Messier Situation in 97

[IggyFan12]

true enough. but after the horrendous playoffs messier had im sure smith wanted sakic more. the rangers offered messier 1 year at 4 million if im correct. nowhere near what was offered to sakic. im a diehard ranger and messier fan, but smith was looking towards the future unfortunately it didnt work out. had sakic come to ny, i feel the rangers would have remained contenders instead of falling apart.

Sakic comes to NYR and it completely rewrites history. Could you imagine how many goals he would get with his wrist shot and Wayne feeding him the puck?

 

[DaveG]

Didn't Carolina offer him the contract midway through the 1997-'98 season? Like February of 1998 or something? That's exactly when Detroit signed him. Detroit probably still matches, but it would have been a decent attempt to bring back that great Russian line. I don't think that Anna Kournikova had become the crappy tennis player that we all remember her for at that time. Wasn't Fedorov married to her briefly in like 2002 or so? And is this "feud" just another rumour that we just take as gospel now?

Yes, it was later in the season around January when the talks between the Canes and Fedorov started to leak. And the way that the contract was structured was a deliberate Karmanos "FU" to Ilitch. The bonuses were only good for that season, a season in which the Canes were essentially already out of the playoff mix in a damn tough division. While the Wings were looking likely to make it to the Conference Finals yet again, which they did. It was in Feb that the contract was actually signed and then matched by the Wings. Fedorov ended up playing more games in the playoffs then he did in the regular season.

So the possibility was there for the Nucks to sign Fedorov to an offer sheet early in that offseason had they desired to do so. Almost surprised that they didn't to be honest but then again who could have foreseen Messier's fall from grace like that. Hell, I remember the month he signed Hockey Digest's lead picture was of him in a Vancouver jersey with only the word "Messiah" as the headline.

 

[CharlestownChiefsESC]

Sakic comes to NYR and it completely rewrites history. Could you imagine how many goals he would get with his wrist shot and Wayne feeding him the puck?

powerplay would have been unstoppable.

 

[optimus2861]

My thoughts at the time were, "Wayne took a pay cut last summer just to come play with Mess, and now Mess can't do the same to stay there. Pity."

I've always wondered what Gretz really thought about Mess ditching the Rangers that summer. They had just gone to the semi-finals, could probably have made another good run the next season, but Mess just bails instead. Neither of them played another playoff game.

I'm sure Gretz said all the right things in public, but oh to be a fly on the wall for the first private conversation they had that summer..

 

[CharlestownChiefsESC]

I've always wondered what Gretz really thought about Mess ditching the Rangers that summer. They had just gone to the semi-finals, could probably have made another good run the next season, but Mess just bails instead. Neither of them played another playoff game.

I'm sure Gretz said all the right things in public, but oh to be a fly on the wall for the first private conversation they had that summer..

Gretzky had said that he would have never came to NY if he knew Messier would leave

 

[mrhockey193195]

I've always wondered what Gretz really thought about Mess ditching the Rangers that summer. They had just gone to the semi-finals, could probably have made another good run the next season, but Mess just bails instead. Neither of them played another playoff game.

I'm sure Gretz said all the right things in public, but oh to be a fly on the wall for the first private conversation they had that summer..

To be fair, my recollection was the management was lowballing Messier. Sure, no one should have expected a 5 year, $30 million contract coming Messier's way from the Rangers. But if I recall correctly, the Rangers refused to give Mark any type of multi-year deal. I couldn't really blame Mark for taking the offer from Vancouver, it was very clear that the Canucks wanted him more than the Rangers did.

It's probably the fanboy in me, but I still believe that if Messier signed with the Rangers, they would've done well the next couple of years and Messier would have retired without tarnishing his legacy like he did in Vancouver and NY-part-II. I still have not forgiven Checketts and Neil Smith for that.

 

[Steve Kournianos]

Dave Checketts was absolutely enamored with what Gretzky brought to the franchise, and after watching Gretzky be the best skater every night, they hedged their bets on Gretzky over Messier.

To this day, Neil Smith says it was an ownership decision and not a FO one. That's why they had that ridiculous "burying the hatchet" photo op at the press conference.

 

[seventieslord]

To be fair, my recollection was the management was lowballing Messier. Sure, no one should have expected a 5 year, $30 million contract coming Messier's way from the Rangers. But if I recall correctly, the Rangers refused to give Mark any type of multi-year deal. I couldn't really blame Mark for taking the offer from Vancouver, it was very clear that the Canucks wanted him more than the Rangers did.

It's probably the fanboy in me, but I still believe that if Messier signed with the Rangers, they would've done well the next couple of years and Messier would have retired without tarnishing his legacy like he did in Vancouver and NY-part-II. I still have not forgiven Checketts and Neil Smith for that.

wasn't it 3 years, and 18 mil?

 

[mrhockey193195]

wasn't it 3 years, and 18 mil?

I was just making up numbers, I wasn't trying to quote the actual contract he got from Vancouver. The point I was making was that Messier obviously didn't expect the Rangers to throw around a massive, 7 year deal or something ridiculous like that, but by the same token he had a right to be ticked when they wouldn't even give him more than a single year. Especially given that he still put up 80+ points the year before (true, he struggled through most of the playoffs, but he was pretty banged up).

 

[Steve Kournianos]

Dave Checketts was absolutely enamored with what Gretzky brought to the franchise, and after watching Gretzky be the best skater every night, they hedged their bets on Gretzky over Messier.

To this day, Neil Smith says it was an ownership decision and not a FO one. That's why they had that ridiculous "burying the hatchet" photo op at the press conference.

 

[MessRich11*]

"A" line or Legion of Doom

If you had to choose between one of the two lines which one would you choose?:
1) "A" Line (Arnott, Elias, Sykora)
2) Legion of Doom (Lindros, LeCLair, Renberg)