Oil honors best-ever leader in team sports

This is the last Oilers Stanley Cup Championship, from 1990. Looking at this picture and a much younger Mark Messier makes me feel a bit older. And I felt a lot older the other night when the Oilers retired #11 in a great ceremony at Rexall Place. Watching the montage of video clips from those great Oiler teams in the 1980s really brought back many memories. It seems so far away now.

I still remember where I was when the Oilers won their first Stanley Cup in 1984 - in my living room, really excited that they finally managed to beat the Islanders. and I remember the team's last Stanley Cup, after they beat the Boston Bruins. I heard the news on on the radio, and I watched a tape of the game the next day. (At the time, the NHL decided to broadcast its games on SportsChannel America, which was in about 10 homes at the time.) And I remember where I was when I heard the news that the Oilers had traded Mess. I'd heard rumors, but I didn't think the team would really do it.

Anyway, it sure was great to see, in many ways, my favorite hockey player ever back in Oiler blue the other night. The pictures really are quite cool.

Love this shot.

Some say that it's inappropriate for players to handle the Stanley Cup in retirement ceremonies like this. I say hogwash. It should be judged on a case-by-case basis, but Messier has his name on the Stanley Cup six times, and is the only man ever to captain two Stanley Cup winning teams. He's earned the right to appear with the Cup when his number is retired.

I love this shot, and notice how he's holding the Cup - not like players do when they win the Cup and parade around the ice. I know, it's subtle, but I did notice it. For instance, look at how Messier holds the Cup in the top picture, taken immediately after the Oilers beat the Boston Bruins to win the Cup in 1990, and how he holds it above.

This is the last time I will ever see Messier with the Cup in this uniform on Edmonton ice. It was a special moment I'll never forget.

The greatest leader in the history of team sports alternated from smiling from ear to ear to...

...being an emotional, sobbing man, humbled by the Oilers raising his number to the rafters to hang with other Oiler greats. Messier has always worn his heart on his sleeve, so this was anything but unexpected. He was a giant on and off the ice, and I miss him as a player more than I can describe here. Anyone still want to say that real men don't cry? Yea right.

It was great to see the old Oilers in attendance to congratulate Mess, including Wayne Gretzky (left), and to the right of Mess, from left to right: Paul Coffey, Grant Fuhr and Jari Kurri, all of whom have their numbers retired by the Oilers as well. The Oilers kept it classy and formal, too - Messier was the only former Oiler who was wearing a jersey, instead of a greeting line of former players all wearing their old jerseys.

The Oilers also considered the fans during the ceremony, too; Messier made several laps around the ice and greeted many fans to pay homage to his 12 years in Edmonton. My favorite part was when he held up the Oilers crest on the front of his jersey and so proudly showed it to the crowd. To many/most hockey fans, he'll always be a New York Ranger, the man who ended the crazy-long Stanley Cup drought on Broadway. No doubt that cemented his reputation as a legend, but he'll always be an Oiler to me. Hey, he won five out of his six Stanley Cups up north, so it's a fair argument.

Finally, the night concluded with Messier holding his son, while watching what we'd all been waiting for...

..his #11 being raised to the rafters. He is the only Oiler in team history to wear #11, and now, no one else ever will.

Those days are long gone, but I can't help but wonder how many Stanley Cups the Oilers would have won had they not traded Gretzky and Messier. Seven? Eight? We'll never know, but the number surely would have been higher than the five the team did win.

I feel a little bit older today, and a lot sadder, realizing that the glory days of the Oilers are long gone. The way the team is progressing, it may be a long time before I see another Stanley Cup in the best hockey city in the NHL. Maybe not, but it's hard to be optimistic right now after the Ryan Smyth trade. It's a young, talented team, but the team has to mature with the right mix of players at the right time. Losing Smyth will really hurt this team down the road.

Photos from AP

A big NHL day, but Messier is my highlight

What a difference a year makes. Last year, on the day of the NHL trading deadline, I was excited beyond words, because I just knew my Edmonton Oilers were going to do something. This year, the team is much worse, and it's not at all a foregone conclusion that the Oilers will do anything to make this team better in the short term, and more importantly, to make the playoffs.

Right now, Edmonton has to be as much of a long shot to make the postseason as Al Gore is to enter the presidential race. It's huge letdown for me. I'm hoping against hope that Oiler GM Kevin Lowe does something to shoot this team in the butt, but this team has the look and feel of next year's team.

More importantly today, the Oilers might move #94, Left Winger Ryan Smyth. He's been an Oiler for over a decade, and if they don't get the feeling they can resign him, they will trade him today, since he becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. It will be a sad day indeed if that happens.

Tonight might be one of the few bright spots this season for any long-time Oiler fan. Tonight, the Oilers honor one of the greatest players in NHL history, their former captain, #11, Mark Messier.

Yesterday, it was the City of Edmonton's turn...

Messier, an Edmonton native, had a street named in his honor, Mark Messier Trail. Cool.

Many former Oiler greats are in the city this week to honor Mess, including Paul Coffey (above). I have a special place in my heart for all of those Oilers from the 80s, but for my money, with a tip of the cap to Ray Bourque, Coffey was the best defenseman I've ever seen play the game.

I'll feel the same way tonight, Mess. Watching his #11 being raised to the rafters will be truly emotional for me. I always feel a little bit older seeing these. I don't get moved to tears very often when watching sports - championships (or lost ones) and number retirements are a few of those times. I wept when I watched Wayne Gretzky's last game in 1999. Tonight, I will undoubtedly weep again.

Lots more on the NHL trading deadline and Messier later tonight and tomorrow.