In this episode, Mark Messier, six-time Stanley Cup champion, shares the most valuable lessons he picked up over 25+ years of professional hockey resulting in one of the longest and most decorated careers in hockey history. Mark shares what lead to his unique brand of humble leadership, how he was able to get talented individuals to effectively work as a team, the importance of maturing and evolving as a person, and how he was able to stay calm and perform at his best under enormous amounts of pressure. Additionally, we go through his favorite moments as a player, what it was like playing with and learning from The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, and much more.

Subscribe on: APPLE PODCASTS | RSS | GOOGLE | OVERCAST | STITCHER



We discuss:

Overview of Mark’s extraordinary 25+ year professional hockey career [7:15];

The trend towards kids focusing on one sport earlier and earlier—A good or bad thing? [12:00];

Mark’s early passion for hockey, and when he realized it could be his “job” [14:15];

Going pro at age 17 [19:30];

Mark’s favorite experience playing professional hockey [25:45];

Playing with (and learning from) the great Wayne Gretzky [26:40];

A hard lesson learned in his first year as a pro [32:00];

Lessons learned from losing his first Stanley Cup Finals [35:45];

Redemption—Winning his first Stanley Cup and the beginning of a dynasty in Edmonton [41:15];

Importance of team character [54:00];

The shocking trade of Wayne Gretzky, and Mark stepping up as the new leader and team captain [59:30];

Playing for the New York Rangers—the lure of the city and the pressure to perform [1:07:00];

Ending the 54-year championship drought for the New York Rangers [1:13:30];

Becoming a great leader [1:16:30];

How to win the mental war against your opponent [1:20:30];

Opposing players for which Mark had great respect [1:22:00];

Retiring after an unbelievably long and lustrous career [1:27:00];

How to leverage stress and nervousness into a positive force [1:32:45];

The most important quality—A willingness to learn, improve, and evolve [1:36:00];

What does Mark do today for exercise to stay in great shape? [1:44:30];

Why playing sports is such a great thing for kids [1:49:30];

The Mark Messier Foundation [1:53:00];

How has Mark avoided the “loss of identity” feeling which plagues many retired athletes? [1:56:15];

Does Mark think it’s possible to reproduce a team as good as his Oilers teams of the 80s? [1:59:30];

Would Mark ever want to coach in the NHL? [2:03:00];

Will the Toronto Maple Leafs ever win the Stanley cup? [2:04:00]; and

More.

§

Sign up to receive Peter's expertise in your inbox Sign up to receive the 5 tactics in my Longevity Toolkit, followed by non-lame, weekly emails on the latest strategies and tactics for increasing your lifespan, healthspan, and well-being (plus new podcast announcements). Email *

















Overview of Mark’s extraordinary 25+ year professional hockey career [7:15]

Mark retired from hockey ~14 years go

Played in the NHL for 25+ years

Started professionally at age 17 (in the WHA )

Amazing Oilers teams of the 1980s

Playing for the great Edmonton Oilers team in the 1980s

Gretzky , Kurri , Coffey , Lowe , Fuhr , Anderson , and Messier

Hard to imagine that modern free agency rules would ever allow a combo like this to exist on one team

That team “put Edmonton on the map”

Figure 1. 1980 Oilers – Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, Anderson. Image credit: thehockeywriters.com

“Once I started really going abroad, and that really hit it home with that we were doing something special, and actually, we had a really special team with some amazing players, that was being recognized around the world.”

The trend towards kids focusing on one sport earlier and earlier—A good or bad thing? [12:00]

Mark grew up in near Edmonton

His father played for the Portland Buckaroos and then in 1968 they moved back to Edmonton

Starting playing hockey at 6 years old

Mark played other sports like baseball in the springtime

The trend towards earlier and earlier specialization

Some would dispute is not the most healthy thing for kids to specialize so early

A better approach actually, …..

{end of show notes preview}

Would you like access to extensive show notes and references for this podcast (and more)? Check out this post to see an example of what the substantial show notes look like. Become a member today to get access. Become a Member