Revisiting the Time Mark Messier Became a Canuck 

Mark Messier demonstrated tremendous leadership for every team* he played for. *Vancouver not included

Canucks “unofficially” retired Wayne Maki number 11 when he died. That was the reason they just put it back in service because of Messier. I don’t believe it was ever hung in the rafters. Maki family complained but they did it anyway

Messier's play on the ice while in Vancouver wasn't bad, but he was basically an anti-leader in the locker room. While Keenan was ripping guys to shreds, his buddy, Messier would just sit by the wayside and go unscathed. The late 90s Canucks team was basically a civil war between Keenan/Messier and the rest of the team.

"Thanks for the Mess".

why would you remind us....his name might as well be voldemort in Vancouver

I remember attending the Heritage Classic, them playing an ad with Messier during intermission and the crowd loudly booing that they stop playing it after like the second time lol

I lost a lot of respect for Messier when he took the "C" from Linden. A great leader doesn't make it about himself. He could have helped the leadership group without the "C".

"Ah shit. Here we go again...," - CJ

I had just moved to Vancouver at that time. Rumour had it, Trevor stood up between periods of a game and began a 'we can do this" speech. Messier abruptly told Linden to sit his ass down. The beginning of the end of Linden in Vancouver, and the Messier fiasco.

I stopped being a season ticket holder after Canuck's 2nd year with Mark Messier. I was infuriated with his lack of care when the team missed the playoffs. The worse times for a Canuck fan.

As a Ranger fan, it's even more amazing the Rangers gave him about the same contract (3 years , 20 million) after his debacle in Vancouver. Messier missed the playoffs his last 7 seasons.

Oh that Mark Messier as a Canuck look back. I remember it well. @ the time the Canucks signed Messier, I remember thinking.... what is all this about. Mark and Mike Keenan, destroyed the Canucks team. Bure wanted out, and Linden was traded. What a disaster. Then years later, Mark take the Canucks to court. Why? After he left, he was told that the Canucks were of more value. And under Marks old Canuck contract, he deserves more money. Wins the court case, and Mark who isn't a Canuck at the time.... gets millions from the Canucks. So, Marks 3 years.as a Canuck the Canucks didn't make the playoff. What a great leader, I say with sarcasm.

No. I've blacked this part of the Canucks history out of my memory...Sorry, I'm still in denial.

He who shall not be named

I remember turning on the TV and hearing the news about Messier signing and was absolute fuming. Never forgave him for 1994, the fact that he then drove both Trevor Linden and Pat Quinn out of town and brought in Mike Keenan made it so much worse. My earliest memories as a Canucks fan are as a kid from the mid-late 80s but they Messier era was easily my least favourite period. Went to a couple of games and it seemed pretty clear he didn’t give a crap.

I was tempted to give this a thumbs down because it was about Messier as a Canuck, but I’m not that mean. LOL. Mean Mark was the guy who hit Trevor when he was down at the end of game 6, and then he chased him out of town when he got here. And you’re right - I HATE the orca as a fan since 1998 because it reminds me of Messier. I hated the guy when he came here. But of course, my uncle bought me a Messier jersey, which got lost in a move. I obviously found it easy to make peace with that “loss.” The orca should have died when Messier left. Whenever I see that jersey I think of Mean Mark.

Moose was always one of my favourite players since his early Oiler days, I felt bad for him in Vancity, but out of that mess the Canucks ended up with the West Coast Express, Jovocop and the Sedin twins.

#11 is for Wayne Maki. He died of brain cancer, and there was an understanding by ownership #11 would be out of circulation. It was never formally retired. Then ownership changed.

Your original Messier video was one of the first I watched, this brings me back!

That old paper is a great find.. Love that 2 page spread of a young baby faced Thornton and Canuck Messier

I love this format. I was watching hockey during this era but obviously didn't hear anything about this growing up, but I do remember when Mark left NYR after Wayne showed up and they had that run to the Eastern Conference Finals (I was looking for goalies to emulate and Mike Richter impressed me - how could he keep his eyes on that Fox puck with the tail?) A great, well-rounded take, a good tie-in to contemporary trends, and a reflection on the matter after the fact. I'm sure you have a lot of primary material from throughout the years that discuss hot topics, I'm excited to see the playlist develop

PTSD! PTSD! Alert! Alert! Why did you go there? Aaaaaaaagh.

