Coffey was my favorite player in his early days, and I loved Gretzky too, so I saw a lot of Oilers games back then, in my teens.
Messier was often the most impactful player on the ice. He changed games in ways that don't show up on the stat sheet. He would check hard, pester, throw the opposition off their game. He played to win at all costs. Flames fans hated him and that made me smile.
When Coffey, then Gretzky left Edmonton, I still watched and the Oilers, and expected them to win the cup again because of Messier, Kurri and a couple of undrafteds I respected so much.
I saw little of Messier as a Ranger until the 1994 playoffs (other than games against the NYI and Devils, because MSG broadcasts of local rivalries were so entertaining).
As a Canucks fan, I loathed the Messier signing, raving like a madman that my friends should not cheer it, that it was not going to be good for Vancouver, I predicting that it would mean Linden gets shipped out (because that was Linden's team and i knew Messier's personality would not mesh - only Gretz would Mess defer to).
I have believed that Messier is top-10 all time. Researching history over the ATDs, I push that back to top-20.
He lacked creativity and his hockey sense was not on the level of many greats but with his strength, skating, stickhandling and shot, he was not at all handicapped. If Gretzky had never been in Edmonton, the city would still have two or three Stanley Cups, and Messier would have about 200 more goals scored because his role would have been different.
