Mark Messier
Hockey Athlete - Inducted 2006
Mark Messier became the most dominating two-way player in hockey since Gordie Howe and is now considered the greatest leader in all of sports. Playing left-wing or center, Mark’s brute strength, strong skating skills, and accurate wrist shot were an intimidating force when he stepped on the ice. His friends called him ‘Mess’, everybody else called him ’Moose’. He finished his NHL career ranked 2nd in all-time scoring with 1,877 points (694 goals and 1,193 assists): 1,910 penalty minutes in 1,756 regular-season games. He holds the record for most NHL regular season and playoff season games played at 1,992. He is the only man to captain two different teams to Stanley Cup Championships, winning six in total.
Mark’s career began with a five-game tryout for the WHA Indianapolis Racers in 1978. He was selected 48th overall in the NHL entry draft by the Edmonton Oilers. Mark would become an integral part of the Oiler's domination during the 1980s -1990 and five Stanley Cup victories.
Mark Messier was traded to the New York Rangers in 1991, the Vancouver Canucks in 1997, and back to New York Rangers in 2000. He played his last game in the NHL on March 31, 2004.
During the Rangers' run for the Stanley Cup, Messier had a natural hat trick in game six of the conference final, and he scored the winning goal in game seven of the Stanley Cup Final as he led the New York Rangers to their first Stanley Cup victory in 54 years.
Mark Messier was the Conn Smythe Trophy winner in 1984 when the Oilers won their first Stanley Cup. Twice he received the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Trophy, both in 1990 and 1992. He played in fifteen NHL All-Star Games and was named a First Team All-Star in 1982, 1983, 1990, and 1992, and a Second Team All-Star in 1984.
After Induction
Timeline:
2006 - New York Rangers retired his #11 jersey (Jan.12)
2006/07 – The Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award was created and first handed out in 2007.
2007 - Part of the St. Albert Trail was renamed the Mark Messier Trail (Feb. 26)
2007 - Edmonton Oilers retired his #11 jersey (Feb. 27)
2007 - Hockey Hall of Fame
2009 - Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
2009 - New York Rangers named him special assistant to president and general manager (Glen Sather) (Aug. 16).
2010 - Messier coached Team Canada at the Deutschland Cup and the Spengler Cup in Europe.
2010 – World Hockey Association Hall of Fame inductee – Legends of the Game category.
2011 - Mark ran in the New York City Marathon (Nov.) finishing in 4:14:21.
201-2 NHL Winter Classic Alumni Game with the NY Rangers (vs. Philadelphia). (Dec. 31, 2011).
2013 - Order of Hockey (receives April 2013, named to the Order in Dec. 2012)
2013 - Mark resigned as special assistant to President/GM Glen Sather and the New York Rangers in to join the effort to develop the Kingsbridge National Ice Center in the Bronx. In August, he teamed up with Bauer and Hockey Canada to help bring new players to hockey with their "Grow the Game" program.
2017 – Voted to the NHL’s Top 100 List 2017 –
2017- Order of Canada appointment announced on June 30, 2017. Ceremony May 10, 2018.
2018 – “NHL’s Greatest Team 1984-85 Edmonton Oilers” - In Edmonton for the February 11, 2018 celebration and reunion at Rogers Place
2019 – Canada’s Walk of Fame inductee – announcement July 18, 2019; Ceremony Nov. 2019.
