Messier by Jeff Klein

 

Sorry that I took a bit of time to read this one and post about it.  It was a good book but I have been a bit busy with a few other things and only read maybe two times a week.  Nothing to do with the book as I liked it.  Rather that a quick review of the book I parroted the book for my summary.  Sorry it is long.

The First bit is about his dad Doug’s hockey and them living in Portland.  The book mentions Gretzky being sold from Indianapolis of the WHA to Edmonton with Windsor goalie Eddie Mio and a forward for $825k.

At 17 Mess played a 5 game tryout for the Indy Pacers (yes same team that originally signed Wayner).  He played ok but decided not to sign with them and kept his amateur eligibility.  Later that year he did sign with the WHA’s Cincinnati Stingers.  In one game he Centered a young Mark Gartner and Dave Forbes against Hartford Whaler’s Dave Keon, Geordie Howe and son Mark Howe. Mess earned a salary of $35k.  When the WHA folded and 4 teams joined the NHL.  They were only allowed to protect a few players.  Edmonton obviously protected Gretzky but they also protected Windsor boy Mio.  Funny seeing his name twice in the book.

In 1981-82 Mess makes the All Star game for the first time, Gretzky beats Espo’s goal record and Mess is one of 10 players in the NHL to score 50.  The next season he made the first team all star and finished seventh in scoring breaking the 100 point barrier.   In 82-83 Mess lead the Oilers in playoff goals with 15 in 15 games but get swept by the Islanders.  It was the Isles fourth cup.   

Finally in 83-84 Mess got his Stanley cup and the Conn Smyth’s as the playoff MVP.  That summer he was on the Canadian team that finally won the Canada Cup beating the USSR in the semis and  the Swedes in the final but Mess was not the factor he was when he won the Conn Smythe.   

In 85 Edmonton beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-1 the next year probably because Tim Kerr got hurt and Brad McCrimmon was out so Philly’s best D was out.  Interesting to hear Pelle Lindbergh the Flyers goalie became dehydrated and developed the practice of putting his water bottle above his net.  That's where the bottle on the net started.  In the final game Mess had 2 unassisted breakaway goals.  

Before the 86 season in September Mess smashed his Porsche into 3 parked cars and left the scene of the accident.  Joining the team that year was Craig MacTavish right out of a one-year jail term for vehicular homicide.  In November while driving drunk Pelle Lindbergh smashed his Porsche at 80 mph into a concrete wall and later died.  The Flyers first game after was at home versus Edmonton.  My favourite goalie Bernie Parent eulogized Pelle at Center ice.  The Oilers swept  Vancouver in the first round but lost to Calgary in game 7.  Mess tied the game up on a shortie breakaway but in the the third Steve Smith scored an own goal when he sent a pass off Grant Fuhr’s leg into the net.  The streak was over.  

During the 87 season rather than an all star game they had Rendezvous-Vous ‘87.  The NHL All-Stars against the Soviets in a two game set in Quebec.  In game one the NHL won and Mess was the first star.  The Soviets won game two.  The Oilers reclaimed the cup over Philly in 7 games.  When Gretz got the cup,  with Mess and Lowe they presented it to Smith as a gesture that he had been redeemed.  After the game the cup went across the street to the “ballet”.

The 1987 Canada cup was won by Canada over the Soviets 2 games to 1  with game 2 going close to 30 minutes of overtime.  Mess had only 1 goal and 6 assists in the whole tourney but was a real leader and was assigned to shut down the famous KLM line of Krutov, Larionov and Makarov.

In the 88 playoff opening round against Winnipeg Mess scored a 5 on 3 short handed breakaway.  They won in 5 games.  Next they swept Calgary.  Then they beat the Red Wings for the second year in a row.  Then they kind of swept Boston for the cup.  They never lost but it took more than four games as game 4 in Boston had the power go out and was cancelled so game 4A was in Edmonton and we know what happens.  Four cups in five years.

That summer Mess’ sister gets married in Hawaii and he is best man.  Then 9 days later he is a groomsman at “Canada’ royal wedding” of Gretzky and Jones.  Trivia question.  Who was Wayners best man?  I mentioned Windsor boy twice.  Yep Eddie Mio.  Next  I was driving out to UBC for grad school and I took the US route.  I saw in a US Today paper box the cover story of Gretzky being traded to the LA Kings.  I know the date is August 9th as my son was born on that date 17 years later.  