Shannon thank you for enlightening us fans in general. I know there were hatred towards Messier and Canucks, but didn't realize it was so deep rooted and maybe to this day, die hard Canucks fans don't want to uncrate this subject. Kings Fans used to loathe with passion Rob Blake when he was traded and ended up winning with the Avs and signed with SJS made it worse, but I guess winning cures all the pain and all the hatred were buried with it. Kings Fans were more understanding with Luc, but with Blake back then we would boo and jeer everytime he touches the puck.

I wonder how many times an NHL team has signed a well past his prime, super star player to super star money and ended up being disappointed by the on ice result? It indicates that even management can’t see the obvious. That being that age and wear and tear take their toll on ALL players.

It’s funny tho Gretzky actually said of Mess: “He’ll never be traded (from the Oilers)” and we’ll look at him now.

Would love to see the Bure video. One of my favourite players not from the Oilers. He was so fun to watch. Those 94 playoffs with Bob Cole calling the games. Bure flying around hitting Rangers in the first few mins and Bob Cole and the Vancouver crowd going nuts. Oh or the game 7 overtime against the flames. When they were down 3-1 in the series, I got cocky with my Flames fan friend and doubled down on our bet they would still win the series. That’s a goal I will never forget.

Would love to see a Nazzy career video

This is the most incredible break down of what I lived through , absolutely incredible job

@6:24 you just described the Canucks right now. Yippie can’t wait

Shannon is looking good on that magazine cover

This was a good video. This would be a good series 'Revisiting the Time....." You should do one on Gretzky going to LA.

Messier single handily torpedoed the Franchise by getting Keenan hired and forcing Linden to hand over the C

The Orca was way better than the yellow V. Holy moly is that awful.

In 2000 when Messier went back to the Rangers it was the same year His old buddy Glen Sather became the GM.

After Messier left New York, he never played in another playoff game.

The absolute worst era in Canucks history.

Mess will always be a hero to me. He brought a Cup to NYC after 54 yrs of agony.

And there is the video we were going to get! Love the stuff, Shannon!

Leadership? Leadership starts by being an EXAMPLE for people to look up to. How do you become an example to anyone? Respect. Respect the voices, the personalities, the opinions around you. "I don't agree with that, but at least I respect what you're trying to say.", and I show you that I'm not lying through my teeth, by follow-up example. Messier showed ZERO respect, from day 1, to the organization and its history ("Maki's #11 IS MINE!, and I don't care why it's retired".), his coach ("I WANT MY COACH in here!", and out goes Renney and in comes Keenan.), or his teammates ("I WANT THE 'C'! I should have that!", and not only does it alienate half the team from him and his "leadership", it opens the door for several players to follow Linden, ARGUABLY the greatest LEADER the team ever had - with respect to Stan Smyl and The Sedins - out the door.). Messier was no "leader"; he was a spoiled, selfish, arrogant, a-hole. He always was! He played that way, from his days with The Oilers, through to his Edmonton Rangers days, and into Vancouver. Over-hyped OWNERSHIP DRIVEN move (I don't believe for a minute this was Quinn's deal), that backfired WONDERFULLY for that ownership group; HA-HA! Unfortunately, the fans watching paid the emotional price of seeing their team evaporate under this egomaniac.

it is a great logo + also Canucks longest and most performance-successful logo but at the time was definitely very Corpo

That whole thing was bizarre. It was hard to respect him after this. He squandered a lot of goodwill.

I saw guy wearing a Messier jersey at a game I went to back in March I was surprised he didn't get heat for that.

"Sometimes.... it's a Messier situation." I see what you did there

Let's not revisit this......puleeeeez!!!!

The mid-90's decline for the Canucks, for me, started with the Mogilny trade. They gave up a lot of youth/depth/grit for Alex and he didn't mesh at all with Bure (the two rarely were good at the same time during their partnership in Vancouver). The coach/goalie carousel along with the Messier acquisition were merely rearranging chairs on the Titanic. Burke deserves a lot of credit for correcting the course... which started with Mogilny being shipped out for Morrison and Pederson and the dismissal of Keenan.

As much as I disagreed with the decision at the time, Wayne Maki's #11 was never officially retired, nor was it ever "in the rafters". It had simply been "honoured" by the Canucks and never subsequently dawned by any other Canucks' player until Messier. I shared season tickets at the Colosseum, and the only sweater number "in the rafters" was Steamer's #12.

Ah yes Mark Messier...a guy whose elbow never met an opponents head it didn't like

The moose is loose in British Columbia and it's a mess.

