanley Cup and Mark Messier scored the decisive goal in the seventh and final game.
1997 - 2000 he played with the Vancouver Canucks, then until the end of 2004 career at Rangers.
Mark Messier was famous for his extraordinary leadership, his determination, his will to win and the ability to entrain his team, especially in the play-offs. So he applied for example by a spectacular individual performance in Game 3 Stanley Cup final in 1984, when his Edmonton Oilers were back against the New York Islanders with a gate. In this year he was, and not about Wayne Gretzky, the MVP ( most valuable player ) selected the play-offs.
Hockey was already laid him in the cradle, while his father Doug never played in the NHL, but was his mentor and patron in his early years and later worked as a coach among other things, when Schwenningen ERC in the first ice hockey league. His older brother Paul Messier played among others some games for the Colorado Rockies in the NHL and changed a few years later also to Germany, where he played one year for the ECD Iserlohn and after six years with the Mannheimer ERC. Marks cousins Mitch and Joby Messier also played in the NHL.
In November 2006, the Mark Messier Leadership Award was created by the NHL. He is monthly ( annually since 2007 ) is awarded to the player who stood out by leadership. The NHL Messier dedicated the award because he is considered one of the greatest leaders in the NHL. Mark Messier selected along with the NHL from the winners themselves.
Mark Messier was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 12, 2007.
After end of his career he worked as a radio and television commentator. In addition, a point was given as assistant manager at the New York Rangers. In 2010 he was designated as coach of the Canadian national team in the Germany Cup and the Spengler Cup.
Awards and achievements
Internationally
Career Stats
Internationally
Represented Canada at:
- Canada Cup 1984
- Canada Cup 1987
- Canada Cup 1991
- World Cup 1989
- World Cup of Hockey 1996
Represented National Hockey League at:
- Rendez -vous '87
( Key to Career statistics: Sp or GP = Games Played, T or G = goals scored, V or A = achieved assists; Pts or Pts = scored points scorer, SM or PIM = received penalty minutes, / - = Plus / Minus balance sheet; PP = scored majority gates; SH = scored shorthanded goals, GW = achieved victory gates; Play-downs/Relegation 1 )