Mark Messier Night (1/12/2006)

[richter915]

Tonight, January 12th 2006, the New York Rangers are officially retiring Mark Messier's #11. It's set to be a legendary and emotional filled night. The Captain is like no other I've seen in recent sports...no other Captain has been able to do what Messier has done. He's made hockey fans out of haters and non-believers...the man can fucking turn water into wine.

Give respect to The Captain.

[bigmike]

the second most underrated hockey player, ever.

[richter915]

the second most underrated hockey player, ever.
definitely underrated...most of the respect he gets is cause he was buddy buddy with Gretzky.

All I'm saying is it takes a lot of NYers to like someone, he made us fall in love with him in less than two years.

[bigmike]

oh, i know. I loved watching him play. he never get's enough credit for what he did sans gretzky.

[aminorthreat55]

My favorite underrated player is Ronny Francis. Love him.

[bigmike]

I think it's:

1. Marcel Dionne -- people forget he's the 5th leading scorer in nhl history.
2. Mark Messier -- people don't give him enough credit for his career sans gretzky.
3. Ron Francis -- people just forget how great of a player he was.

but really, none of them get enough credit.

[richter915]

Jari Kurri is underrated.

[dont you move]

my friend has an extra ticket that has my name on it

if only i didn't have work, i'd go.

[btbam > you]

i cant wait to watch this tonight

[kg00d]

Makes it even greater that there hosting the oilers.

[xRevengeISeekx]

pat Lafontaine is underated

[richter915]

i cant wait to watch this tonight
I think I'm gonna tape it.

[richter915]

Makes it even greater that there hosting the oilers.
I think that was kinda the point...his two teams. no one cares for his little venture to the canucks.

[btbam > you]

I think I'm gonna tape it.


yea, i'm gonna tivo it and save it. i have the paul coffey retirement ceremony saved from earlier this season too

[mikeford]

UNDERRATED?

WHAT?

I think you meant to say 2nd most OVERRATED player ever.

I was just thinking about how everyone kisses Mark Messiers chrome dome over what a leader he was. I think that's kinda bullshit. The two teams he captained weren't exactly rag tag bunches of jobbers in search of a leader.

-the Oilers were coming off a decade of absolute domination and still had guys like Jari Kurri, Glenn Anderson, Craig Muni- mainstays from the cup years. 5 30 goal scorers and one more with 29. Not exactly a team lacking in firepower. What does it take to lead a team of players like that? nothing! And don't forget, the guy running the show John Muckler was with the Oilers throughout the dynasty as an assistant.

- the New York Rangers were't exactly the same deal, but were certainly a team full of veteran guys, several of whom were Oilers in the previous decade. Add in some young legs like Brian Leetch, Zubov and Kovalev and you've got yourself a good team, but where is the leadership? In Mike Keenan's pinky finger. You may remember him from when he, Tim Kerr and Ron Hextall took an otherwise average Flyers team to game 7 of the finals in the 80s. The real boss in 94 was Keenan, not Messier.

It all fell apart results wise for Messier after that. Remember when the Canucks brought him in to provide veteran leadership in the late 90's? That worked... Horribly. 3 years in the cellar of their division. and thats with Mogilny, Naslund, Bure, etc around. Where was the magic touch then?

For a guy respected as such a leader, he sorta suffers from a case of incredible supporting casts and great coaches. I'm not impressed. Give me Jean Beliveau's 5 cups in 10 years over Messier any day.

[mikeford]

ronny franchise is the #1 underrated player.

his numbers speak for themselves but barely anyone knows who he was or who he played for.

[leafsacc]

Mark Messier was one the best players on the Rangers even in his final few years, which, even though they were terrible teams, still says a lot. IT was pretty disappointing that he couldn't lead any teams to the playoffs at the end of his career, but he deserves a lot of respect and I'm sure the organization and the fans will make this a great night for him. They've done a good job of putting on ceremonies the last few years, if not winning teams.

[leafsacc]

wow, that was amazing. I got chills when his number was raised.

[marrost]

Haha Christopher Reeve's wive singing was just horrible. As a matter of fact, I didn't understand most of the music they were playing. Hopefully the Rangers kick some ass tonight.

[weezer182]

Remember when the Canucks brought him in to provide veteran leadership in the late 90's? That worked... Horribly. 3 years in the cellar of their division. and thats with Mogilny, Naslund, Bure, etc around. Where was the magic touch then?

i was listening to a vancouver sports talk radio station this morning driving to school and a lot of people in vancouver are still pissed at that . they said he basically dogged it when he came to vancouver.

[richter915]

i was listening to a vancouver sports talk radio station this morning driving to school and a lot of people in vancouver are still pissed at that . they said he basically dogged it when he came to vancouver.
and he flat out didn't give a shit about vancouver..let's see...three years before this you work with your team to beat these guys in the stanley cup finals, and now they want you to lead them? it's not gonna happen...why Vancouver tried that was just dumb. He loves NY, he says so himself all the time...best place in the world and he wanted to play in NY...he had no desire to play in Vancouver.