Looking back at that 96-97 season, I am shocked at how poorly the Canucks performed despite all the talent they had on that roster.

By the way I recent found your RU-vid channel, around the time of the Kraken draft...awesome videos. Keep up the great work.

I met Mark Messier great player but an ignorant attitude. For guy that makes a lot of money he sure ain’t happy. I guess this means having lots of money isn’t everything and being a jerk taints your reputation. Marty Mcsorley was a lot more kinder and actually listen to people conversations. Goons may be tough and intimidating on ice. but they sure are nice people off the ice, and more down to earth for less money.

If anyone wants more info on what was going on during those years I recommend an old HFBoards thread titled “Why Mark Messier is Often Regarded the Worst/Most Hated Vancouver Canuck of All Time” - tried leaving a link but I think links get filtered out lol

Great video, man! Still can't eat Lays potato chips because Messier is linked to them.

too soon, Shannon.

Mmm. ... sounds a bit like this year ... "bring in OEL and if he and a few others (Pettersson, Huggy, etc) can have a bounce-back year ... we'll be back in the playoffs"!

Im not a nucks fan.._but Pavel Bure and Messier are some of fav players. Messier Captain of Oilers, was my first jersey, I begged for Gretz got Mess, so I became his fan. Fun video!

Messier joining the canucks was also when the goalie carousel graveyard began

Ay the dark ages. I'm curious to know why Van thought that Messier would have the same impact to them as to NYR back in 94. It's like as if Stamkos went to Ottawa to give them a Cup, 2 years from now with a 11-12m hit.

The current orca reminds me of the future core and the potential they can bring. The orca with the wordmark belongs to the Sedin era. The original orca....well...

Oh God, please no. Make the nightmares stop 🤚😭

More Messier/Canucks history: Messier was suspended six games by the NHL during the 1988-89 season for hitting Canucks player Rich Sutter in the mouth with a high stick during the Edmonton vs. Vancouver game on Oct. 23, 1988. Although Messier was not called for a penalty on the play, Sutter suffered four broken teeth and the Canucks appealed to the NHL with videotaped replays to ensure that Messier would be suspended. A hearing was held on Oct. 27, 1988, and Messier was suspended on Nov. 1, 1988.

Messier was so bad lol. The fact that he’s talked about as one of the best leaders after his time in Vancouver disgusts me. They should just include the teams he was a good leader on when they talk about him. I really don’t have anything good to say about the guy, even his smile annoys me. Linden showed way more heart from what I saw

Not a Vancouver fan… but since the 70s, prefer the old school green & blue ‘hockey stick’ jersey, classic imo! Keep up the good work, excited for the regular season to start, and… Go Rangers! ;)

I’m wondering Shanon do you still have the magazine with the cover of Mark Messier has a Canuck on it that you showed in your remembering the 1999 Dallas Stars video?

great subject matter, well done as usual

Vancouver Canucks legend Mark Messier lol

Signing Messier was just bad, bad, bad to begin with... captain of the Ranger team that killed our Stanley Cup buzz in 94, cross-checked Linden across the head in the process, he immediately dissed Linden again by taking the C while disrespecting the memory of Maki in demanding #11, arrogantly rested on his laurels, collected the paycheque for the next three seasons while doing precious little to endear himself to the team and the fanbase... Clearly a shortsighted corporate move at the wrong time. But...I guess we should be grateful for THAT period being a stinking heap of fertilizer, from which grew the West Coast Express era and a resurgence of the franchise. (Doggone Wild... coulda been a Canucks/Devils final in '03!)

Lets not revisit this

No doubt about it. I’m ready to get hurt again.

Looking at this video.. I wish Shannon to cover about Jeff Carter tenure in Columbus. He's pretty much "Mark Messier in Vancouver" for Canucks fans for Blue Jackets fans .. Even worse, he won the cup with Kings TWICE, further rubbing the salt to the wound of Jackets fans

From the New York end of it (being a hockey fan living in NY at the time), the story was that Messier was pissed off at the Rangers because, at the same time he was looking for a new deal with the Rangers, Patrick Ewing was looking for a new contract with the Knicks. Ewing got his money, but they didn't want to pay Messier and Messier was saying, Damn, I won a championship and Ewing didn't, so why does he get rewarded and I don't?" Most of the NY sports media actually was on Messier's side, and the Rangers refusal to pay Messier looked silly when, a couple of years later, they were paying out long term $8-9M dollar a year contracts to guys like Scott Gomez, Bobby Holik and Wade Redden. But if any team was more screwed up at that time than the Canucks, it was the Rangers. They didn't know what the hell they were doing. and they never made the playoffs with Messier, once he came back from Vancouver. One other oddity was the Rangers brought in Gretzky Messier's last year of his first stint with the Rangers. You figured they were reuniting the two great buddies, but they let Messier go after that season. Then when Gretzky retired, they brought Messier back. Gretzky & Messier were only together one year on the Rangers.

