Ex-Canuck Kesler says he learned how to be an on-ice "dick" from Messier
Maybe Mark Messier wasn’t all bad for Vancouver.
It just happened when he was a member of the New York Rangers.
In a recent interview, Ryan Kesler explained how he learned some of his dirty tricks from the Hall of Famer.
It happened during Kesler’s rookie season with the Vancouver Canucks in 2003-04. Despite being a first-round draft pick in 2003, a 19-year-old Kesler had to prove himself on the fourth line.
He was playing with the likes of Darren Langdon, Mike Keane, and Brad May that season, appearing in 28 games under head coach Mark Crawford.
“They’d scrum it up, so I’d scrum it up too,” Kesler said on an appearance with the Spittin’ Chiclets Podcast. “I acted bigger than what I was, and I just continued. It really just evolved into just being a dick on the ice.”
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A game against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden in New York on February 2, 2004 left an impression on Kesler, and that’s because of Messier’s antics on faceoffs.
Messier, who was in his final season at age 43, would continually hack and whack Kesler — a rookie centre less than half his age — on draws. And he’d get away with it.
“I faced off against Mark Messier and every single draw I won, he would slash me, he would crosscheck me, he would put me in a headlock. He wouldn’t get called,” said Kesler. “Looking back on it, I think that’s who I learned from. Every single time I went against a Crosby or a McDavid, or someone, I was slashing them, I was crosschecking them — I would do anything I could to them off a draw because it’s considered a ‘battle,’ and that’s allowed.”
Kesler, who is now 38 years old, says he’s passing on this wisdom to kids hockey players he coaches in Michigan.
“I teach kids now. That’s how I’m teaching kids to take faceoffs. ‘If you lose the draw, you make them pay.’ It worked for me, and I hope I get the next generation of rats to continue it.”
Nice words for Sundin and Demitra
Kesler credits another pair of former veteran Canucks with helping him become a star: Mats Sundin and the late Pavol Demitra.
Sundin and Demitra were Kesler’s linemates in the second half of the 2008-09 season — a year that Kesler broke out offensively with 21 goals and 37 points.
“Mats taught me so much about how to protect the puck, because he was so good at protecting the puck,” Kesler said. “And then Pavol… he taught me so much about just the little details, the little skill plays, the little putting pucks into areas.
“To be honest, I loved playing with him because [Demitra] didn’t give a shit. He used to call Alain Vigneault ‘Tikhonov.’ [Vigneault] would sit him and he’d be like ‘oh, fucking Tikhonov.’ And then he starts swearing in Slovak. I would just start laughing.
“Just those two guys, they gave me the confidence. And when you play with two Hall of Famers like that, it just brings your confidence up. All the attention goes to them, and you’re left wide open. Once you start getting success in the NHL, it kind of blossoms from there.”
Kesler went on to score 59 points the next season, followed by career-best seasons of 75 and 73 points 2009-10 and 2010-11.
He spoke highly of Sundin’s quiet leadership style.
“He was very quiet. He was a guy that, even off the ice, I learned a lot from. He was always the first one at the rink. I’d go in the gym, he’d be on the bike, looked like he was there for hours, just grinding it out on the bike every day… He was just a quiet leader. He led by example, and that’s just the way he was.”
But the former Toronto Maple Leafs captain did let loose one night, Kesler said.
“He did have an epic night in Toronto when he won it in a shootout. That was a fun night.”