Goodbye, Captain

So I was thinking (OK, obsessing) in the days after my Captain went to Vancouver as a free agent. I thought about the past six years, and all the great moments. The Captain was a presence unlike about anyone I've ever seen, and leaves us with a heck of a lot of great memories. So how about the greatest Mark Messier memories?

I came up with a list of 21 big ones, starting from getting in the car to come home from school on October 4, 1991, and hearing the news, and not being able to contain myself--I got back out, saw a Ranger-fan pal coming out to the parking lot, and ran to meet him and tell him. We practically danced back to our cars.

And, of course, it ends with watching MSG Monday and seeing him wearing that ugly-ass sweater.

Some good, some bad, some out of left field. The top three are in order, the others sorta run together:

June 14, 1994. Still can't tell if he scored the game-winner, but who cares? The moment was him skating that damn trophy around the Garden. The look on his face. The way he mouthed "I can't believe this" to his folks.
May 25, 1994. The guarantee. The drop pass to Alex Kovalev. The backhand, the rebound, the 170-ft empty-netter. Need we say more?
October 5, 1991. Takes the penalty in OT, comes out of the box, and feeds Sergei Nemchinov for the winner at Montreal, in his first gane as a Ranger.

September 30, 1996. Sure it was against a bunch of scrubs. But Mark Messier scored a hat trick in the preseason against the Penguins. Since it was preseason, you knew it was only the diehards, the real fans, the ones who knew what it was all about. If you didn't realize it before, you sure as hell knew when we gave our Captain a long and loud standing ovation.
May 17, 1994. The first line comes out firing in Game Two against Jersey. Mark smacks some heads and scores the first goal of a 4-0 shutout. He made sure we weren't going to even THINK about going to Jersey down two games.
May 4?, 1997. Doug Gilmour's mouth meets Mark Messier's stick. Intentional? Maybe. And it sure as heck helped turn the tide of the series.
October 14, 1996. The Rangers play a listless first period and a half and a lethargic power play until Mark decides he's had enough. He calls time out, berates his buds. They come out, score, win the game, and destroy Pittsburgh two nights later before slumping again. Until...
November 26, 1996. Taking over the game, Mess saves a 1-3 road trip and maybe Colin Campbell's job. The Blueshirts beat Colorado a night later and begin their rise to regular-season above-mediocrity.
May 27, 1994. One we didn't see, but the image is amazing: Kevin Lowe says, after Valeri Zelepukin scored that damn goal with 7.7 seconds left in Game Seven, Mess talked for the full 15-minute intermission. By the time he was done, Lowie says, it felt as if the Rangers had scored to tie the game. The Rangers come out strong, and 24:24 later, Howie Rose makes the call of his life.
January 4, 1993. The Feud with Roger Neilson ends with the coach's firing. The Rangers will struggle through the regular season, limp to the end of the season (two injuries to Brian Leetch did not help), and by the time the Blueshirts are losing seven in a row to end the season, the Captain is being booed in his own building.
November 6, 1995. Three goals shy of 500 for his career, Mark Messier heads into a contest at the Garden against Calgary with that damn look. Sure 'nough, he scores the three he needs, the third on his patented wrong-foot wrister from the right side.
Was Mark jealous of Wayne Gretzky's success in New York? If he was, then he deserves an Oscar for April 23, 1997. Wayne scores a natural hat trick in the second period, and who is the guy with the biggest smile and the biggest hug for TGO? Number 11. Real jealous.
April 24, 1994. Game Four, Nassau Coliseum, Rangers 4, Long Islanders 2, until Mark comes in on a breakaway. Howie? "And here's Messier! Racing on a breakaway! Cuts in, he shoots, he scores! And 'at, my friends, will bury the New York Islanders!" Rangers sweep their archrivals, 22-3.
Late January 27, 1994--or, in New York, early January 28, 1994. The Rangers go to overtime tied at 4. Tony Amonte heads toward the King zone with about 10 seconds left, and Tony Granato jumps off the bench to cut him off. Penalty shot for Amonte. Comes in on Hrudey, and misses (miss the net, Tony, indeed). Tie game, right? Wrong. Zubov gets it into the zone, and who's there to wrap it in for the 5-4 win? Well, who's this list about, anyway?
Patrick Division Finals, 1992. The back injury made him almost entirely ineffective against the Penguins, even with Mario Lemieux gone. In Game Four (May 9, 1992), the infamous Ron Francis game, he looked pathetic on the game-winner by said Mr. Francis.
May 20, 1997. Sadly, if you think back on the final playoff round of his Ranger career, the Mark Messier image you're more than likely going to come up with is that damn empty-net goal. No, it wasn't as big a deal as some made it out to be, but seeing him shoved aside by Eric Lindros in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Finals was depressing, if nothing else. Passing of the torch? Well, in the east maybe, now that our man is in the west.
October 7, 1991. His being named captain was anticlimactic, because we all expected it even before he got here, and if you saw any tape of the pregame warmup you saw something taped over the spot where a certain letter ought to be. Didn't matter. When JD made it official on Home Opener night against Boston (won in OT by Mike Gartner), you still felt a rush. You felt like, more than in a long time (and for young'ns like me, the first time ever), this _would_ (not just could) be a team to be reckoned with.

Some undated ones:

Well, one ABOUT dates. Madonna? Frederique? My captain's going out with who? And he left all this for VANCOUVER?
Three Letterman appearances. Right after we won, when the Stanley Cup made an appearance, along with Mess, Richter, and Leetchy. Right before the banner ceremony in January, 1995, when Mess was on and Letterman lowered the Banner from the rafters of the Ed Sullivan Theater. And this year with Wayne, wearing that goofy-looking beret and calling the Fleetcenter the "Kiel Center."
One game, I can't remember when it was, but he and Ulf Samuelsson, then a Penguin, went into the corner together and came out smacking each other in a good ol' stick-swinging duel. One across the back, another across the back...