Editing Mark Messier (section)

===Return to New York (2000–2004)===
Meanwhile, back in New York, the Rangers had fired Neil Smith as general manager following three consecutive non-playoff seasons. His successor was Messier’s former coach in Edmonton, Glen Sather, who began negotiating with the veteran former team captain and Messier agreed to terms to return to Madison Square Garden for the 2000–01 season. To mark Messier’s return to the Rangers, a press conference was called to announce the signing; during the gathering, Messier’s successor as captain, [[Brian Leetch]], ceded his position to his returning teammate and, in a conciliatory gesture, a hatchet was buried in the dirt. Messier also went one step further and guaranteed that the Rangers would return to the playoffs.<ref name="playoffs">{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/messier-stands-by-playoff-guarantee-1.289887|title=Messier stands by playoff guarantee|access-date=October 17, 2007|publisher=CBC |location=Canada | date=January 11, 2001}}</ref>

Messier's 67-point season as a 40-year-old in [[2000–01 NHL season|2000–01]] was a mark better than any he established in his Vancouver years, showing that he could still be a valuable presence, but the Rangers missed the playoffs for the fourth year running. After missing half of [[2001–02 NHL season|2001–02]] due to an arm injury, Messier recorded only 23 points and finished up next year with a 40-point season.

On June 30, 2003, Mark Messier's rights were traded to the [[San Jose Sharks]] for a fourth-round draft pick. This draft pick ended up being used to select [[Rochester, New York]] native and future Rangers captain [[Ryan Callahan]]. The Sharks held his rights for just a few hours as he would eventually go on to re-sign with the Rangers as a free agent.
[[File:Mark Messier Retirement players1.jpg|left|275px|thumb|Messier (left foreground) during his number retirement ceremony with the [[New York Rangers]]. The ceremony was held in January 2006, several months after he retired.]]
On November 4, 2003, against the [[Dallas Stars]], Messier scored a pair of goals to vault past [[Gordie Howe]] into second on the all-time point scoring list with 1,851 points, second-most in League history trailing only Wayne Gretzky.<ref name="1,851 points">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/05/sports/hockey-messier-passes-howe-on-points-list.html|title=HOCKEY; Messier Passes Howe on Points List.|access-date=November 5, 2003|work=The New York Times|first=Jason|last=Diamos|date=November 5, 2003}}</ref> Eleven days later, Messier was the only active player to play in the Legends Game at Edmonton's [[NHL Heritage Classic|Heritage Classic]], suiting up with the Oiler alumni.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thebostonchannel.com/nhl/2654365/detail.html |title=Messier Allowed To Play In Exhibition Game |work=SportsNetwork |publisher=WCVB Boston |date=2003-11-21 |access-date=2011-01-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320074644/http://www.thebostonchannel.com/nhl/2654365/detail.html |archive-date=2012-03-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref> During his last game at Madison Square Garden (a 4–3 loss to the [[Buffalo Sabres]] on March 31, 2004), Messier received applause every time he touched the puck and, after the game, received a standing ovation while he skated around the Garden and bowed to every section of the stands.<ref name="lastgame">{{cite web|url=http://newyorkrangers.com/pressbox/pressreleases.asp?id=1184 |title=messier scores in possible msg finale |access-date=October 17, 2007 |publisher=nyrangers.com |year=2004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061126045037/http://www.newyorkrangers.com/pressbox/pressreleases.asp?id=1184 |archive-date=November 26, 2006 }}</ref> At the age of 43, most media outlets believed Messier had decided to quit. The [[2004–05 NHL lockout|NHL lockout]] eliminated the next season. All speculation ended on September 12, 2005, when he announced his retirement on ESPN radio.<ref name="Retire">{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/nhl/news/story?id=2159316|title=Mark Messier retires after 25 seasons.|access-date=August 26, 2006|publisher=ESPN |year=2006}}</ref>

Messier retired eleven games behind Howe's then-NHL record 1,767 regular-season games played. Messier holds the record for most NHL regular season and playoff season games played at 1,992. Messier is one of a handful of players to have played 25 NHL seasons, doing so over four decades.