Joby Messier (born March 2, 1970) is a Canadian former professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...
player who played 25 games in the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...
(NHL) for the
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its ho ...
between 1993 and 1995.
Playing career
Joby Messier was a member of the
Notre Dame Hounds
The Notre Dame Hounds are a junior "A" ice hockey team based in Wilcox, Saskatchewan, Canada. They are members of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL). The Hounds also had a junior "B" team that played in the South Saskatchewan Junior ...
of the
Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League
The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League is a Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League.
Open to North American-born players 20 years ...
(SJHL) in 1987-88, playing 53 games and scoring 31 points. He also collected five points in five games during the
1988 Centennial Cup and was named a tournament All-Star.
Messier enrolled at
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...
, following in his older brother
Mitch's footsteps. He played for the Spartans for four years and was a
CCHA First Team All-Star selection in his senior year in 1991-92. After his sophomore year, Messier was selected by the New York Rangers in the
1989 NHL Entry Draft
The 1989 NHL Entry Draft was the 27th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 17 at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. The Detroit Red Wings' 1989 draft has been noted as exceptionally successful, with 5,955 total NHL games played by the p ...
, 118th overall. During his time with the Spartans some of his teammates included
Rod Brind'Amour,
Kip Miller,
Jason Woolley
Jason Douglas Woolley (born July 27, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played in the National Hockey League for the Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres, and Detroit Red Wings. ...
,
Bryan Smolinski and
Rem Murray.
Following the completion of his collegiate playing days, Messier joined the New York Rangers for eleven games in 1992-93. He also dressed for 60 games with the
Binghamton Rangers
The Binghamton Rangers were an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Binghamton, New York, USA at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.
History
The market was previously served by:
: Broome Dusters of the NAHL (19 ...
of the
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...
(AHL), scoring five goals and 21 points. He played four more games with New York the following year, picking up two assists and was inserted into the lineup for ten games in 1994-95.
Messier was signed as a free agent by the
New York Islanders
The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...
on September 5, 1995, but missed the entire season recovering from a knee injury sustained in training camp. He then missed a good portion of the 1996-97 season recovering from an automobile accident on August 23, 1996.
The injury bug seemed to follow Messier wherever he went during his professional career. On November 8, 1997 he suffered a career-ending head injury while playing for the
Long Beach Ice Dogs
The Long Beach Ice Dogs were an American professional ice hockey team based in Long Beach, California at the Long Beach Sports Arena. They played until the end of the 2006–07 ECHL season.
History
The Ice Dogs trace their origins to the San D ...
of the
International Hockey League (IHL) in a game against Las Vegas.
In 25 NHL games with the Rangers, Messier had four assists and 24 minutes in penalties.
In 60 games playing for the Binghamton Rangers of the AHL, he had a +59, which is the plus/minus record in the American Hockey League (AHL). Joby accepted a full athletic scholarship Michigan State University 1988-1992 and was Captain of Michigan State University hockey team 1991-92. While still in high school; Joby was Assistant Captain of 1988 SJHL Centennial Cup Champions Notre Dame Hounds and was selected to the Centennial Cup All-Star Team 1987-1988. In 2013, the 1987-88 Notre Dame Hounds were inducted into the SJHL Hall of Fame.
Personal life
Messier and his wife, Kim, have two children Max and Ashley. Messier's brother
Mitch also played in the NHL, and they are cousins of
Mark Messier
Mark John Douglas Messier (; born January 18, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre of the National Hockey League (NHL). His playing career in the NHL lasted 25 years ( 1979–2004) with the Edmonton Oilers and New York Rang ...
.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Awards and honours
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Messier, Joby
1970 births
Living people
AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans
Binghamton Rangers players
Canadian ice hockey defencemen
Carolina Hurricanes scouts
Long Beach Ice Dogs (IHL) players
Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey players
New York Rangers draft picks
New York Rangers players
Notre Dame Hounds players
Sportspeople from Regina, Saskatchewan
Utah Grizzlies (IHL) players