SkateLogoWasBetter Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 I don't know how but apparently Mark Messier recently had an award named after him called the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award. The qualifications for winning require a player to be "the player who exemplifies great leadership qualities to his team, on and off the ice, during the regular season." I realize he is a HOF player. He was incredible with the Oilers, he is largely responsible for recruiting most of them to wear NY Rangers jerseys in 1994 and the Rangers fan base see him as a savior. But as a Canucks fan, he is the antithesis of the very qualities his award is suppossed to reward. He came to this team out of spite and malice to punish the owners of the NY Rangers, the Dolans. Patrick Ewing of the Knicks got a huge contract from them that off season and he felt slighted so he took the huge money from VanCity as a proverbial FU. Great leaders usually turn tail and bolt for the money, right? During his 3 seasons, he proceeded to alienated Bure and Mogilny and hindered and crippled their success in favor of his own. He ostracized and banished Trevor Linden, so he could be the leader of "his" team. Linden, who in 1997 was already beloved as the true heart of the Canucks, both by fans and ownership. He forced a system of hockey this team couldn't play under Mike Keenan. He asked for trades for the wrong bit players to surround him. Then he moped like a child until the Rangers claimed Mea Culpa and resigned him. That's the player the NHL chooses to be a benchmark for "exemplifing great leadership qualities to his team'? How do you defend his actions while playing in Vancouver then? "On and off the ice?" He did nothing for the community. Quite the opposite from everything I can find during his tenure in Vancouver. "During the regular season," Well that makes sense, since his time here certainly never allowed this team for thrive in the post season. I know I'm biased and I may even be pandering to the people who will read this but shouldn't this be the Trevor Linden Leadership Award? He led the NHLPA. He's shown time and again to be the heart and soul of his team both on and off the ice in VanCity, Montreal, Long Island, Washington D.C. and again in Vancouver. I've never heard a competitor speak ill of him as a player or a man and any further credentials can be seen in his humble, undocumented charity works that only even came to light during his retirement ceremony! Am I wrong CDC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadcanucks Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Regardless of what he did in Vancouver (or what he didn't do in Vancouver), I personally think it's a farce that there is an award named after Messier. I can go into a bunch a reasons why, but I think there are a number of other players that are more deserving of having an award named ahead of him for leadership...Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr and Mario Lemieux are three that reflexively comes to mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdubuya Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 if a canucks player ever wins it just watch this video and you will feel better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I.Am.Ironman Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Regardless of what he did in Vancouver (or what he didn't do in Vancouver), I personally think it's a farce that there is an award named after Messier. I can go into a bunch a reasons why, but I think there are a number of other players that are more deserving of having an award named ahead of him for leadership...Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr and Mario Lemieux are three that reflexively comes to mind. Stevie Y before Messier! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking mama Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 You forgot that Messier was also a 'notorious' head-hunter. Blind-side was his favorite approach with his elbows high....and the other team's captain was his preferred target. Modano and Linden, both clean hard-playing NHLers and men of honour,...were on the receiving end of Messier's infamous blind-side elbows, not for being jerks or in retaliation for anything,..but just because they were the more-sportsmanslike opposition and classier than him. Messier is the ultimate cheater and villian. He was also completely enabled by the league to be that way from the start, dodging accountability because it served Gretzky's rep and purposes,..and then evading on and off-ice justice, never more so than after he joined-up with an O-6 (NYR) and was shielded from league justice by a powerful king-pin. During the Rangers' cup run in '94,.. he was all teflon. Messier was never an Olympian, because his scruples on and off the ice were less than stellar, and he couldn't be trusted to be disciplined, or represent his country in that prestigious tournament with any kind of honour. Horrificly - he still remains the face of this league,..due to Bettman and the media-horde that's beholding to the kingpins... trotting him out to pimp or front everything from helmets to cable service. And - they pay him handsomely to do so. He acts like 'this' is do-gooding. It's not service, dude - when you front a gig that sells yourself and your helmets. Nobody wants his massive ego anywhere near their teams,.. as a General Manager or President. His lack of sportsmanship, humility, integity, and respect for his fellow union bros...is completely off-putting, in 2015. The fact that the 'Messier Award' is a fairly recent league incarnation is a farce,... because he's hardly a positive role-model for today's NHL team captains, at a time when character matters and head-shots are deplorable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PONCHE Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 After watching the 2002 playoffs, Stevie Y will ALWAYS be the definitive example of leadership for me. Playing on a destroyed knee, picking the team up on his back, leading them in points, and winning a cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Send Messier and the NHL an autographed photo of Trevor Linden and tell them we already know what a leader looks like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orka Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 the nhl was just trying to pick a popular coverboy for the award. I could think of countless better leaders that weren't half as popular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugor Hill Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Should be renamed the "Mark Messier Cross-Check From Behind Into The Bench Door Award". Or the Trevor Linden Leadership Award. One or the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhllacksintegrity Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 You forgot that Messier was also a 'notorious' head-hunter. Blind-side was his favorite approach with his elbows high....and the other team's captain was his preferred target. Modano and Linden, both clean hard-playing NHLers and men of honour,...were on the receiving end of Messier's infamous blind-side elbows, not for being jerks or in retaliation for anything,..but just because they were the more-sportsmanslike opposition and classier than him. Messier is the ultimate cheater and villian. He was also completely enabled by the league to be that way from the start, dodging accountability because it served Gretzky's rep and purposes,..and then evading on and off-ice justice never more so than after he joined-up an O-6 (NYR) and was shielded from by a powerful league king-pin. Messier was never an Olympian because his scruples on and off the ice were less than stgellar, and he couldn't be trusted to be disciplined, or represent his country in the prestigious Olympic tournament with any kind of honour. Horrificly - he remains the face of this league,..due to Bettman and the media horde that's beholding to the kingpins... trotting him out to front everything from helmets to cable service. And - they pay him well to do so. He acts like 'this' is do-gooding. It's not service, dude - when you front a gig that sells yourself and your helmets. Nobody wants that massive ego anywhere near their teams, as a General Manager or President. His lack of sportsmanship, humility, integity, and respect for his fellow union bros...is completely off-putting in 2015. The fact that the 'Messier Award' is a fairly recent league incarnation is a farce,... because he's hardly a positive role-model for today's NHL team captains, at a time when character matters and head-hots are all so deplorable. Sounds a little like the current Phlems team, everything they seem to uphold, so maybe he is their spokesperson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-SN- Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Messier having a leadership award named after him is like Pronger heading the Player Safety Division. Wait... