Mark Messier Quotes (75 Quotes)

I don't think any one individual can stand alone.

He's been playing on it. It wasn't getting enough time to heal.

I think to compare any time you win a Stanley Cup would be unfair to all the players from all the teams.

It's the best we've seen here, maybe ever. He's dominating the game. He's been consistent, he's led the team, he's done everything you could ask for from a star player.

I've always planned to be involved in the game, ... But I don't know in what capacity at this time. I'm going to be open to offers and suggestions and see what fits best.

Having lived in New York for 10-plus years, it becomes a part of you, ... I love the city and I love the team and what we were able to do. Obviously, that's a good fit for me.

I thought with the impending lockout that it was quite possibly my last game, ... I feel extremely grateful to have played it in New York for those great fans.

A big part of me felt like I had had enough, achieved as much as I could achieve and I didn't feel there was a lot more for me to play for, ... Hockey Night in Canada.

I knew all the past history of the teams in New York ... but I don't think anything can really prepare you for going to play in New York until you get there. I felt that I was fairly confident in what it took to win a Stanley Cup.

As a captain, I think it's important that the players really know who you are and what you stand for, what your beliefs are, and to be consistent in those if things are going good or things are going bad.

Obviously every one of them was special to that particular team, all the people that were involved with it.

When I did play the most important thing for me was to win. And maybe winning just wasn't as important as it once was and I think once I really came to terms with that, that was kind of the deciding factor for me.

I think that may be the only disappointment for me, ... But I've had so many good things happen during the playoffs that I think that feeling will diminish over time. But the last four years in New York was a big disappointment.

I'm looking at it, I guess, as a celebration. Can't you tell I'm celebrating

Coaching really is an individual philosophy.

I just feel really good about the decision, ... I've had a year and a half to think about it. . . . It's the right thing to do.

I never thought about any individual records. Coming back to break any records, especially that record, wasn't all that appealing to me.

I was assistant in Edmonton with Wayne as captain, and Kevin Lowe was the other assistant.

All I was thinking was to try to figure out a way how to make the players believe that I believed that we were going to win.

I think anybody that is one of the best players in the world, in my opinion anyway, has to have all the things that go along with that.

When I first started, anybody that was 30 years old was basically pretty much finished as far as being a hockey player was concerned.

I played with a lot of great players before. They're all the same. They take a lot of responsibility for their own play, put a lot of pressure on themselves to perform and to play well.

I think now what you're seeing is guys that are in the peaks of their careers anywhere from 27 to 35 years old, seems to be when they play their best hockey.

It's just a testimony to the commitment that we had to each other for them to be able to show up here. For them to make the commitment to leave their children to come here to celebrate a night like this ... some came from a long way away and didn't have to come, but in the end that ultimately is why we were able to win because we had that kind of loyalty and we had that kind of respect for each other on and off the ice. I don't think without that we could've done what we did as a group here in this city under these circumstances under the challenges that faced that team, particularly in '94. There was unbelievable character in that dressing room. That was the only reason we were able to win.

There was a time there in the mid '80s to the '90s there that we played six finals, three Canada Cups, we were playing hockey almost 10 months a year for a long time there.