This Day in Hockey History – October 4, 1991 – Messier Moves from “Moose” to “The Messiah”

Photo: By dtnyc383 (uploaded on flickr) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Over the course of his career, Mark Messier spent nearly equal time playing first for the Edmonton Oilers and then for the New York Rangers. Edmonton called him “Moose” for his stature, strength, and aggressive-style, but after his trade on October 4, 1991, New York would come to see him as “The Messiah” leading them to the promised land.

Mark Messier (By Connor
Mah [CC BY-SA 3.0], from
Wikimedia Commons)

While the Rangers did not make it that season, in 1994, Messier led the team and scored the final winning goal to end the 50-plus-year drought. He had earned his first (of five) Stanley Cups with the Oilers in 1984 and earned his last with the Rangers ten years later. Having been made captain of the Oilers in 1988 and of the Rangers right off the bat in 1991, Messier is the only captain to take two franchises to win the championship.

Upon trading Messier, the Oilers had to wait another fifteen years to make the Stanley Cup Final again. After that, they would not even make the playoffs again until 2017.

Messier’s No. 11 was retired by the Rangers in January 2006 and by the Oilers in February 2007.

Sources:

• https://www.nhl.com/news/this-date-in-nhl-history-october-4/c-282333990?tid=279684992
• https://www.nhl.com/news/mark-messier-100-greatest-nhl-hockey-players/c-285047996?tid=283865022
• https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/05/sports/hockey-rangers-roll-the-dice-and-trade-for-messier.html
• https://edmontonjournal.com/sports/hockey/nhl/edmonton-oilers/edmonton-oilers-history-mark-messier-traded-to-new-york-rangers-oct-4-1991
• https://www.si.com/vault/1991/10/07/125066/why-not-the-rangers-in-an-era-of-parity-the-new-york-rangers—-no-dynasty-they—-will-actually-win-the-stanley-cup