The next season Mess was the captain and guess whom they played in the first round.  You got it LA and Gretzky.  It went 7 games.  Both Mess and Gretz had 12 points in the series but LA prevailed.  The Kings were swept in the next round by Calgary who eventually won the cup.  Mess played in the Workd Championship that summer with Wayne and Canada lost in the finals to the Soviets.   

Four games into the season Gretzky needed only 2 points  to surpass Geordie Howe as the all time scoring leader.  He was in Edmonton and tied Gordie early with an assist and passed him to tie the game up with under a minute left in regulation.  Mess was on the ice.  The game stopped.  There were festivities with Gordie on hand and Mess on behalf of the team presented Wayne a gold bracelet with diamonds spelling out 1851.  When the game went into overtime you know who scored for LA.  Later in the season against LA in a 7-6 win Mess scored and had four helpers.  With Mario injured for part of the season Gretzky was the league scoring leader but Mess was second going 45-84-129 and only 13 points off Wayner.  In the playoffs Edmonton took Winnipeg in 7 then swept LA.   In the Cup finals Edmonton was down 2 games to one when Mess went full beast mode.  One goal, two assists and  he broke two sticks on his first two sifts over Black Hawk players with no calls from the zebras.  That was it.  They won their fifth cup in seven years.  He also won individual accolades of the Hart and Pearson trophy. 

During the 90-91 season with a bad knee he scored his 1000th point when Glenn Anderson tipped in his 400th goal.  Mess was looking to get paid $2 big per year behind Gretzky and Lemieux however he was ninth highest and Edmonton was only willing to go $1.6.  He  later broke his thumb and only played 53 games for 64 points.  In the first round of the playoffs the battle of Alberta went to a game 7 OT with Esa Tikkanen scoring 7 minutes in.  Mess had 2 goals and 6 helpers in that series.  They next swept Gretzky’s Kings.   Mess had 1 goal and 1 assist.    In the finals against the Minnesota North Stars the Oilers won game two but that was it.

That summer he recuperated and was not going to play in the Canada Cup and didn’t report to training camp.  Gretzky called him three days in a row and he finally showed up on the last day of camp.  Day 25.  Gary Robert’s got the boot.  It was a physical Canada Cup with lots neutral traps.  They beat the US in the final series two games to none.  He was then traded to The Big Apple for Bernie Nicholls (I remember calling him dirty nipples)  two other dudes and $1.5 big.

  The Rangers gave Mess the C right off the bat .  Well he wore the C on his second game which was the home opener.  When the Rangers played Edmonton in January  it was Mess’ 900th game and he scored his 1100th career point.  He had a great year 35-72-107 which was sixth best in the league.  He didn’t have to fight much with Adam Graves, Joe Kocur, Jeff Beukeboom and Tie Domi on the team.  Note the Windsor ties again with Graves and Domi.  In 92 the NYR finished first but there was  a short labour stoppage.  The Rangers eventually beat NJ in 7 but lost to the Penguins.  Mess was not happy that coach Nielson was putting out a checking line against Lemieux, Jagr and Francis.  He also didn’t like his neutral zone trap nor his dump and chase.  The Penguins went on to win their second straight cup.   Lemieux was scoring champ but Mess received the Hart trophy for his second time.  At the awards banquet Mess thanked everyone except the coach.

During the 92-93 season Nielson and Mess’ problems came to a head and on January 4th the coach was fired.  The team and Mess limped through the season not even making the playoffs.    

For the 93-94 season Mike Keenan was hired to coach.  Mess got along with him even though he was tough.  They made some trades and now had 7 ex-Oilers: Messier, Graves, Beukeboom, Lowe, Tikkanen, Anderson  and the last helmetless player in the NHL in MacTavish.  They made the playoffs and in the first round swept the Islanders and dispatched of the Caps in 5.  Mess had 6 goals.  Next was the Devils.  They were down 3 games to 2 and  Mess promised a win to the media.  They did.  They won game 7 in OT.  Next it was Vancouver for the cup.  It went 7 with the final in NY.  The final was 3-2 for NY.  Mess went from goat the year before to the Messiah bringing home the cup that had not been won by the Rangers since 1940.   I was disappointed as I was pulling for the Canucks having just moved back from lotus land a few years earlier and really liked the play of Trevor Linden, Pavel Bure et Al.  The parade of the cup ended at city hall where the players were given the keys to the city.  The Mayor called Mess Mr June like Reggie Jackson being Mr October.  Guess who that mayor was?  You got it Rudy Guiuliani.

The 94-95 season started  with Keenan leaving to St Louis and Colin Campbell coaching.  With Mess winning the cup he was able to try and renegotiate his contract. As he believed he was third best player in hockey but was being paid the 15th most.  Then before the season started Betmann and the owners locked the players out.  The did not resolve their differences until a January.  A few games in management and Mess settled for $4.9 big for the short 95 season, $6 M the next season and the NYR had another option the year after again for the same.  They had an up and down season and squeaked into the playoffs in the last spot.  They eliminated Quebec in 6.  Philly easily finished them off with Eric Lindros and the Legion of Doom.  The Devils defensive style however won the cup.

During the 95-96 season Mess hit the 500 goal mark and the Rangers agreed to pick up his option for the following year.  Mess ended the season with 47 goals and missed the final 6 games due to to rib injuries.  In the playoffs the NYR beat the Habs in 6 but were swept by the Pens.  

For the next season Gretzky took a pay cut to play in NY for $4M even though Vancouver offered more but they wanted Wayne to decide right then and there.  Did not happen.  Before the season started Wayne and Mess got to play together for team Canada in the World Cup of Hockey where they were beat in the finals by the US.  That season Mess played 61 games but played injured.  He surpassed the 1500 point threshold and the team barely finished above 0.500. In the playoffs the Rangers beat Florida in five.  They then beat NJ in 5.  They then lost in 5 to Philly.

He finished the season without a contract.  Vancouver offered him a 3 year deal for $6 million per annum and he was gone.  The captain Trevor Linden who was called captain Canuck gave up his “C” to Mess.  After a 10 game losing streak early coach Renney and GM Pat Quinn were fired.  Keenan was brought in as coach.  Keenan rode Linden and it wasn’t nice.   After the all star and Olympic breaks Keenan had Linden and Gino Odjik traded to the Isles.  Even though Mess played between two great Russians in Pavel Bure and Alexander Mogilny he was only 22-38-60 and the team was dead last in the west at 25-43-14.  

For the 98-99 season Brian Burke was brought in as GM and Keenan was now on a short leash.  Bure refused to play and asked to be traded.  He sat out until mid January when he was traded to Florida and Windsor boy Ed Jovanovski went west in return.  Then Keenan was turfed for Marc Crawford who was one month younger than Mess.  The season was a bust anyways with the team finishing last in the west 23-47-12.  This was also Gretzky’s last season as he retired.  This left Mess the last man from the defunct WHA still skating.

For the new millennium the Canucks were 10th in the West at 30-37-15.  Mess wanted out.  He went back to NY for the 2000-01 season.   Leetch turned over the C to Mess.  The team was not that good and when Theo Fleury went into drug rehab that was it for the Rangers.  That was the fourth straight year Mess did  not make the playoffs.  He was 24-43-67 but was -25 which was one of the worst in the league.  

For the 2001-02 year the Rangers picked up the concussion prone Eric Lindros and Mess even put him in a room in his apartment.  Training camp was scheduled for The Garden on September 11th.  You know what happened to the Twin Towers.  For the season opener Mess was given a NYFD helmet with the pic of the fallen captain of their hockey team.  All unscripted.  He wore it and that pic was in all the newspapers.  The season was a hard one for Mess as he needed shoulder surgery and Lindros had, surprise, a mild concussion, 2 knee and 1 foot injuries.  They missed the playoffs.  

The 2003-03 season was Mess’ 25th season.  Low had been let go as coach and Trottier had been brought in.  Mess gave up his C part way into the season and two weeks later Trottier was fired.  Slather finished up as coach.  The Rangers missed the playoffs by 5 points.  Mess went 18-22-40 and minus 2.

The book finishes there but puts in one more local mention that his son Lyon was playing Jr B in Tecumseh Ontario.  If you like hockey and are an old guy like me it is a good read.  I always hated the Oilers as I was a Flyers fan in the day and as I said I was pulling for Vancouver when Mess won the cup with NY but still a real good read.

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Yzerman - The Making of a Champion

 

Here is an extra post for you today.  Yzerman - The Making of a Champion

The book spends some time talking about Stevie Y's time with the Petes in the OHL and his coach rolling four lines.  It turned out to be a good thing later in his career.  The author mentions John Tucker a local Windsor boy and also Mike Illich’s Macedonian roots.  I am sure that makes my wife happy.  The NHL draft in 1983 had  lots of hoopla with 3 US born players being selected in top 5 with Lawton going one, Lafontaine three (from the Detroit area) and Barrasso fifth. Not much fanfare for Stevie Y going fourth. Yzerman eventually became a 50 goal scorer and with that he tossed the puck over the boards to the fans. Coach Demers had to go in the stands and get the puck back from a fan and promised him an autographed stick.

 As he progressed, the best players in the league were Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Mario Lemieux. But in 1989 Stevie Y won the Pearson award which is voted upon by the NHLPA. The book spent some time talking about the Wings coaches and told me a morsel I never heard. In 1979 Scotty Bowman turn down a contract that would’ve given him 10% of the Washington Capitals organization instead he decided to coach the Montréal Canadiens. Yes he got many rings out of that but could you imagine owning 10% of a hockey franchise now. 

Another mention in the book who had ties to Windsor was Bob Boughner and he was described as nothing special. The 89 draft Detroit was set up so well with the Russians .  They almost got themselves  Pavel Bure at 95th but they were told he was ineligible and then Vancouver picked him at 113th and the wings were gonna grab him anyways at 116th. Too bad for the wings but I was living in Vancouver then and got to watch him play in his freshman year and he was outstanding. Just before the 95-96 season they mentioned that Windsor was a city where trade talks between Detroit and Ottawa took place for Yzerman. Ottawa wanted their hometown son back and also wanted to unload Alexei Yashin’s contract. Good thing it never happened as we know what happens in the end. Don’t want to spoil the ending lol. On a final note the book also mentioned that Worlds were cancelled in 2003 due to The SARS epidemic.  Imagine that.

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J.R. The Fast, Crazy Life of Hockey's Most Outspoken and Most Colourful Personality

 

Right out of the hopper JR strings together a tapestry of F bombs in the introduction.  He had an atypical hockey family.  His mother yelled at him once from the stands “Get that pussy off the ice”. At 13 living in Virginia every weekend they put him on the plane to Newark to play for the New Jersey Rockets. 

 

He went to prep school at Thayer Academy with Tony Amonte.  

 

Dude played almost 2 decades in the NHL and almost $60 million and scored a little over 500 goals. Not too bad for an American.

 

Before his draft he weighed about 150 pounds but his agent made sure nobody knew that.  Both Mike Modano and Trevor Linden were over 210 pounds in the same draft.  During an interview pre-draft with the Chicago they asked him to step on the scale. He refused. He said “Did you ever see a scale score a goal?”  Chicago drafted him eighth.  He played 3 games in the bigs before being sent to Hull to play in the Q.  He later got called up due to injuries and stayed up.  Coach Keenan scared the hell out of him so much that changed his style of play to be physical.

 

JR discusses how Coach Keenan used psychological warfare on his players.  Coach pissed Dave Manson off so much that Dave threw his shoulder pads at him and chased the coach down the cement  hallway whilst wearing skates.

 

After Keenan was fired he discusses coach Sutter and JR’s eventual trade to the desert to play for the new Arizona team for 5 years and $20 million.

 

JR tells stories of the Massachusetts Mafia which consisted of : Keith Tkachuk, Craig Janey,  Bob  Corkum and the author.  Most of them involved bars and breaking curfew.  

 

In one chapter he discusses the poker he played with the boys.  He once played in a pot on the back of the team plane for $110 big.  In another chapter he discusses a hit he put on Mike Madono and the retribution that Derien Hatcher gave him three weeks later.

