Mark Messier came to the New York Rangers in 1991 Youth Matt Nieto Jersey , he knew he was expected to lead the team to its first Stanley Cup championship in more than 50 years.¡°There was no escaping the pressure of 1940,¡± Messier said about the last year the Rangers had won the Cup. ¡°Coming here and understanding what the Original Six franchise was and this history, there was no escaping it. The pressure was real, from the fans, the organization.¡±Messier accomplished the task in 1994 as the Rangers ended their 54-year title drought by outlasting the Vancouver Canucks in seven games in the Stanley Cup Final. Honored with a parade in the Canyon of Heroes in lower Manhattan that June, the players from that team were back at Madison Square Garden on Friday night to celebrate the 25-year anniversary.¡°When you are in New York, not a day goes by that you don¡¯t run into someone that you get reminded, get smiles,¡± Adam Graves said before the ceremony that preceded the Rangers¡¯ game against Carolina. ¡°Back then you never thought you¡¯d be impacting the way we have been, it is very special.¡±From general manager Neil Smith, coach Mike Keenan, to stars Messier, Brian Leetch Mikko Rantanen Jersey , Mike Richter, Craig MacTavish and Stephane Matteau, each were introduced one by one to a rousing ovation. The only absences from the group were Alexander Karpovtsev, who was killed along with most of the KHL Lokomotiv team in a plane crash in 2011, and Brian Noonan, who was said to have a prior commitment.Messier said he¡¯s been approached by countless people over since who thanked him and claimed to have witnessed the Game 7 win in New York.¡°I didn¡¯t realize Madison Square Garden holds 2 million people,¡± he joked, ¡°because I¡¯ve talked to 2 million people over 25 years that were here that night. That¡¯s been interesting. It never gets old ¡­ never get tired of speaking with people on the street or in the subway or trains, or taxi drivers that recognize the guys or myself and thank us for the Cup.¡±Messier is also remembered for his famous for his declaration before Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals against New Jersey when, with the Rangers trailing 3-2 in the series, he guaranteed the team would win Game 6.Messier said he was simply trying to let his teammates know he believed in the team.¡°I really felt we could go into New Jersey and win, and I wanted the guys to know it,¡± he said. ¡°The papers the next day were what they were. It wasn¡¯t going to motivate New Jersey any more.¡±Leetch said the team chuckled when they saw Messier¡¯s Game 6 guarantee in the papers Nathan MacKinnon Jersey , and it didn¡¯t change anything about their preparation for that game.¡°Just was kind of a light-hearted thing to remember that we¡¯re in New York, everything gets magnified,¡± Leetch said. ¡°One comment gets turned into a guarantee. It was something for a little bit that we had a laugh about¡±.Messier then backed up his words with a hat trick in the third period to rally the Rangers to a 4-2 win.¡°He¡¯s always done things his whole career,¡± Leetch said. ¡°He¡¯s been a part of a lot of big moments and rises to occasions in big games, but the fact he did that here in New York when it was on the front and back pages, we still shake our heads at it that he was the guy to do it in that game.¡±The Rangers then won Game 7 on Matteau¡¯s goal in double-overtime.They lost the opening game in the championship series against the Canucks despite having a big advantage on shots, then won three straight to get to the cusp of ending their long drought before being forced to the deciding game.¡°I remember saying we should have won this series four straight,¡± Messier said. ¡°Coming back and losing Game 5 and 6 and then we¡¯re back in another Game 7.¡±Then, Messier came through again, giving the Rangers a two-goal lead that stood as the winner to deliver the franchise and the city the long-awaited title he had been brought in to get.¡°When Mark came across the ice to celebrate the Stanley Cup victory and handed it to me and I looked it over, the first thing that came to my mind is I can¡¯t believe how difficult this trophy is to win,¡± said Keenan, who said he is doing well after his treatment for prostate cancer last year. ¡°As now time passes Authentic Alexander Wennberg Jersey , 25 years later, that endorsement of how difficult it is stands even more in my mind.¡±Difficult indeed, as the championship in 1994 remains the Rangers¡¯ only title in the last 79 years. The Montreal Canadiens are off to an unexpectedly good start this season with a 4-1-2 record but are facing their first bit of adversity as they prepare to host the Calgary Flames at Bell Centre on Tuesday.The Canadiens twice blew two-goal leads and ultimately lost 4-3 in overtime Saturday to the Ottawa Senators, another early-season surprise. ¡°You have to learn from losses,¡± Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher told montrealcanadiens.com after practice Monday. ¡°You learn more from a loss than you do from a win. We made some mistakes. We understand the errors we made.Article continues below ...¡°After our previous losses, we¡¯ve done a pretty good job of responding. This is a little bit of a different situation, where we let a lead slip away. Now we have to react the appropriate way, come back strong with a good effort and learn how to play in those situations.¡±Canadiens goaltender Carey Price, who gave up four goals on 34 shots against the Senators, will be under the microscope. He gave up a weak goal on a shot along the goal line by Ottawa¡¯s Mikkael Boedker that cut the Canadiens lead to 3-2 on Saturday.Price, who is in the first year of an eight-year, $84-million contract that pays him $15 million this season, ranks 34th in the NHL in save percentage (.904) and 25th in goals against average (2.57).The Canadiens are expected to go with the same lineup which means forwards Charles Hudon (healthy scratch) Chris Terry Jersey Womens , Tomas Plekanec (back) and defensemen Victor Mete (hand) could be out. Mete could play which could result in Karl Alzner, who had a rough night against Ottawa, being scratched.The Canadiens must improve in the faceoff circle. They are last in the NHL with a 42.6 winning percentage. They lost both faceoffs in overtime against the Senators, when possession is critical in a 3-on-3 situation, before losing the game.¡°At the end of the day, I think there¡¯s a lot of things that go into being a good faceoff guy,¡± Canadiens coach Claude Julien told The Montreal Gazette. ¡°For certain guys, it¡¯s the experience of going through the league at least once, knowing the centremen they¡¯re taking them against. You learn to see the tendencies. You also understand that there¡¯s some experience that comes into play. ¡°There¡¯s also guys that have a real good eye-hand co-ordination that¡¯s unbelievable. Some of it is determination. There¡¯s so many things that come into play as far as being a centerman.¡±The Flames are ranked eighth in the NHL in faceoff winning percentage at 52.3 percent.Calgary is coming off a 4-1 win against the Rangers in New York on Sunday. Elias Lindholm, 23, whom the Flames acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes along with Noah Hanifan for Dougie Hamilton in June, is tied for the team lead in goals with five.He has been playing on Calgary¡¯s top line with Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan.¡°We built some chemistry pretty early in the season,¡± Gaudreau told the team¡¯s website. ¡°He¡¯s a great teammate and a great player Dennis Cholowski Jersey Womens , a smart player, so it makes it easier to (transition) when you¡¯re playing with that good of a guy and that skilled of a player. Hopefully we can keep building off of it because I know all three of us have five, six years left on our contracts in Calgary.¡±Calgary coach Bill Peters, who also joined the Flames from the Hurricanes, coached Lindholm in Carolina after the Hurricanes selected him with the No. 5 pick in the 2013 NHL draft. ¡°Lindy has been a good player for a long time,¡± Peters said on calgaryflames.com. ¡°He probably came into the league a little bit early. He played right after he got drafted and then got hurt and went down to the American league and back up, so I¡¯m very familiar with his path. But he¡¯s a very smart player, a very reliable player who can play center and wing, real good on face-offs. He¡¯s a good player and that¡¯s why he got drafted where he got drafted and we¡¯re excited to have him.¡±