Photographs of Brian Leetch's number being retired at Madison Square and Leetch acknowledging the crowd by Frank Franklin II/AP Beloved former Ranger Brian Leetch only made one mistake, mentioning Jim Dolan in his speech and the Rangers only made one mistake, letting Marian Hossa get free to score a goal. Hossa’s goal early in the second period put Atlanta in front and threatened to ruin Brian Leetch Night, but the Rangers recovered. Michal Rozsival......

Mark Messier will forever be remembered for delivering the Stanley Cup to the Rangers in 1994, his famous guarantee before Game Six of the Eastern Conference Finals that year and a tendency to cry in public. The captain had his number retired by both Edmonton and New York and is the only player ever to captain two teams to a Stanley Cup victory and he was second all-time in points scored in NHL history. Scott......

The 2007 class for the Hockey Hall of Fame was announced yesterday, and Mark Messier and Scott Stevens were both on the list. Messier, the former Rangers captain, and 2nd on the NHL's all-time point list behind Wayne Gretzky, helped the Rangers end their 54-year Stanley Cup drought in 1994. In addition to winning the Cup with the Rangers, Messier won five championships with the Edmonton Oilers. Stevens helped lead the Devils to three Stanley......

- If you like winter sports, do we have some good news for you! Not only is it bone chillingly cold out, but this weekend is the 2nd annual Winter Jam in Central Park. They are making snow for Saturday's event (from noon until 4). Activities include cross country skiing, snowshoeing, ice sculpting, an amateur rail jam, and free hot chocolate. Snowmaking began on Monday and continues through today. When done, there will be......

The building was rocking to the chants of “MVP” and Rangers’ fans were being treated to a dominant performance from a player for the first time since Mark Messier left for Vancouver. It was a night when Jaromir Jagr looked unstoppable and the idea that the Rangers would lose seemed impossible. All it took to remind the crowd of 18,200 that hockey is a team sport was a stupid penalty by Ryan Hollweg. After Jagr......

Even two years later it is hard to handle. Brian Leetch is no longer a Ranger and last night he returned to the Garden for the first time wearing an opponents’ sweater and sporting an extra 2 on his back. Unlike Mark Messier and Adam Graves, Leetch’s return was not successful as the Rangers won the contest 5-2. While it is sad to see Leetch in another jersey, you cannot argue with the results of......

It was a night to pay tribute to one of the greatest hockey players to ever lace up skates, so it was fitting that another one of the all-time greats provided the winning goal. Long after the cheers for Mark Messier had died down, Jaromir Jagr scored just 14 seconds into overtime to give the Rangers a 5-4 victory over Edmonton. Perhaps the lengthy ceremony took something out of the Rangers because they started the......

We always thought Mark Messier was a mensch, but seeing footage from his press conference last night - the prelude to tonight's game where his number will be retired and his jersey will float to the rafters of Madison Square Garden - was a little disconcerting. He turned into a blubbering, well, mess. Gothamist has nothing against men showing they are vulnerable, but when we think of Messier, we think about his Cro-Magnon skull and......

There have been few athletes in the history of New York who captured the imagination and adoration of the city the way Mark Messier did. When he uttered his famous “We’ll Win Tonight” guarantee before Game Six of the Devils series and then backed it up with a hat-trick, he became one of the true legends of Gotham, up there with Namath, Reed and Jackson. Messier announced his retirement on Monday ending a twenty-five year......

- Some of L.A. gets a blackout; so far, it doesn't seem to be Al Qaeda but rather some "overzealous cable cutting"... however, it's unlikely that blackout babies will be conceived, since power should be going up soon - NYU has taken in some students from colleges affected by Hurricane Katrina - At the Art Parade, Elijah Wood tries to dispel the "hobbits are gay" rumors - New York Rangers captain Mark Messier retires (yes,......

Gothamist's heart still flutters when we think about the New York Rangers winning the Stanley Cup ten years ago today. The Daily News revisits that sweet day and also reveals where members of the 93-94 team are today (Esa Tikkanen, whose toothless visage and cheery broken English we remember, is a clothing entrepreneur in Finland!). The NY Rangers also look back on that monumental day, which heralded a ticker tape parade and reason for hockey......

The Post reports that the New York City Marketing Development Corporation is recruiting different celebrities and NYC notables to explain why they love the city in order to develop ways to drum up tourism. A recent poll that the NYC MDC conducted says that "crime is still the No. 1 reason why tourists stay away," prompting the MDC to go to people like Russell Simmons (Phat), Sofia Coppola, Mark Messier, Dick Wolf, and Ric......

At the end of last night's loss to the Sabers, New York Rangers fans gave team captain Mark Messier a standing ovation. The fans at The Garden clearly thought that it might have been Mess's last game as a Ranger. During the game, he scored his 18th goal of the season, but the Rangers lost anyway. In the post-game press conference, Messier did not confirm or deny that this was his last home game as......