Vancouver Canucks fans might recognize a former player from the team on certain broadcasts this season — and it’s not Kevin Bieksa.
Amazon confirmed today that NHL legend Mark Messier will be part of its broadcast group for the upcoming season. He will appear during select games as an analyst across this upcoming season, and he’s filmed 10 stories from his career, which will air at different points.
Lights, camera, Prime. 🎬
Introducing the broadcast talent squad for Prime Monday Night Hockey. pic.twitter.com/hlbtygMc85
— Sports on Prime Canada (@SportsOnPrimeCA) September 23, 2024
The Canucks have four games that are already confirmed to be on Amazon’s new Prime Monday Night Hockey. Fans who tune into those games on Amazon Prime might see Messier providing analysis on his former team.
While the 63-year-old is a legend in certain NHL markets such as New York and Edmonton, Messier is infamous in Vancouver. He signed a massive deal with the Canucks in the summer of 1997 and the team was expected to contend but fell far short of expectations during his tenure.
Messier alienated Canucks fans off the ice by wearing the unofficially retired No. 11 and taking the captaincy from the beloved Trevor Linden.
The six-time Stanley Cup champion has since said that he regrets some of the way that things unfolded.
“Hindsight’s 20/20. You live and learn,” he said to Daily Hive in February. “But I think even more importantly than that is that the expectations that the team had, that were Stanley Cup… what was being sold to the fans wasn’t anywhere near what the reality was. That was more of a challenge.”
Messier has garnered sports media experience since retiring from the NHL in 2004. He’s been working as a studio analyst with ESPN, a role he will keep for this upcoming season.
Amazon is getting more involved in NHL broadcasts as it has purchased the rights to select matchups, in addition to airing a show. The company is also producing an NHL docuseries, which debuts on October 4.