Mark Messier opens up about surpassing Gordie Howe on all-time scoring list

While growing up, Mark Messier watched Gordie Howe cement his place in NHL history with the Detroit Red Wings. Howe had already been playing in the NHL since the 1946-47 season by the time Messier was born in 1961, but the latter had a chance to watch the second half of Howe's career, which ran through the 1979-80 season.

As a fellow Canadian, Messier knew first hand just how impactful Gordie Howe was for the game, and never imagined surpassing his all-time points record. Over 26 years and 1,767 games, Howe managed to rack up 1,850 points for the Detroit Red Wings and the Hartford Whalers.

His accomplishments put him behind only one man, The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, who amassed a whopping 2,857 points throughout his career. Despite that, throughout Messier's own career, which spanned from 1979-2004, he managed to surpass Howe's all-time points record, finishing his career with 1,887 points.

In a video released on Monday, Messier can be heard reflecting on his career, and surpassing Howe on the all-time points list.

"I dreamed of maybe of being able to play in the league one day. I never dreamt of getting into the same stratosphere as Gordie Howe. You know, years later, towards my retirement, obviously I started to get closer to Gordie Howe, which was something that I just didn't think was possible.

"To do it there on home ice in front of my family. The emotion in the rink was tangible. It was really special to do it like that."

"Gordie was a mythological legend," - Mark Messier opens up on respect for Gordie Howe

Growing up, Mark Messier's dad had a good relationship with Gordie Howe. A hockey player himself, Doug Messier spent a short stint playing within the Red Wings organization during Gordie Howe's prime years.

Given this, Mark Messier grew up with a tremendous amount of respect for Howe. Then, when he was playing in the WHA, a 17-year-old Messier had the chance to play against Howe.

Following the Detroit legend's death in 2016, Messier spoke about his career and the respect he had for the NHL legend while speaking with the New York Post:

“Gordie was a mythological legend in our house when I was growing up. When my dad played for the Portland Buckaroos of the old Western League, they belonged to the Detroit organization, so he went to a few Red Wing training camps with Gordie.

"My father had a tremendous amount of respect for Gordie, and that shone through in everything he ever had to say about him, the stories he told about him. And that filtered throughout our house and into me. Like I said, he was a mythological figure to me, and certainly not only me."

Thanks to his own historic career, Messier's name is now forever etched in NHL history alongside Howe.