1994 Stanley Cup hero and Rangers legend Mark Messier, who is a leading hockey analyst for ESPN’s NHL coverage, takes a shot at some Blueshirts Q&A ahead of the squad’s Eastern Conference Final series against the two-time defending-champion Lightning..
Q: What do you like best about this Rangers team?
A: To me they’re such an easy team to like, the character of a team right on down from the coaching down. They play like a team. I love the young guys. I love [K’Andre] Miller, I think Miller’s upside is incredible. I love the young guys that are kind of chopping a lot of wood for the team this year. They got really good balance. I love the grit that they brought in this year with [Ryan] Reaves and [Barclay] Goodrow to counteract some of the great talent they have. … I don’t know, they’re just an easy team to like. They seem to really enjoy playing with each other and for each other. And that’s always a big thing for a team.
Q: What’s the key for them to win this series?
A: That’s an interesting conundrum, for sure. You talk about a very young team going up against the Stanley Cup champions. They’re gonna face a team, and obviously a goaltender, that they haven’t seen in these playoffs, so it’s gonna be a much different challenge for them in many ways. But I think the Rangers have a goalie that can match [Andrei] Vasilevskiy in a lot of ways, so that’s the good news. And again, it always gets down to not what you get but what you give up. I think they’re gonna have to be a lot better defensively certainly in front of their own net. Tampa has some incredible talented players that will take advantage of those kind of mistakes, more so than the last two series. If they can do that, limit the shot numbers — 40 shots in Game 6 is too many in a Game 6 like that, Shesterkin’s been able to hold ’em out. Specialty teams become huge this time of year.
Q: How big is having home-ice advantage?
A: I think it is an advantage. We obviously saw that in ’94, a huge advantage for us playing Game 7 at home. Obviously, if it ever got to a Game 7, I’d rather play it at home, there’s no question. I don’t know if that’s gonna be the difference or not of who wins this series, but I like that they’re home.
Q: What will Madison Square Garden sound like starting Wednesday night, and how much can the Rangers feed off that?
A: There’s no question that the crowd energizes the home team. But it’s more so the familiarity with all of their surroundings leading up to the game, your game-day routines and all that. This time of year when the Rangers are involved, the players are gonna feel the intensity in that rink, and they should be able to use it to their advantage.
Q: What impresses your most about Chris Kreider?
A: Just what we all see — size, strength, he’s an intelligent guy. He’s self-analytical, he’s honest with himself, he’s got a lot of experience now. And his willingness to get into the areas of playoff hockey that you have to get to in order to be effective.
Q: Alexis Lafreniere?
A: Love his compete. He’s got obviously a great skill set, but more than that, I love his compete. He competes all over the ice, he’s not afraid of the big moments, the playoffs haven’t been too big for him. You go on and on and on about a player like that when you get a top draft pick.
Q: Artemi Panarin?
A: He makes people around him better. He’s got the ability to distribute the puck, and whoever he plays with is a benefactor of it. He’s a really intelligent hockey player. The greatest compliment you can give any player is that he makes players around him better.
Q: Mika Zibanejad?
A: He’s just grown in bounds since he’s come to New York in every way. And has changed his game come into playoff time, he’s more assertive all over the ice. He’s really emerged as a go-to guy, No. 1 centerman.
Q: Adam Fox?
A: He’s got the Gretzky Factor, he sees things that nobody else does. He’s playing chess and everybody else is playing checkers. … His anticipation, the way he sees the ice and the skill set to take advantage of it … handle the puck in tight areas, never panics … just an incredible hockey player.
Q: Ryan Lindgren?
A: Competitor. Tough as they come. Him and Fox play so well together. Just an unbelievable competitor with maybe an underrated skill set.
Q: Barclay Goodrow?
A: Leader … championship DNA … glue guy … all the intangibles that you need for the role that he plays on the team.
Q: What makes Igor Shesterkin so special?
A: He reads the play as well as anybody that’s ever played the position. Obviously his athleticism, his quickness post to post. But I think what really separates him is his mental toughness and being able to read the play before it happens?
Q: Coach Gerard Gallant.
A: He tells it the way it is, as a player you can appreciate that. There’s no mincing words, there’s not a lot of words, you know exactly where you stand. Players respect that, and he keeps the game simple.
Q: Is it hard for you to believe that it’s been 28 years since the Rangers won the Cup?
A: Unbelievable, to be honest with you.
Q: What would be your message to Rangers fans about this team and how far it can go?
A: Nobody expected them to be at this point. I don’t think anybody expected them to be challenging for the [conference] title. For the players themselves, I don’t think they’re satisfied where they are, they probably have more belief in themselves than anybody believed in them, which is always a good sign. They’re gonna get another big education of what playoff hockey is in this next round, and we’ll see how they handle it.
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tRY IT NOWQ: What would you tell them if there was a players-only meeting?
A: I don’t know the players well enough to get in there, I don’t know their psyche. I don’t think I need to tell ’em anything, I think Gallant’s doing a good enough with it (laugh).
Q: What is the mentality that they need to have now?
A: What they’re showing all year. Why change anything? They’ve done everything that they’ve needed to do all year long — they’ve won big games, they’ve played as a team, they’ve done everything. There’s no reason to change now.
Q: Was Game 7 in 1994 against Vancouver the loudest you ever heard the Garden?
A: For me personally, yeah it was the loudest.
Q: Did you get goose bumps?
A: To this day.
Q: Tell these Rangers what it was like holding up the Cup in Madison Square Garden.
A: We don’t have enough time on this call. … I couldn’t begin to tell you what it’s meant to me, what it felt like in the short amount of time we have right now.
