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.¡±