Mark John Douglas Messier (; born January 18, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. His playing career in the National Hockey League (NHL) lasted 25 seasons (1979–2004) with the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks. He also played professionally with the World Hockey Association (WHA)'s Indianapolis Racers and Cincinnati Stingers. He also played a short four-game stint in the original Central Hockey League (CHL) with the Houston Apollos in 1979. He was the last WHA player to be active in professional ice hockey and the last active player in any of the major North American professional sports leagues to have played in the 1970s. After his playing career, he was special assistant to the president and general manager of the Rangers.
Messier is considered one of the greatest ice hockey players of all time. He is second on the all-time list for playoff points (295) and third for regular season games played (1756) and regular season points (1887). He is a six-time Stanley Cup champion—five with the Oilers and one with the Rangers—and is the only player to captain two teams to Stanley Cup championships. His playoff leadership during his first stint with the Rangers, which ended a 54-year Stanley Cup drought in 1994, earned him the nickname "The Messiah", a play on his name. He was also known, throughout his career, as "The Moose" for his aggression and strength. He twice won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player, in 1990 and 1992 and in 1984 won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player during the playoffs. He was selected for the NHL All-Star Game sixteen times. In 2007, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, in his first year of eligibility. In 2017, Messier was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players" in history.
On June 30, 2017, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada by Governor General David Johnston for "contributions to hockey as an outstanding player and captain and for his leadership in encouraging children to take up the sport."
Messier was born in St. Albert, Alberta, the son of Mary-Jean (Dea) and Doug Messier. He was the second son and third child of four; his siblings are Paul, Mary-Kay and Jennifer. The Messier family moved to Portland, Oregon when Mark was young, where Doug played for the Portland Buckaroos of the minor pro Western Hockey League. The family returned to St. Albert in 1969 after Doug retired from hockey. Messier attended St. Francis Xavier High School in Edmonton as he played junior hockey where Doug was his coach and mentor for his early years.
Messier's brother Paul was drafted by the Colorado Rockies 41st overall in the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft, but he only played nine games with the club in 1978–79 before embarking on a long career in the German Eishockey-Bundesliga. Paul helps manage a hotel that Messier owns in Harbour Island, Bahamas. Messier's cousins Mitch and Joby also skated for NHL clubs. Joby was briefly Mark's teammate on the Rangers.
In 1976, Messier tried out for the junior Spruce Grove Mets of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), where his father, Doug Messier, was coaching. As Messier was only 15 (the age limit was 20), Doug did not expect him to make the team, though he was surprised and was added to the roster. Messier recorded 66 points in 57 games with the Mets in the 1976–77 season. The team, which relocated to St. Albert the following season and was renamed the St. Albert Saints, named Messier captain for 1977–78 and he scored 74 points in 54 games. After the season he joined the Portland Winterhawks of the major junior Western Hockey League (WHL) for the playoffs, appearing in 7 games and scoring 5 points.
Before the start of the 1978–79 season, Messier was looking for alternatives to another season with the Saints, as he felt he was too good for the AJHL. He was not interested in playing in the WHL, so he initially tried out for the Canadian Olympic team, which was preparing for the 1980 Winter Olympics. At the same time, Doug contacted his former junior teammate Pat Stapleton, who was coaching of the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association (WHA), who needed someone to replace another young player they had just traded, Wayne Gretzky. Doug called him and got Messier a contract to play hockey in Indianapolis for $30,000. However Messier only took a 5-game amateur tryout, as it would allow him to return to junior hockey if need be.
Messier played 13 games with the Saints to start the season, then joined the Racers on November 5 for his professional debut against the Winnipeg Jets. He played four games with the Racers, followed by a further two more with the Saints, before his final game with Indianapolis on November 28. Offered a longer contract, Messier held off on signing it, which proved fortuitous as the team folded on December 15; his only cheque from them bounced. Returning to the Saints, Messier played his final two games of junior hockey for them before he was signed by the Cincinnati Stingers, also of the WHA. Messier signed a contract for $35,000 to play the rest of the season with the Stingers. He scored his first professional goal on March 20, 1979, against Pat Riggin of the Birmingham Bulls. According to Stingers teammate Paul Stewart, the goal was accidental: “He flipped it in from near center ice and the puck took a bad bounce and went in the net. Messier had returned to the bench. He didn’t even know he had scored.” Messier played 47 games for the Stingers, tallying one goal and 10 assists.
The WHA folded after the conclusion of the 1978–79 season and four of the six remaining teams were admitted into the NHL; both the Stingers and the Bulls were not included in the merger and instead joined the minor Central Hockey League. The players were dispersed to teams that had already owned their NHL rights, or were allowed to enter the 1979 NHL entry draft; being under 20 years old, Messier was eligible for the draft and was selected in the third round, 48th overall, by the Edmonton Oilers. He refused the Oilers' initial contract offers, a four-year two-way contract or one year at $20,000 plus an option for a second year, instead wanting four years at $50,000 per year, but ultimately signed what the Oilers offered.
During his first year in the NHL, Messier had several discipline issues and at the end of October, he missed a team flight and was subsequently reassigned to their CHL affiliate, the Houston Apollos, for four games. On returning to Edmonton, Messier moved back in with his parents, living at their St. Albert home.
For most of Messier's tenure with the Oilers, he played on a line with Glenn Anderson. Messier was a fierce, tough competitor whose intense leadership in the dressing room was as important as the goals he scored on the ice. He was not initially known as a scorer, but his offensive numbers increased steadily over his first few years with the Oilers. In 1981–82, he registered his only 50-goal season. In the 1982 playoffs, the Oilers lost to the underdog Los Angeles Kings in five games; during game three (nicknamed the "Miracle on Manchester") which went to overtime after the Kings completed a comeback from being down 5–0, Messier missed a wide-open net when goaltender Mario Lessard was out of position, then Messier lost a face-off to Doug Smith who setup Daryl Evans for the sudden-death winning goal.
Initially a left-winger (he was named to the NHL First All-Star Team in 1982–83 on the left wing), Messier switched to centre in the 1984 playoffs and the results were spectacular. Advancing to the 1984 Final to earn a rematch with the four-time defending champion New York Islanders, the Oilers had trouble scoring in games 1 and 2, a 1–0 win and a 6–1 loss, respectively, although the Oilers still managed to split the games thanks to the physicality of Messier and Kevin McClelland. In game three, with his Oilers trailing the Islanders 2–1, it was Messier beating the defensive pair of Denis Potvin and Gord Dineen to score on on a brilliant end-to-end rush that not only tied the game, but sparked a 7–2 victory for the Oilers to give them a 2–1 series lead, thus Messier's goal was considered the turning point in the series. The Oilers went on to win games 4 and 5 by scores of 7–2 and 5–2, respectively and where Wayne Gretzky scored his first goals of the series, to capture their first Stanley Cup. Messier was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs.