Page 42 - SHARP Winter 2022

MAN WORTH LISTENING TO
Mark Messier on Life as a Leader
In his new memoir, No One Wins Alone, “The Moose” reflects on 26 years of pro hockey, six Stanley Cups, and what it means to have been a member of some of hockey’s greatest teams
BY WILL KITCHENS
IF YOU’RE READING SHARP, THERE’S A GOOD CHANCE THAT YOU’RE CANADIAN. And if you’re Canadian (and even if you’re not), you likely know Mark Messier. And for good reason: he is one of the greatest hockey players of all time. That’s indisputable. With a pro
hockey career lasting 26 seasons, Messier sits near the top of the ledger in most of the NHL record books. He has, for example, played the third-most regular-season NHL games of any player in history (add in the playoffs and no one has ever played more). He sits third in assists. And, similarly, he sits third in total points, behind only Wayne Gretzky and Jaromír Jágr.
Beyond stats and individual accolades, Messier was also a legendary leader and captain, having worn the “C” for the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, and Vancouver Canucks. In fact, he’s the only player to have ever captained two different teams to Stanley Cups, winning five with his hometown Oilers and one with the Rangers. (The latter, in 1994, was the Rangers’ first Cup win since 1940 and led to Messier being branded “The Messiah” in New York.)
Now, more than 15 years after retiring from pro hockey, Messier has penned a memoir, No One Wins Alone, which is less autobiography and more rumination on what he learned both as a member and leader of some of hockey’s greatest teams. Here, he discusses memoirs, magic mushrooms, and what makes for a good leader.
You officially retired in 2005. Why write a mem- oir now? What was your motivation?
It’s a great question. As a player, I was always struck reading Sacred Hoops by Phil Jackson and The Winner Within by Pat Riley. Those are two books that I really enjoyed because they delved into the team aspect of [sport]: the spirituality around a team, the galvanizing of a team, and creating a safe place for players. So I didn’t want to write something just about myself, but instead I wanted to write a book about the experiences that I had, about how beautiful the game — and team sports — can be when you play in a culture that’s conducive to inclusiveness, camaraderie, and winning. And I was lucky enough to have that throughout my [professional hockey ca- reer]. Hockey, when you boil it down, is about people; it’s about galvanizing people and maximizing their potential, of course, all through the game of hockey. But in the end, it’s about people. And I think everyone can learn [something] from those lessons.
While hockey was obviously a huge part of your life from an early age, with your dad having a career himself, it never seemed like the game was forced upon you. Is that accurate?
I loved the game because my dad played — and he introduced me to it — but then I fell in love with the game itself. I think, as a parent, it’s always im- portant to understand your child, and my dad had a unique ability to understand when I was being lazy or when I just didn’t want to really go play. There’s a big difference. At times, I was just overwhelmed, and I didn’t really want to go play. And I was never forced to. I mean, that didn’t happen very often, but there were times.
That reminds me of me and my dad. As a little kid, sometimes I’d insist that I wasn’t going to the rink on a Saturday morning for whatever reason. And we’d get into these battles where he didn’t totally understand why I didn’t want togo—Iusuallyhadfun—andhe’dtellmeit was important to follow through on your com- mitment to a team, which was hard for me to understand at a young age.
Sport can be a great teacher, if you let it. Playing on a team is challenging for a pro, let alone an eight-year- old, because there is accountability. Once you sign up at the start of the year to play on that team, there’s a big responsibility. And if you can force yourself to be accountable, that, to me, is [one of] the most important things we can really do to help our kids
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