Messier Discusses Rangers, Leadership Award

The Mark Messier Leadership Award will be handed out with the other NHL awards this June in Las Vegas.  Mark was in Los Angeles to talk about the award — and to take in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals with former teammate Wayne Gretzky.  Messier spoke about the award and about the New York Rangers.

On the Mark Messier Leadership Award

Nominated are captains Dustin Brown of the Kings, Shane Doan of the Coyotes, and Ryan Callahan of the Rangers.  “[These are] three players that have had incredible seasons on the ice, leading their teams to tremendous successes throughout the entire season and in the playoffs.  Their work in the communities are incredible.  The professionalism they’ve all displayed on and off the ice in their communities, raising awareness with the children, for their individual charities, is very inspiring, as I said.”

On the Rangers:

“I think the Rangers, obviously we’re very proud of the team.  I think the last three years have been a real bright spot for the team and the organization.  I think Glen has really done a good job of getting some key people in the right spots. “

“I think the year we had this year is a culmination of a lot of hard work over the last couple years.  I can say it because, you know, the coaching staff, but I know the coaching staff was unbelievably proud of the team, of the way they played this year from start to finish. “

“I think going forward now, you can’t quantify how important it is for these players to play this kind of playoff hockey for this long a period of time, to feel what it’s like to play that deep in the playoffs, the fatigue, the upsets, the disappointments, then you have to climb back.  Those are hard lessons to learn unless you’ve actually experienced them. So, from that standpoint, our team has really taken a major leap forward this year of figuring really what it takes to win.  Moving forward, as you can see, the teams that go on to win the Stanley Cup seem to get stronger as the playoff series go on.  That’s a testimony to the depth they have in the organization there.”

“So for us this year, you know, the key thing will be to try to add to our depth so we don’t have to use as many players as much as we did, and we can continue to keep our strength, barring any serious injuries obviously, a huge factor going forward, the less chance you have of wearing players down, getting injuries.  Of course, the [Marian Gaborik shoulder] injury.”

“I don’t think there’s one player that should have left our camp this year disappointed with the year that we had.  There’s a tremendous amount of pressure on players to score goals in the playoffs, especially for the offensive guys.  I’ve been there myself.  I’ve been successful at times, and I’ve been unsuccessful at times.  There’s a lot of pressure. They don’t make it easy for the star players to score goals.  That’s why you need depth scoring.  Hopefully those players give you some timely goals along the way. “

“Marian Gaborik is 10 times the hockey player he was when he came to the New York Rangers three years ago.  He continues to improve, he continues to want to improve.  He was proud of the way he played. “