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magikal Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 I don't want anything named Messier ever coming near the Canucks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
24K PureCool Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 That is an award I will wish no Canucks ever wins. Heck, Canucks should donate an award to the NHL named the Henrik Sedin Play Maker award awarded to the player with the most assist in the regular season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LK Ultra Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 I don't know how but apparently Mark Messier recently had an award named after him called the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award. The qualifications for winning require a player to be "the player who exemplifies great leadership qualities to his team, on and off the ice, during the regular season." I realize he is a HOF player. He was incredible with the Oilers, he is largely responsible for recruiting most of them to wear NY Rangers jerseys in 1994 and the Rangers fan base see him as a savior. But as a Canucks fan, he is the antithesis of the very qualities his award is suppossed to reward. He came to this team out of spite and malice to punish the owners of the NY Rangers, the Dolans. Patrick Ewing of the Knicks got a huge contract from them that off season and he felt slighted so he took the huge money from VanCity as a proverbial FU. Great leaders usually turn tail and bolt for the money, right? During his 3 seasons, he proceeded to alienated Bure and Mogilny and hindered and crippled their success in favor of his own. He ostracized and banished Trevor Linden, so he could be the leader of "his" team. Linden, who in 1997 was already beloved as the true heart of the Canucks, both by fans and ownership. He forced a system of hockey this team couldn't play under Mike Keenan. He asked for trades for the wrong bit players to surround him. Then he moped like a child until the Rangers claimed Mea Culpa and resigned him. That's the player the NHL chooses to be a benchmark for "exemplifing great leadership qualities to his team'? How do you defend his actions while playing in Vancouver then? "On and off the ice?" He did nothing for the community. Quite the opposite from everything I can find during his tenure in Vancouver. "During the regular season," Well that makes sense, since his time here certainly never allowed this team for thrive in the post season. I know I'm biased and I may even be pandering to the people who will read this but shouldn't this be the Trevor Linden Leadership Award? He led the NHLPA. He's shown time and again to be the heart and soul of his team both on and off the ice in VanCity, Montreal, Long Island, Washington D.C. and again in Vancouver. I've never heard a competitor speak ill of him as a player or a man and any further credentials can be seen in his humble, undocumented charity works that only even came to light during his retirement ceremony! Am I wrong CDC? Don't forget he also demanded to wear the deceased Wayne Maki's retired #11. Now THAT is the antithesis of class and "leadership". AND he got the Canucks away from the familiar skate logo, color scheme and jerseys. It's incredibly arrogant to spend three years of your career playing for a team you hate just to troll the whole franchise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandmaster Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Don't forget he also demanded to wear the deceased Wayne Maki's retired #11. Now THAT is the antithesis of class and "leadership". AND he got the Canucks away from the familiar skate logo, color scheme and jerseys. It's incredibly arrogant to spend three years of your career playing for a team you hate just to troll the whole franchise. I don't know why people bring that up. That number was not retired. It was available. Also for those bringing up Linden, that led to one of the greatest trades in Canucks history. We got a Sedin and Bert out of it. We got Lui out of Bert. It was a legacy that helped this team for a couple generations. I'm not a Messier fan, hated the guy when he came here and floated for 3 years. He had no drive, didn't care, absolutely no heart (which he was allegedly famous for) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2SKATES1STICK Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Regardless of what he did in Vancouver (or what he didn't do in Vancouver), I personally think it's a farce that there is an award named after Messier. I can go into a bunch a reasons why, but I think there are a number of other players that are more deserving of having an award named ahead of him for leadership...Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr and Mario Lemieux are three that reflexively comes to mind. lemieux wasn't a leader. a beast, yeah, but there were many better leaders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand17 Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 I'm not a Messier fan at all but doesn't he have 6 Stanley Cups. Seems like a good reason to have an award named after you. Every great player from past eras will have a dirty streak in them because that's how you won back then..well except Wayne but he had goons do it for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avelanch Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 if a canuck were to win it i would love for them to walk up to the podium, walk right by the trophy and just say "i decline" and walk off stage without acknowledging messier or his ridonculous award. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MajorPenalty Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 I'm not a Messier fan at all but doesn't he have 6 Stanley Cups. Seems like a good reason to have an award named after you. Every great player from past eras will have a dirty streak in them because that's how you won back then..well except Wayne but he had goons do it for him. Many people have more cups than Messier. Not a good enough reason to name anything after him. On a slightly related topic, a few years ago, messier was the spokesman for lays potato chips. They had a contest where, if you won, messier would bring the cup to your house. If that piece of s#*t showed up at my house with the cup, I would take the cup and slam the door in his stupid face. That would be so rewarding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-DLC- Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Stevie Y before Messier! Exactly. Burnaby Joe? Anyone but cringeworthy MM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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