I think we all know that
Mark Messier was a great hockey player and a revered captain of Stanley Cup winning teams.
He is arguably the greatest captain in NHL history, a true leader on the ice, the bench, and in the locker room.
However, he is known in some circles as being a tough guy, even showing up in one of Stan Fischler's books, Bad Boys.
Was he a tough guy though or just a thug with a reputation, someone not to be messed with because of his stature in the league?
Marty McSorely beat him down twice, gets real tough with
Joel Otto while he's on his knees pinned to 4 other players, gets real tough with Darius Kasparitis throwing a punch while the little bastard has his gloves on, gets real tough with midget
Jason Blake, almost choking him out in this small compilation of
Mark Messier "fighting".
Here's Mess jumping wildly into a scrum and jumping Jason Arnott from behind. As the linesman has Arnott in a bear hug, Mess takes a cheap shot at Arnott while he's defenseless. Is this a trend?
Since I can't seem to find any more fights, here are the cheap shots that i know this guy for, here's 3 against the
Pittsburgh Penguins alone-
Total cheap shot on Mike Modano, at least he didn't use his elbow that time-
Wait, I found another "fight" against
Vladimir Konstantinov- wow. Mess is so scary even the linesman doesn't want to tangle with him!
Here's another cheap shot on Frank Musil-
Here's another one at the end of this video on a Toronto player-
Here's another-
Here's Captain Courageous getting tough with Valeri Zelepukin, he really loses his temper-
Heres another typical Messier "fight" against
Zarley Zalapski, throws a cheap shot as the linesmen holds the OTHER guy. What a dick-
I'll never forget his elbow on
Ric Nattress way back when but can't seem to find video of it.
The guy got away with murder on the ice because he was so "respected" by other players and officials and I still cannot figure out why.
Why is he lumped in with real tough guys who don't throw cheap shots? 50 fights in his career, playoffs included and was there a single one where he squared off and actually traded punches? I can find no evidence of this, only him throwing cheap shots, gloved punches, face washes, elbows, knees, leaving his feet, using his stick, the guy was as dirty as any super pest like
Matt Cooke and he really hurt guys but he's known as a "leader" and a "super star".
That really bugs me.