Messier

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The red goal lamp is lit behind the net and a steel-eyed player skates away with business-like efficiency, then breaks into a thousand-watt grin and embraces his teammates. Hockey fans don\'t need to see the name on the back of the sweater to know who scored. It could only be one player - Mark Messier.

Messier by Jeff Z. Klein is the most detailed examination ever published about this hockey icon.

\"The Messiah\" to New York Rangers fans for bringing the 1994 Stanley Cup back to the Big Apple for the first time in 54 years, \"Moose\" to Edmonton Oilers fans from 1979-91 for using his skates, stick and fists to clinch five Cups with best friend Wayne Gretzky, and a national hero for helping his Team Canada win three world titles, Messier has been all things to all players, coaches, fans and family members - from victor to vanquished, beloved to bum (just ask the fans in Vancouver).

For the first time ever, the man behind the laundry list of awards and statistics is revealed in all his complexity. Messier shows the side of the player few get a chance to see - a student of philosophy, an unadvertised community volunteer and a man who takes every chance to hit the beaches with his family whenever he can. Messier also reveals the hell-raising party animal renowned for his late-night antics, the beautiful supermodels he has dated and the wild urban legends that have arisen around rumors of his private life.

Messier has become one of hockey\'s most recognizable and decorated stars, and is universally regarded as one of the most effective team leaders in any sport. He has been a member of six Stanley Cup championship teams, been named to 14 All-Star games, won the Hart Trophy (regular season MVP) twice and the Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff MVP) once and is the only man in history of the game to captain two different Cup-winning clubs.

In Messier, fans can now learn the true story behind all the myths, awards and accolades that even now continue to surround one of the greatest living legends in team sports.

About the Author
Jeff Z. Klein is an editor with the New York Times Magazine and is the former sports editor of the Village Voice. Though a life-long Sabres fan, the peak moment of his life occurred on June 14th, 1994, when he drank champagne out of the Stanley Cup in the dressing room of Messier\'s victorious Rangers. This is his fifth book.