#11 hangs 'em up..

You know, you can't exactly call yourself surprised when a pro athlete who's been in the league for 25 years retires...

But, all the same, it took the wind out of my sails a little bit yesterday when I heard that Mark Messier-- the Mess-iah; the Jaw; the toughest man in hockey; most importantly (to me at least) the man who brought a Stanley Cup to the New York Rangers-- has retired.

I grew up a casual hockey fan-- but even I knew, watching those Edmonton teams in the 80's, when everyone was talking about Gretzky (and why wouldn't they?), Messier stood out as the tough, gritty skater who just always seemed to be in the right place at the right time-- whether it was to deliver the puck, or to deliver a hit.

When he came to the Rangers in 1991-- he'd already won 5 Stanley Cups in Edmonton-- his hometown, no less-- so you'd think winning one more would be an anti-climax. But Messier seemed to flourish in New York. When he came to town, he guaranteed a Cup. And New York became his adopted hometown. But he never seemed to relish the limelight-- even when he fulfilled that guarantee in 1994. He led by example. He gave gracious interviews. And he always attributed the success of the team to his teammates. And then he hung up his skates and went home.

Rangers fans everywhere wept the day he signed with Vancouver-- and, strangely, even he never seemed happy to go. It was like a short, bad dream. And then he was back in uniform with the Rangers. And we could hope that all would be well with hockey again.

But Mess was slowly starting to give into injuries and his time on the ice was more and more limited... you knew in the back of your mind that this day would come

But what a leader. Toughness through and through. Hardly seems possible he's Canadian!