With the city's gaze focused squarely on Shea and Yankee Stadiums in the past few weeks, one of the biggest stories of the year in New York has gone virtually unnoticed. What happened last week at Madison Square Garden was not a Subway Series, nor was it a ticker tape parade. But Mark Messier's return to the New York Rangers evoked memories of the team's magical 1994 Stanley Cup season, and more importantly, may have been the beginning of a new era which could produce more memories.
Messier spent three years away from the Big Apple, but for Ranger fans, it felt like an eternity. The Captain was let go, signed by the Vancouver Canucks after then-team president Neil Smith decided that his skills had faded. Whether or not they actually did is up for debate. What is not is that Messier's leadership was sorely missed, as the team finished below .500 and out of the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.
That prompted new team president Glen Sather to re-sign Messier this offseason, despite his age (39) and diminishing numbers (Messier accumulated 60 or fewer points in each of the last three years, which he had not done since the 1984-85 season). The results have been mixed so far, but Messier's presence has awoken a moribund franchise filled with well-paid veterans and energized Ranger fans.
He led the team to wins in its first two games of the season, picking up an assist on the team's first goal of the season in a 2-1 win over the Atlanta Thrashers before his Garden party last Wednesday. In that game, Messier electrified a sold out Madison Square Garden, scoring the game's second goal, which would also be the game winner, and leading the Rangers to a 3-1 victory. Then, in an 8-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, Mess scored two goals and picked up an assist, before going pointless in Monday night's loss to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
Although 2-2-0 is nothing to celebrate, it compares favorably with the Rangers' recent past, especially last year, when they stumbled out of the gate and never recovered, despite having by far the highest payroll in the NHL. Perhaps even more encouraging is Messier's play, which seems to have been reinvigorated by the return to the city that never really stopped admiring and rooting for him, even after he left New York.
But what is more exciting for the Rangers is that once again there is hope for a franchise that seemed lost in recent years. Messier's return, combined with the addition of new coach Ron Low and Sather means that the Rangers have three of the best leaders in hockey. And once baseball season is over, fans in New York will be very glad that they do.