A painful memory!

Really interesting history!

Very fair breakdown. Messier didn't play bad in Vancouver. But, they expected him to be the player he was 5 yrs earlier. I did enjoy wearing my Messier Canucks jersey to a Calgary vs Van game ( in Calgary was fun. Received hate from both fanbases...trolling successful ;) l

Messier gets too much hate for it, he was 37

I’ve been an NJ fan forever, so I hated Messier. But I was also a big Trevor Linden fan from playing NHL ‘96, hated the old Canucks colors scheme, though the new design was somehow even worse, and now I like the old jerseys and still am no fan of the orca. Initially, I didn’t think this video would be relevant for me, but here we are.

one time somebody tried to sell me their canucks messier jersey. i told him for $100 i'll help him burn it

I love the thumbnail for this video

His demand to wear *#11* was bad form 🙁 Couldn't Mess have worn his WHA number? *#27*

The skate is awesome

who was the player who wore number 11 before it got retired?

The reason for why the Rangers didn't re-sign Mark Messier it's because the owner wanted to re-sign Patrick Ewing

This video really makes me want to buy an original orca jersey and put messier with the C on it hahah

Mark Messier's legacy is truly divided like a two-sided mirror! Arguably no player have made himself so divided among fans. One side reflects his merits and leader qualities that goes beyond many of the best ever in NHL. Captained 2 teams to Stanley Cup championships in both Conferences and became like an iron-man to play year-after-year to age 44! BUT.... The other side reflects an uggly portray of a dirty player who was as individual overrated = was only good when he was with those strong teams he won with. How greedy and money grabbing Messier gradually became, demanding insane salery + bonuses + benefits + salery insurences at advanced age of 38 AND to wear retired number 11# - And somehow, for no sane reason a team (Vancouver Canucks) AGREED and SIGNED ON the demands (?). That he soon also aquired the captain role from a fan-loved icon Trevor Linden) and then that same player gets humiliated and oppressed. How despite the insane amounts of tallents on the team, and Messier manafrs not only to not score impressive numbers on the ice, but also avt silent and uninterested in leading his team. Then is part of a rather seen "mutiny" in the franchise by getting the team gutted from its tallents to bring in players not needed and the team plunhes into 4 years of darkness. And when Messier leaves the team, he years afterwards demand $millions despite never lived up to anything of all he was given - and gets those money in court. So if you are a Oiler or Rangers fan, you love him - If you are a Canuck fan, you despise him! If you are neutral, you have a tough balance of the edge that is constantly wobbles as you look on all perspectives.

I was so disappointed when they signed Messier, I wanted Joseph

Are there any fans that walk around with his jersey?

Gee thanks Shannon ..I almost forgot :P

I like "the skate" because its nostalgic, but most Canuck fans will say they prefer "the skate" and keep it that way. Its like the Edmonton Oilers or the Flames logos. They shouldn't be replaced.

What about Harold snepts contract at 60,000 a year for 25 years in early 80s and last five years at 20,000 a year?

Chump squad run by Messier and Keenan. We're you all thinking this was going to f

We can skip this one, Shannon. Move along.

Not a Canucks fan, but I have always thought the Skate Jerseys (especially in black) looks way better than any of Orca jerseys

Your thumbnail says it all Shannon.....

Still traumatized by this. It was ugly

A series on players that were slighted by their teams would be great…and vice versa. As an oil fan…we have so many rumours and stories.

I'm a huge messier fan since I was a kid he shoulda never played for canucks it didn't do nothing to help his career

Funny this kind of worked like therapy. Still had a little anger over this. Feels like I let it go. Har de har. Yeah they had a defensive issue and it was not just Mess. I thought he was shot and grossly over paid and took the captaincy from the teams beloved captain. Keenan was like Torts also. The system was very physical and seemed like everyone got hurt. The team was not a physical one. I liked that kind of system but if you have the wrong people to play that way, well you can end up with a injury plagued season.

Mark the Moose Messier 👍