Burnside: A Sit Down With Mark Messier
For some this will appear as though Mark Messier has returned from the wilderness to resume his rightful place in the game he dominated for years as a player. For some this will appear as though a reconciliation as though Messier has been absent, perhaps disenchanted, perhaps disenfranchised since leaving the game after the 2004-05 lockout.
Except none of that would be entirely true.
Messier, who has a book coming out this week entitled ‘No One Wins Alone: A Memoir’ and who recently took on a prominent role with ESPN’s new national hockey coverage, has always maintained his connection to the game. He was just connected in a way that was directly opposed to how fans recall him during his Hall of Fame career.
Messier spoke to DailyFaceoff.com about writing the book alongside author Jimmy Roberts, his transition to television analyst and his belief that he has much to give to an NHL team looking to add to their hockey operations department should such a call ever come.
The thought going through Chris Chelios' mind is ________?
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Scott Burnside: At what point were you, ‘you know what I want to go down this path, I want to take a hard look at where I came from and what I accomplished?’ with the book?
Mark Messier: A couple of things happened. I’d always been really interested in Pat Riley’s ‘The Winner Within’ and Phil Jackson’s ‘Sacred Hoops’. I’d read a lot of books on leadership. I’d been asked to write a book but I wasn’t really that interested in writing just a hockey book. And then I met Jimmy Roberts up here (Messier is calling from his longtime home in Greenwich, Connecticut) who had written a book called ‘Breaking The Slump’ and was kind of delving into the psychology of sports and I wanted to talk about leadership and team sports and the spirit around playing on a team so we started talking about it. I gave him some notes that I’d collected over the years doing speeches and he seemed to liked it and we ended up saying let’s give it a go.
SB: What was the process of actually writing the book with Jimmy like? Was it different than you thought?
MM: Jimmy and I would get together weekly or biweekly. It was tough through the pandemic but we made time to do it. Obviously you hear about people when they write a book how challenging it was for them and I feel the same way. It was a very challenging to write a book that hopefully has something to say and then to remember all events that happened over 60 years and going back and talking about it. It was fun but very challenging.
SB: What parts did you find challenging?
MM: Being honest. And trying to be honest trying to put together an outline that would be interesting to a wide range of readers. Not just the hockey community, but business people and kids and boys and girls and whoever decides to read it, that they might be able to take something from it. You’re always asking yourself is this interesting? Is this important? Is there a lesson here? So I think there’s always some insecurities that you’re writing a good book and hopefully it turned out okay.
SB: Were there people you went to and said, I’d like to tell this story or I’d like to share this? Because memory’s a funny thing.
MM: I can only speak to my memory and of course I got a lot of help from people that could jog my memory, timelines and events and perspective. The book is supposed to be a positive book. I wasn’t interested in disparaging or writing negatively about anything. Or anybody. All my experiences were positive in a way that I took something from them or grew from them or became better for them. That was my intent. To write a book about leadership and my experiences and part of being a book about leadership I had to be honest and truthful but at the same time find a way to put a positive spin on things. I’m a believer that life is too short to walk around with heaviness towards anything or anybody. The great thing about time is you just put things in perspective. I made 10,000 mistakes in my career and in my lifetime. Nobody’s perfect in that regard and certain things you wish you could do different or do different or whatever but in the end you can’t and so you just learn from it and hopefully do better next time.
SB: When you got the final draft, when you hold that in our hands what’s that moment like?
MM: To be honest with you a little bit like winning a Stanley Cup. In the way that you’re so overwhelmed with the experience that you can’t even internalize what it means until many days or months after the fact. The book was the same thing. It’s so hard to write the book and then it’s so hard to edit it and the reiterations and more reiterations. And when you finally feel like you put the pen down and walk away from it you’ve just got to get away from the book. At some point in the next while, whether it’s the launch of the book on the 26th or whatever, I’m going to have a better perspective on what means to have written a book and I think I’ll have a better appreciation. Again, no one writes a book along and no one wins alone so the theme just seems to be intertwined everywhere.
SB: With your work now with ESPN, do you think the process of what you went through in putting the book together do you think that will help you in what lies ahead which will be another type of challenge for you?
