Why do you think Messier rarely had opponents retaliate against him?

[Anton13]

Messier cheapshots the wrong guy. Unfortunately the linesmen jump in and Marty loses balance..

 

[Big Phil]

Messier cheapshots the wrong guy. Unfortunately the linesmen jump in and Marty loses balance..

Marty shellacked him there. I wonder what these two said to each other off of the ice. I am guessing they stayed friends, although they sure hated each other ON the ice. Hockey in the 1990s and before.............good friends could have a serious fight on the ice and not share each other's post on Facebook.

I remember Bill Watters was on Sportsnet as an analyst and when Messier speared Martin Strbak in the groin in 2004 he commented that the reason Messier does this stuff is because "he could never fight his way out of a wet paper bag."

Another interesting thing, Messier got suspended 2 games for that. But since his old buddy Colin Campbell was the NHL's disciplinarian back then the idea was that since Messier was almost certainly retiring he was going to get a small suspension so he could finish the season, and he did as he came back after his suspension and played one more game. In any other situation he probably gets more games. Wade Belak, who was suspended 8 games around the same time, had an issue with that because as he stated he didn't mean to slash his opponent (he said it was because he was falling or something like that, I didn't buy it 100% either) but that you can spear a guy and get off the hook. That was in relation to Messier.

 

[The Panther]

That particular Messier-McSorley interaction is kind of a non-starter, of little consequence (is that c.2000?).

The meaningful Messier-McSorley one was, I think, in 1989-90. The Oilers had been bounced by L.A. the previous season, and there was a game in mid-1989-90, during which I think the Kings/Oilers set a bunch of records for most penalty minutes, where Messier went at it with McSorley. McSorley naturally was a better fighter (and 25 lbs. heavier than Messier) and, all things being equal, would do better in their scraps. But it didn't matter. What mattered to the Edmonton team in that season was that their captain and leading scorer (and League MVP) went at it with McSorley. In those days if your best player fought a League heavyweight it sent a major signal to the team. It's not a coincidence that Edmonton swept L.A. in the playoffs that followed.

(Incidentally, Phil is correct and Messier/McSorley are good friends. When McSorley moved to Edmonton in 1985, he lived at Messier's house for a while until he got his own place.)

 

[streitz]

(Incidentally, Phil is correct and Messier/McSorley are good friends. When McSorley moved to Edmonton in 1985, he lived at Messier's house for a while until he got his own place.)

Just curious how do you know this? Do you know either of them in real life?

 

[The Panther]

Just curious how do you know this? Do you know either of them in real life?

Ha, no I don't know them, unfortunately!

I saw McSorley talking about this in an interview recently. I think it's somewhere on YouTube...

 

[sr edler]

I got Mark Messier's autograph once on a hockey card when he was in Sweden playing with that dumb all-star team in Stockholm (94–95 lockout). It got chipped though, so I tossed it, and I haven't regretted it once. I was 13 at the time and probably hadn't gotten over the loss yet (94 finals). One annoying thing I remember from that occurrence is a grown up man (a Messier fan) in the same lower row stands as we were lurking in repeatedly calling Messier "Messayer", and raving on about his awesomeness. I mean I was 13, and probably not that good at English (or French), but even I understood that's not how you pronounce his name. The guy seemed like a man child to my younger self.

 

[Big Phil]

That particular Messier-McSorley interaction is kind of a non-starter, of little consequence (is that c.2000?).

Just taking a guess here, but Messier left the Rangers after 1997. Robitaille is on the Rangers in 1997 too and he's on the ice. That was the only time they played together on the Rangers.

 

[The Panther]

Just taking a guess here, but Messier left the Rangers after 1997. Robitaille is on the Rangers in 1997 too and he's on the ice. That was the only time they played together on the Rangers.

I see. Well, circa '97 Messier still had a pulse.

 

[billybudd]

Messier was a psycho. You don't play the escalation game with a psycho.

 

[Hanji]

I know some people will post the video of Messier and Robinson in 1981 jarring with each other. Messier showing he wanted no part of Robinson but still swinging his stick at him. Here it is:

So there is that, but why doesn't Robinson just drop him there? He's a 20 year old kid against a wily veteran. What stopped Robinson from fighting him there? I think most of us take Robinson in a fight vs. Messier. Maybe Robinson was thinking about the score of the game, who knows, the Habs lost that series convincingly.

What stopped Robinson from giving Messier a beat-down? Probably, as you alluded to, he realized Messier wanted no part of him. Despite Messier's stick-swinging bravado, he was very keen on keeping his distance from the Big Bird. Jumping Messier would've been out of character for Robinson.

 

[Big Phil]

What stopped Robinson from giving Messier a beat-down? Probably, as you alluded to, he realized Messier wanted no part of him. Despite Messier's stick-swinging bravado, he was very keen on keeping his distance from the Big Bird. Jumping Messier would've been out of character for Robinson.

True enough. Robinson was more of a police officer at times. Usually his presence was enough to calm things down. Let's just say it didn't look like either of them wanted a piece of each other.

 

[Big Phil]

Here is an example of something a normal man would be mocked over...............but not Messier.

We all know Messier is an emotional man. He admits this himself. He doesn't hide the fact that he will publicly cry a lot. He will do this at certain ceremonies, like his number getting retired, etc. He even joked that he himself wondered how long it would take before he started crying.

Other than Chuck Norris, who else would get a pass like this? Who else gets the treatment of: "Yeah he's crying, but it's alright because we know he's a man's man already." No one else gets this. Imagine Crosby crying publicly..............it would explode the internet with memes.

 

[VanIslander]

Because the retaliation wouldn't be worth the dirty revenge tactics that'd follow.

 

[The Panther]

Let's face it -- the real answer to all these question is simply Messier's sheer awesomeness.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Let's face it -- the real answer to all these question is simply Messier's sheer awesomeness.

That's a good one.