Mark Messier still thinks about Rangers’ Stanley Cup Game 7 ‘every day’
By Ryan Glasspiegel,
7 days ago
Mark Messier doesn’t need to let his mind wander to the Rangers’ epic Game 7 Stanley Cup championship victory because New Yorkers are always bringing it up to him.
Messier and legendary actor Danny DeVito spoke to The Post on behalf of “Game 7,” the documentary they co-executive produced that explores the two best words in sports and debuts on Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service on Tuesday.
The Post asked Messier how often he still thinks about the Rangers’ title over the Canucks 30 years ago when he’s not on an interview junket remembering the moment.
“There’s probably not a day that’s gone by in the 30 years living in New York City that I’m not reminded of it. That brings me back to thinking about it,” Messier said.
“Whether someone’s commenting — on the street, on the subway, in a taxi, in a restaurant, at a game — for 30 years being in New York City I’m reminded every day and think about it every day.”
The Rangers had seen Vancouver win Games 5 and 6 before finally ending their 54-year Stanley Cup drought with a tense 3-2 Game 7 win.
That series had proceeded another thrilling seven-game series between the Devils and Rangers, which included Messier’s famous guarantee before Game 6 and the legendary Stefan Matteau overtime winner in Game 7.
Does the axiom that so-and-so will never have to buy a drink or meal in a city where he won a championship apply to Messier?
“I prefer to pay but every once in awhile I get a beer thrown my way,” Messier chuckled.
Messier noted that the 1994 Rangers recently had a 30-year reunion in New York where 16 of the 22 players from the team got together for a weekend that included watching the docu-series.
“It was an emotional moment for all of us to re-live that together in an intimate theater,” Messier said.
DeVito became drawn to sports as a kid in a household with split baseball allegiances, as his dad rooted for the Brooklyn Dodgers — he was heartbroken then the team moved to Los Angeles, but joked that as a NY-to-LA transplant himself that he grew to understand it — and his mother was a Yankees fan.
“I am a sports enthusiast to a degree where I’ll push everything aside to watch a Game 7,” DeVito said.
“When there’s a playoff, it doesn’t matter what sport it is, I’m in there because I’m in the thrill-speaking aspect of this whole journey. When I heard about this project, I related to it because I feel like we all go through Game 7’s — there are these moments in life where you have prepared for, and worked so hard, and you get to a certain point and you have to make that step onto the abyss. When the rubber hits the road, you’ve got to be ready to go.”
In addition to Rangers-Canucks, the series delves into Yankees-Red Sox from 2003, Oilers-Flyers from 1987, Mavericks-Spurs from 2006 and Cubs-Indians from 2016.
The docu-series is produced by former ESPN executive Connor Schell’s Words + Pictures and directed by Daniel Amigone.
For the latest in sports, top headlines, breaking news and more, visit nypost.com/sports/
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Comments / 0