[weezer182]

and he flat out didn't give a shit about vancouver..let's see...three years before this you work with your team to beat these guys in the stanley cup finals, and now they want you to lead them? it's not gonna happen...why Vancouver tried that was just dumb. He loves NY, he says so himself all the time...best place in the world and he wanted to play in NY...he had no desire to play in Vancouver.just telling you how people in vancouver feel

[richter915]

just telling you how people in vancouver feel
oh that comment wasn't directed at you...it's more towards the fans there who think he shoulda done something. You can't just pick a guy and expect him to lead a team outta nowhere.

[weezer182]

oh that comment wasn't directed at you...it's more towards the fans there who think he shoulda done something. You can't just pick a guy and expect him to lead a team outta nowhere. agreed

[bigmike]

ronny franchise is the #1 underrated player.

his numbers speak for themselves but barely anyone knows who he was or who he played for.

Marcel Dionne, i think, is more underrated than Ron Francis, though it can be debated each way.

[dont you move]

scott niedermeyer used to be the most underrated player.
until he decided to be gay with his brother.

[bigmike]

scott niedermeyer used to be the most underrated player.
until he decided to be gay with his brother.

Not the most underrated of all time.

[bigmike]

UNDERRATED?

WHAT?

I think you meant to say 2nd most OVERRATED player ever.

I was just thinking about how everyone kisses Mark Messiers chrome dome over what a leader he was. I think that's kinda bullshit. The two teams he captained weren't exactly rag tag bunches of jobbers in search of a leader.

-the Oilers were coming off a decade of absolute domination and still had guys like Jari Kurri, Glenn Anderson, Craig Muni- mainstays from the cup years. 5 30 goal scorers and one more with 29. Not exactly a team lacking in firepower. What does it take to lead a team of players like that? nothing! And don't forget, the guy running the show John Muckler was with the Oilers throughout the dynasty as an assistant.

- the New York Rangers were't exactly the same deal, but were certainly a team full of veteran guys, several of whom were Oilers in the previous decade. Add in some young legs like Brian Leetch, Zubov and Kovalev and you've got yourself a good team, but where is the leadership? In Mike Keenan's pinky finger. You may remember him from when he, Tim Kerr and Ron Hextall took an otherwise average Flyers team to game 7 of the finals in the 80s. The real boss in 94 was Keenan, not Messier.

It all fell apart results wise for Messier after that. Remember when the Canucks brought him in to provide veteran leadership in the late 90's? That worked... Horribly. 3 years in the cellar of their division. and thats with Mogilny, Naslund, Bure, etc around. Where was the magic touch then?

For a guy respected as such a leader, he sorta suffers from a case of incredible supporting casts and great coaches. I'm not impressed. Give me Jean Beliveau's 5 cups in 10 years over Messier any day.

Besides, there's really no great leader that gets any respect for "being a leader" without winning, and you really don't win with out a good supporting cast. is Gretzky any less of a player because he played on those Edmonton teams? no. Is mario Lemiux any less great because he played with Jagr and Ron Francis? no.

You don't get recognition unless you win. and you rarely, rarely win without a somewhat solid supporting cast. so to penalize Messier's legacy because he happened to play with great players doesn't make sense, to me at least.

[richter915]

will Keenan was obviously the missing part of the team...he came in and they won, it doesn't surprise me. I think that missing either part of the formula would have been disastrous for the Rangers. They wouldn't have won without either...but does that mean Messier should get any less respect? of course not...and you should also consider all his accomplishments before saying anything...it's not like he doesn't deserve the recognition. Being second in point totals...passing the great gordie howe in less games...that means nothing? come on!

[notetoxself]

he will be forever in the minds and hearts of players and fans to follow... he will be missed by me

[Caleb Cattivera]

not a huge hockey fan...i could probably name 20 or 30 players that have ever played...

but i know messier was the shit...i even bought a starting lineup(remember those?)of messier way back when.

glad to see him getting his banner raised.

[richter915]

I have most the ceremony (up through Richter's speech) on tape...I was watching it last night before bed, very emotional. Al Trottweg did a great job commentating and props to JD for hosting the whole thing.

[jpgretzky15]

why was JD booed?

[Broken Parachute]

Amazing night. The whole video with Leetch was great. Nobody thought Alexei Kovalev was gonna come, he hopped on a flight 7AM the morning before after his game in Montreal. And yes I'm almost certain they made sure they played Edmonton when they did this..after all MacTavish is the coach of Edmonton and played with Messier for awhile and Messier did win 5 cups with the Oilers. Anyway, very emotional night..really great. The win in OT was even better to cap it all off. It's a shame Gretzky couldn't be there but everyone understood I think.

Forget booing JD, why did people boo Essa Tikanen in the pregame show? Haha.

And..does anyone think Jeff Beukaboom's hair looks retarded. Haha.