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Mark Messier was a beacon of inspiration during his time with the Rangers, and now his essence will be displayed on every jersey.
As part of the organization’s centennial celebration this upcoming season, the Blueshirts and Game 7 – a multi-platform sports and entertainment brand co-founded by Messier – announced a landmark multi-year partnership that included naming the company as the team’s first-ever jersey patch partner.
This season, all Rangers jerseys – including the Centennial jersey – will sport a Game 7 patch.
It marks the first time the Rangers brought a brand partner directly onto the jersey in their 100 years of existence.
“It means a lot to me personally because of my history with the New York Rangers,” Messier told The Post over the phone on Monday. “It means a lot to us at Game 7 because of what we’re trying to build and the importance of our brand. I just think sometimes the stars align and here we are, after a lot of hard work on both sides, finally got the deal done.”
The multi-faceted partnership will debut in the Rangers’ first preseason game against the Devils in Newark on Sept. 21.
Game 7 is also expected to be a part of one of the eight theme nights the club is hosting at Madison Square Garden this season in honor of their 100-year history.
Additionally, the brand will partner with the Rangers on exclusive merchandise drops alongside an original content series that will be shown across the team’s digital channels.
People on both sides of the deal were involved in designing the patch, including Messier himself.
“The only thing that I really was vocal about is I wanted the patch to look like it’s been there for 100 years,” Messier said. “And not just something that was stuck on a jersey as a sponsorship. And I think what Game 7 stands for and what Madison Square Garden and the Rangers stand for seem to be really closely aligned. I think our patch, the way it looks on the jersey, also speaks to that. I think that was the most important thing to me.”
Once both sides expressed interest in a partnership, the two met for a formal meeting at Madison Square Garden.
The very first slide from the Rangers and MSG read: “The stage where greatness is born.”
“And that’s word for word in our manifesto,” said Mat Vlasic, the CEO of Game 7, which is also co-founded by Danny DeVito and Isaac Chera. “It was just so powerful that these two brands are so aligned on multiple levels. But this first slide, the first thing we saw when we walked in was that, and it just sort of was a natural progression from there.”
Messier, who served as a senior advisor for the Rangers from 2011-2013 before he left after he was passed over for the head coaching job, is now again working with the team he captained for a total of 10 seasons.
Knowing that he’s always going to be affiliated with the Rangers because of the club’s last Stanley Cup-winning season in 1994, Messier said to work with the organization on a business level is just as exciting for him.
So the Rangers will have a piece of Messier with them every game this season.
And after the way last season went – with outside noise affecting the on-ice product, several trades of regulars and missing the playoffs for the first time in four seasons – the Rangers could use a little of Messier’s Magic.
“The team struggled trying to unite,” Messier said of his evaluation of the Rangers 2024-25 campaign. “And that is hard. The Rangers aren’t the only team that’s ever happened to. And it can happen, it can happen quickly. For whatever reason, unless you’re actually there, we can only speculate…In broad terms, they lost the compass that really kind of guides every team. They’re going to have to get that back this year. They made some changes and hopefully that can happen.
“I believe, obviously, they’ll make the playoffs. I believe they’re good enough to make the playoffs. And as to what they can do, I think in order to really kind of evolve, some of these young players are going to have to take a step forward now. They’re going to have to be pushed now and put in a position to make a difference for the Rangers. Their core players are not getting any younger, so they’re going to need help.
“The best way to get help in my experience – even as a player that played longer – is when these young kids can come in and play major roles, and there’s going to be a little bit of a learning curve in order for that to happen, but you got to be patient. You got to continue to teach to the message. You can’t accelerate experience.”
