Messier Is a True Roll(er) Model

Left wing Eric Messier is not the best player in the Stanley Cup finals. He has scored only two goals and four points in 19 playoff games for the Colorado Avalanche.

But Messier is the only player for the Avalanche or its opponent, the New Jersey Devils, discovered in a roller hockey league. And that makes him unique among a stable of all-stars and future Hall of Famers playing in this best-of-seven series.

“It was my summer job,” said Messier, who played with the now-defunct Montreal Roadrunners of Roller Hockey International. “It was just for fun.”

Undrafted as an 18-year-old, Messier planned on a career as a first-grade teacher in his native Quebec. He played roller hockey in the summer of 1995 as a lark, and to earn some extra cash.

Messier, who is not related to Mark Messier, said he earned “about $200 to $300 per game” playing for the Roadrunners, a team owned by former Montreal Canadien winger Yvan Cournoyer.

Colorado Coach Bob Hartley was tipped that Messier was someone worth watching. Hartley, then a minor league coach for the Avalanche organization, wasn’t certain the youngster was NHL material.

“I got free tickets from a reporter to go to a roller hockey game in Montreal and I remember talking to Messier the next day, after that game,” Hartley said. “I basically asked him to fill a jersey for training camp. I felt I had no room for him for the season, but if he would come and spend two or three weeks with me at training camp, I would put him in shape and he would go play college hockey.”

There were several injuries at camp and, quite suddenly, Messier had a job as a No. 7 defenseman.

“By Christmastime, he was my top defenseman,” Hartley said.

Slowly, but certainly, Messier progressed from minor league defenseman to valued winger on a team that’s only two victories away from its first Stanley Cup championship since 1996. Game 4 will be played tonight at Continental Airlines Arena.

In a 3-1 victory Thursday in Game 3 that gave the Avalanche a 2-1 series lead over the Devils, Messier had 19 minutes 35 seconds of ice time, tops among Colorado forwards. Captain and leading scorer Joe Sakic played 19:19. Besides assisting on defenseman Martin Skoula’s first-period goal, Messier had two blocked shots and three hits.

Hartley said he has learned how to determine how well goaltender Patrick Roy is playing.

“The best gauge for Patrick is, you have to look at his eyes,” Hartley said. “I think that his eyes will tell you a lot of his secrets. Since the L.A. series, those eyes have been spitting fire. He is on a mission. He is cocky. He is confident. He is standing very tall in front of his net and he is giving us a reason to believe we will get our mission accomplished.”

Needless penalties, among them the one Devil center Jason Arnott took that led to defenseman Ray Bourque’s go-ahead goal for Colorado in Game 3, continue to anger New Jersey Coach Larry Robinson.

“We just continually shoot ourselves in the foot by taking stupid penalties,.” he said.

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Stanley Cup Finals

Best of Seven

COLORADO vs. NEW JERSEY

Avalanche leads series, 2-1

Game 1: Colorado 5, New Jersey 0

Game 2: New Jersey 2, Colorado 1

Game 3: Colorado 3, New Jersey 1

Tonight : at New Jersey, 5 p.m.

Monday: at Colorado, 5 p.m.

Thursday: *at New Jersey, 5 p.m.

June 9: *at Colorado, 5 p.m.

*-if necessary; all times PDT