Jason Arnott brings a new outlook into what may be a make-or-break season for him.
If the words were spoken by someone other than Glen Sather, they would be considered blasphemous.
Jason Arnott, Mark Messier? Mark Messier, Jason Arnott? In the same breath, same paragraph, same universe?
“Jason Arnott could be a leader like Mark Messier,” said the Edmonton Oiler president and GM, who is attempting to harness the raw power and talent of the 23-year-old Arnott in much the same way as he did more than decade ago with a young Moose on the loose.
“What a lot of people don’t realize is how Mark grew into his leadership role with us,” Sather added. “He wasn’t a great leader the day he landed in here, he was a talented young kid full of piss and vinegar and I see a lot of the same things in Jason. There’s no question about it as far as I’m concerned, Jason could go on to be one of the great leaders in this league.”
It behooves us to point out that a 23-year-old Messier already had separate seasons of 50 goals and 106 points and was about to win the Conn Smythe Trophy en route to the Oilers’ first Stanley Cup win in 1984. Let us not overwork the comparisons of today’s Oilers to their dynastic predecessors. But if the keen eye of Sather sees something special in Arnott, some Messier-like quality, who are we to argue?
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