EDMONTON – Mark Messier loves Edmonton.

The iconic Edmonton Oilers’ alumni has the City of Champions blood coursing through his veins. Messier partnered up with Budweiser to bring something special to the city.

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This morning, Budweiser lauched a limited-edition “City of Champions” can celebrating the great people and history of the city of Edmonton, on the 35th anniversary of the last Stanley Cup won by Edmonton. Fans can go to Budweiser’s website for more information on this special product.

As part of the campaign, Messier talked with The Hockey News over the phone on Friday, to discuss working with Budweiser, Alex Ovechkin breaking Wayne Gretzky’s goal record, why Edmonton is special to him, and much more.

*Please note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Read the original article here, on The Hockey News Edmonton Oilers team site.

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Caleb Kerney (of The Hockey News): Who came up with the idea of the Edmonton Limited Edition can? Did Budweiser come to you with this idea, or did you bring this to them?

Mark Messier: They've done things like this before that have been super successful – commemorative cans celebrating iconic moments. So when they pitched the idea to us that they're bringing back the City of Champions and the concept of it, I loved it. 

Being from Edmonton and having the experience of living there over the years…it really resonated with me. I look at the City of Champions, not so much what the Elks and the Oilers teams did – it's about the people. I consider the people of Edmonton, the City of Champions.

CK: What was the process of working with Budweiser like?

MM: It was really interesting to be honest with you. They wanted to know a lot of information about what it was like for that Cup: these songs that we listened to, the inspiration, the special moments that we talked about, slogans that we used. They're trying to peer into the psyche of the team and the relationship with the fans. They asked a lot of amazing questions about the team, the players, the games, and what was happening in the city at the time. They really wanted to get a feel of texture, of taking them back into that very moment.

CK: I know Edmonton was home to you for so much of your life, both your playing career and you grew up around here – with where you are right now, what does Edmonton, the city, mean to you?

MM: It means everything to me. I was reminded last year in the Finals, getting the chance to go back and spending some days there, seeing old friends, and watching the games, experiencing the games along with the fans, just how special of a time in my life it was. Not only being from Edmonton, but playing for the team. 

Hard to believe that Randy Gregg and I grew up right across the back alley from each other, and here we are, two Edmonton boys playing for the Oilers, winning Stanley Cups. 

So when I go back now, when I think of Edmonton, it shaped my life in so many different ways, both as a player and as a person. I was here in 911 and saw New York galvanized around themselves in the face of adversity. Edmonton does the same thing, in the face of adversity of the tornados (of 1987). 

We help each other up, we pull each other up, we push each other up. I said in another interview that I would travel around the world in the offseason to exotic places. It was interesting to know and talk to people from all over the world, who knew where Edmonton was because of what we had accomplished. That was always a sense of pride for me. That we've done something on a world stage that brought Edmonton to the forefront.

CK: How is this generation of Oilers – McDavid, Draisaitl, Bouchard – how are they carrying on that legacy of the City of Champions?

MM: Well, they're carrying it on very well. It was incredible to be in the rink in Game Six last year. And to feel the spirit of the team, the energy of the team, the love, and the relationship between the players and the fans. 

The fans love this team. They love McDavid, they love Draisaitl, they love the players. I don't think I see as many jerseys being worn for any one team around the league ever, and so I think they've etched their names and their personalities as people and as players into the fabric of Edmonton, like we did. 

I think everybody's cheering for them so hard to win, to really bring it full circle, including me. We're just praying that they can get back there, and really close the loop and win the Stanley Cup.

CK: It's been said that McDavid and Draisaitl are today's Gretzky and Messier. Do you see those same similarities and the same dynamics between McDavid and Draisaitl?

MM: I think any championship team has had generational players…and we're seeing it with Connor and Leon. It's hard to compare styles because I don't think anybody's ever played the game the way Wayne has, as far as stylistically. 

You can compare (McDavid) to Wayne because of the way they played. They look like each other on the ice. They skate the same, but I don't think anybody's ever, and will ever play the game the way Wayne played. 

Nobody talks about Leon or Connor anymore and trying to compare them to a player that played in the past – they surpassed that. Now they are Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. And now, when a young guy comes in the league…they're the guy that everybody's comparing to, which is a huge evolution in a player's career. You think about how many players are playing hockey globally, and to be at the very top of the sphere as being the best – that's incredible.

