25 years later, you know, I haven't really put too much emphasis on any kind of individual goal, other than trying to win any particular night, trying to find a way to do that.
As a captain, I think it's important that the players really know who you are and what you stand for, what your beliefs are, and to be consistent in those if things are going good or things are going bad.
As far as how long I'm going to play, I've been committed over the last three years to just playing it one year at a time.
But I just think as a captain, everybody's different.
Coaching really is an individual philosophy.
Going from assistant captain in Edmonton to captain was an easy transition for me.
I haven't celebrated coming in No. 2 too many times.
I just think overall a lot of it has to do with conditioning and players putting in the time and the effort in the off-season to keep themselves in condition for 12 months a year.
I never was brought into the league thinking as far as, you know, statistics, things like that. We were really brought into the league in a team concept. Everything was focused around winning.
I played with a lot of great players before. They're all the same. They take a lot of responsibility for their own play, put a lot of pressure on themselves to perform and to play well.
I really think it's excellent in order to create the speed through the neutral zone and let players skate and join the rush without being impeded.
I think anybody that is one of the best players in the world, in my opinion anyway, has to have all the things that go along with that.
I think every team that I was with that we won, we won under a different set of circumstances, different types of teams. To compare is really tough.
I think now what you're seeing is guys that are in the peaks of their careers anywhere from 27 to 35 years old, seems to be when they play their best hockey.
I think the idea of the obstruction through the neutral zone and away from the puck was an excellent rule.
I think the thing you always got to keep in mind, you know, hockey is a game of one-on-one battles.
I think to compare any time you win a Stanley Cup would be unfair to all the players from all the teams.
I was assistant in Edmonton with Wayne as captain, and Kevin Lowe was the other assistant.
I would never say one was more important or more gratifying than the next because there's a tremendous amount of work, as you know, that goes into winning a cup.
I've never really spent a lot of time thinking about my individual accomplishments actually.
If I had to compare any of the two, I'd compare the first one in Edmonton, the first one here in New York because it had been so long in New York since we had won. Obviously, being the first time to ever win the cup in Edmonton, they were fairly similar in that regard.
It's a tough game, and you never want to take that aspect out of the game.
It's hard to compare any two coaches.
Like I said, a 30-year-old hockey player, even when I came to New York when I was 30, I was on the downside of my career, pretty much the end of my career.
My jersey hanging from the ceiling is going to be a symbol of the hard work of the people I played with.
Obviously every one of them was special to that particular team, all the people that were involved with it.
Obviously, like I said before, with new training techniques, all the latest knowledge, players have a bigger advantage than they used to.
Really the team often will take on the personality of its coach.
The only pressure I'm under is the pressure I've put on myself.
There was a time there in the mid '80s to the '90s there that we played six finals, three Canada Cups, we were playing hockey almost 10 months a year for a long time there.
We had built up a team in Edmonton that really knew who each other was from a personal standpoint and from a professional standpoint. Our nucleus had stayed together for a long time.
Well, my transition into being a captain was easy.
When I first started, anybody that was 30 years old was basically pretty much finished as far as being a hockey player was concerned.
When Wayne was traded, I became captain. For me it really wasn't anything - I didn't do anything or I didn't feel I had to do anything different than what I had been doing all along.
When you play long enough, everybody goes through spells and streaks and slumps of some nature. I think it's just one of the those things where you have to play yourself out of it.
You always really have to remain consistent in your beliefs and philosophy.
You have to take advantage of the time you have off in the summertime, things like that, in order to repair your body.
You know, I think it might have been a little bit different coming to New York because I came into a situation where I didn't really know, anyone other than Jeff Beukeboom, Adam Graves.
Mark played for the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL.
Captain of the Edmonton Oilers from 1988-89 through 1990-91.
In 1980-81, he potted his first hat trick on Mar. 16 vs. Pittsburgh.
Selected by Edmonton Oilers in third round (the Oilers' second pick, 48th overall) of NHL entry draft.
1989-90 Named winner of the Lester B. Pearson Award by the Players Association as the NHL's Outstanding Player.
Mark's #11 was retired by the Rangers.
Family: Girlfriend: Kim Clark Sons: Douglas Paul and Lyon Brothers: Paul and John Blum (Brother-in-law) Sister: Mary-Kay Cousins: Mitch and Joby
Mark once appeared in a commercial for Lay's Potato Chips.
You can share a link to this page with your friend!