MM: You know I don’t know. ESPN was not even on the horizon when I started the book. It wasn’t planned in any way the two coming together. I wish I could be that mapped out in my life but I’m not. I do things where it feels right at the time it feels right. The ESPN thing is interesting. I guess I had a good appreciation for the media and the relationships that are required as a player and then watching Wayne (Gretzky) handle the media all those years. I think it gave me a good perspective. Back in New York, before the whole social media grew on us, the team’s messaging came through the media. That’s how you spoke to the fans, that’s how you articulated the basic overall feeling of the team. And that to me was a huge factor in the team fan base relationship. And I guess now going as an analyst ESPN my hope is that I’ll be able to share some insights into the game. From my own perspective. And then shed the light on the challenges players face in certain situations throughout the year or whatever. I’m kind of excited about it. It came at the right time in my life where I’ve got the time to do it and really concentrate on hopefully doing a good job and learning. I guess that’s the most exciting part is learning from the real professionals because I don’t take it lightly. I want to do a good job. If I’ve signed up for it I’m going to be put an effort into t and hopefully it comes through in that way.
SB: At the start of the book you write about talking to Wayne about your decisions regarding your thoughts on retirement and I wonder if you had conversations with Wayne either about the book project or about taking on the role at ESPN? (Note; Gretzky is serving as analyst with TNT which obtained a share of the national NHL broadcast rights in the United States starting this season.)
MM: Wayne’s done a number of different things over his career, books and whatnot, but we didn’t really talk too much about the book. But we did speak when we were deciding whether to do the work with TNT and ESPN and Wayne has an amazing perspective on the game through so many different levels that I think it’s going to be really great to see that. To have his cachet and just his resume if you will, his perspective on the game from many different levels is really encouraging and I think with ESPN coming on and building an amazing team our hope is we can do the same thing on our side.
SB: I’m sure people will try and pass this off as Messier versus Gretzky or a competition between the two networks and broadcast teams. But to me, especially with both entities…there should be some synergy. Maybe you push each other?
MM: I think a healthy competition is great. One of the reasons why Wayne and I worked so beautifully together is that we were so different and we brought different elements to the team to the game. There was never a conflict in any way. And I look at it the same way here. We have a shared passion with the hockey. Both of us love the game. Loved our experiences in the game. Loved being part of a team and creating that kind of incredible atmosphere around a team. And I think the same thing goes for what we’re doing now. We’re probably going to do it differently but in the end if we want the same results so I think it’s all good.
SB: I want to see both broadcast teams at all star in Vegas, maybe a broadcast summit. You have a lot of really competitive people on both sides of the ledger. My sense is that’s going to come out in the product.
MM: I think you’re right. and I think competition is great. I want TNT to do great because it’s going to push us to be great. You know Calgary pushed us to be better in those years in Edmonton. All the competition in sports or whatever forces you to be better. And to me that’s just a great sign and overall that the real winner is the NHL and all its fans.
SB: Do you feel like with your book coming out and with ESPN that you have reattached yourself to the game or has that attachment always been there but just been maybe below the surface or out of the public eye?
MM: Well I thought when I retired I would move away from hockey but it wasn’t the case. In fact I watched hockey since I’ve retired now for the last 14 years probably every day of the week and certainly glued to the TV sets during the playoffs. One is because I love the game. I love watching the game just as a fan. Two I’m interested in the way the game is changing and the equipment is changing and technology is changing, the rules are changing and ultimately the overall effect it has on the entertainment and the value of the game. And then of course my leadership award keeps me current in what’s going on in the league and the great players that are playing it. Even though I haven’t been directly involved in the game other than those four years with New York the game has never left me. I am current with the players. So I think the transition should be fairly seamless.
SB: Were there times where you imagined being a GM or a similar executive role with an NHL team? I think of Chris Drury’s journey, or Joe Sakic or Steve Yzerman, your contemporaries in many cases. Are you regretful that you didn’t have that take that path or have that opportunity or do you think of it in those terms?
MM: Well I think like anything else you need someone to believe that you can help. If you have that, if you’re asking me do I think I can help an organization, franchise, yes. Obviously the answer is yes. But you have to have somebody that’s willing to give you that opportunity, that believes in you, that you can do that. Now I’m not actively looking for that position. But I would obviously be interested to team up with somebody in a team and an organization that has a shared philosophy because I know how hard it is to win and it starts with people it starts with good people and it starts with a culture and in creating a culture and moving on down the line. So if the right opportunity came along which it hasn’t and at some point I would definitely look into that.