CK: Can you think of any other player who has entered the league labeled as an elite passer who then developed such a dangerous shot like Draisaitl?

MM: I remember Sidney Crosby wanting to score more goals, and so he went back in the summer and worked on his shot and came back (and scored 50 or more).

Leon is a special talent for so many reasons. He's got incredible size and he's an underrated skater, in my opinion. 

One of the things that made Mario Lemieux so hard to contain is, not only was he fast, his radius and his reach was massive. You try to contain him, and it was just impossible. 

Leon not only has the reach, but now, you see him holding people off with one arm, and they can't contain him in the corner. He's too strong coming off the boards. It's amazing, that he's scoring at the rate he's scoring and one of the most elite passers in the game.

CK: Alex Ovechkin recently broke Gretzky's all-time goals record. You played with Gretzky while he scored a lot of those goals, so what has it been like this season to see Ovechkin chase down and break this record?

MM: It's really incredible that Alex has been able to score consistently at the pace that he has over 20 years. Wayne was never considered, and never considered himself a natural, pure goal scorer. Wayne was always a pass-first player who made people around him better. Ovechkin would be considered just a pure goal scorer. 

Ovechkin scores in many different ways, with power, with finesse, with his shot, with grit, determination. That's what he does, he scores goals. So I think watching him stay healthy, chase down the record and eventually eclipse Wayne was great.

I think it was great for the game. I think it was great for the younger generation to see that, it brought this game of hockey to the forefront, which is always important. And I thought Alex handled the whole Chase incredibly well. He brought his teammates into the fold. There was nothing bad about it. It was just great to watch.

CK: You were the second player to ever be drafted by the Oilers into the NHL. Looking back now, with the history this team has, what does that mean to you?

MM: When I got drafted for the Oilers, I went, in the third or fourth round. I was obviously disappointed, I thought I was going to be drafted higher because I played pro hockey when I was 17/18. But the reality was, I just didn't have any equity at all. Nobody knew I didn't play junior hockey. I didn't really play well at all in the pro level. So I shouldn't have been surprised, but I guess I was expecting more. 

So got drafted in the third (round)…and sure enough, get drafted to my hometown of Edmonton that was starting out as an expansion team – and it just was unbelievable. I was just so happy to play on the team. I had no idea what was in store for us. Eventually, I was this young guy trying to make the National Hockey League, and obviously we wanted to win a Stanley Cup. 

But, Wayne changed everything in so many ways. He was such a leader, and, we learned so much from him. His preparation, how he practiced. We watched him in practice. He made me a better player, just watching him and the way he was able to use his skill set.

And here we are, celebrating an incredible franchise that had the greatest player to ever play the game in front of us, watching pure genius for years. As a fan, as a player that played with him, as a kid coming from Edmonton, you just can't dream it up.

CK: At this stage of your career, is there anything hockey-related that you haven't done yet, that you still want to do? Whether that's coaching or management?

MM: I don't think want is the right word. I'm always going to be involved in hockey in some respect. I don't look at it as something that I want to do or haven't done. Just whatever is meant to be in the future will unfold naturally. 

I love what I'm doing right now, working with ESPN, because it keeps me in the game, and I'm close to the game in many different ways. I was ready to retire when I did. And now, if I ever get back in the game from a team perspective, great. If I don't, it's great. It's got to be the right fit. As you know, it's all about the people that you surround yourself with if you're looking for success. 

So you got to be around great people with great vision, with a great work ethic, and then try to make magic happen together. So if that comes along, and someone sees the benefit of having me around, then we'll have that conversation.

CK: You played for both the Vancouver Canucks and the New York Rangers and both teams look like they're going to miss the playoffs after making the playoffs last year. Do you have any thoughts on how their seasons have gone?

MM: The ecosystem and the spirit that lives inside a team is very sensitive. As a team, you're always looking for ways to bring the team together, to galvanize the team emotionally and find a common thread that pulls everybody together. 

Even for those teams that have found the magic, you're always riding on that razors edge. And then the teams that are having a hard time finding it, they're riding that same razers edge, trying to find that magic. Trying to find that seminal moment that brings the team together closer.

You can have a great team but, if you don't have the spirit inside the room, the belief in each other, the love for each other, it's just impossible to have success. From my experience, and for the teams that I've been on that were able to win, that's what I felt. Sometimes you get it, and sometimes you don't. When you don't, then you have to figure out why, and make the necessary changes and keep searching.

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