Mark Messier captained the last New York Rangers team to win the Stanley Cup, and when he joined Moose & Maggie on WFAN Friday, he had an idea of what it will take for this one to take the same path up the Canyon of Heroes.
“You hope every team has the opportunity to come together and put it all together and play for each other. Without that no team can ever win; if you don’t come together, a championship will never fall,” Messier said.
“Always, my hope is that players get to experience what we did. It’s life-changing. If you can surrender to that idea and forget about all the noise, that’s what the game is all about. That’s where the magic happens.”
Messier played against new Rangers coach Gerard Gallant during his time in the NHL, and while The Captain himself was a potential contender for the job, he thinks the Blueshirts made a “great” hire.
“I like him a lot, and he was a solid, honest, tough winger when I played against him. His communication is simple with the players: he lets everyone know where they stand, and what’s expected,” Messier said. “They might not like it, but that’s up to them to figure it out, and he gives them the chance to figure out if they can play under those terms and in the roles he wants. It may not happen overnight, but ultimately, the coach makes the decisions.”
Messier knows the Rangers will be a gritty team under Gallant, but also knows it will take some of their skill players to pick up that grit as well to be successful.
“I would’ve hated to see the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980s without some of those tougher guys, but the one thing we had on top of that was our skill players were super gritty and would play in tough situations,” Messier said. “They ultimately, in tough situations, have to get their noses dirty. I don’t think any team that’s serious about winning a title can be pushed out of a game, no matter what.”
And if the fans start booing, like they did with the Mets this year, well, Messier has a little advice.
“They’re not booing the person, they’re booing the performance. If you look at it as they’re booing you as a person, that’s where the confusion happens,” Messier said. “When you play sports, you are vulnerable to ridicule if you’re not performing to the level of expectations, but you can’t take it personally. When that happens, you cross that line and it’s hard to come back. Sports is about emotions and fans love players who play with emotions, but you’re going to have good and bad days, and you have to be able to handle the bad days. In the end, your play will determine the outcome. Concentrate on performance, not on what’s going on around you.”
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