 

After playing in the desert and becoming a free agent JR signed a 5 year $37.5 million front loaded contract to replace cry baby Eric Lindros.  JR says he almost signed with Detroit but Philly had better stables for his wife and daughter’s horses.  While in Philly he discusses the Rick Tocchet gambling scandal that JR was involved in.  JR did nothing illegal but had bet on pro sports but not the NHL.

 

Roenick talks about a slap shot he took in the side of his face against New York.  His jaw was destroyed.  Three major fractures and 18 small spider breaks.  He missed quite a bit of time but was back for the playoffs.  He later discusses his medical record like the 600 stitches in his face and breaking all his fingers.  Hockey can be brutal.

 

For the 2005-06 season JR is traded to LA and has a brutal season on the ice with 9 goals and 13 assists in 58 games but is Mr Hollywood off the ice.

 

It’s funny I just rewatched Wedding Crashers last week.  Actor Vince Vaughan so much liked JR he had his character named Jeremy.

 

For 2006-07 season it was back to the desert where he discusses that he did not like the Great One, Wayne Gretzky as a coach.  Then he he talks about his last two years in the NHL playing for  the San Jose Sharks.

 

After he retires he talks bout his favourite players,  least favourite players, favourite games played, Battle of the Blades and how as an NHL analyst he ripped Patrick Marleau as “gutless”.

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Tough Guy: My Life on the Edge

 

Yep another hockey book.  Let us say I have many of them.  Probie was a local guy and just a year older than me.  Just had to read Tough Guy.  He was very upfront in his book about everything including many personal issues (read drugs)  and legal issues (read drugs).  The book is written in a fashion that is very much like a guy telling stories to the guys in the locker room.  Well at least for most of it as he never was able to finish the book as he died of a heart attack out on Lake St. Clair while boating.  His wife Dani finished it for him.  Rest in peace Bobby.  You are missed.  We loved watching you play.  If you are Canadian and making any amazon.ca purchase please click on my link below first.  Thanks.

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Crossing the Line: The Outrageous Story of a Hockey Original

 

Here is another book about the Big Bad Boston Bruins.  Crossing the Line is a very interesting story of Derek Sanderson's life.  He was at one time the highest paid athlete in all of sports.  He also at one time slept in Central Park in NY city due to his problems with addiction.  He talks about Studio 54 if you are old enough to know what that is.  He tells of Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito and others.  He is very candid about his flashy life style and it's demise and his recovery.  This book is an excellent read.  If you are Canadian and making any amazon.ca purchase please click on my link below first.  Thanks.

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They Call Me Killer

 

Brian Kilrea was for the most part a Junior hockey coach in the OHL for the Ottawa 67's.  He played in the NHL for a cup of coffee but ended up in the NHL Hall of Fame as a long time hockey coach.  He was assistant coach for the New York Islanders for a couple of years before moving back to the 67's.  They Call Me Killer is full of lots of humorous accounts from him and some of his players.  I thought it was well written.  He tells his account of a story then a couple of his players tell their version.  All in all pretty funny.  I never heard of him before reading They Call Me Killer and I rather enjoyed it.  I read this one in late June, just a couple of books ago.  If you are Canadian and making any amazon.ca purchase please click on my link below first.  Thanks.

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Game Misconduct: Alan Eagleson and the Corruption of Hockey

 I read Game Misconduct in June.  I knew about him from the Bobby Orr book, Orr Story, where he fleeced Bobby.  Did you know that Bobby Orr could of had 18% ownership of the Boston Bruins but Eagleson never brought the offer to Bobby and instead instructed him to sign with the Chicago Black Hawks.  I believe the author, Russ Conway was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his writing of this book.  Yes Mr Eagleson did some very important things for hockey like starting up the NHLPA and the Canada Cup but he was in bed with management and was an overall a$$ hoXX.  As president of the NHLPA he was in bed with the owners.  He was also an agent and if you were not one of his clients he really did not care too much about you as union president.  Even if he was your agent he stiffed many clients for money when he said he was negotiating insurance policy payments for athletes that had career ending injuries.  Mr Conway details many incidents in this book that paint Eagleson as not only a crook but a cold hearted person. Game Misconduct is an expose on all the criminal things that Eagleson did and eventually went to jail for.   If you grew up watching hockey in the 70s or even 80s this book is for you.  If you are Canadian and making any amazon.ca purchase please click on my link below first.  Thanks.

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