NEW YORK -- Mark Messier didn't finish the sentence.
He told reporters at the NHL All-Star Game that he's decided he wants to be a general manager.
In fact, he wants to become general manager ... wait for it ... of the New York Rangers!
Messier told Sun Media yesterday that he wants to take over from his old coach and GM when Glen Sather retires from the job in New York. Messier led the team to a first Stanley Cup since 1940 back in 1994.
Furthermore, Messier says he has decided to get proactive about it.
He's planning to move back to New York and make it his primary residence and plans to talk to Sather about the idea after his Feb. 27 banner-raising in Edmonton.
"I'm going to have discussions with Glen. I don't know how long Glen is going to keep doing it. Maybe he'll continue for another five or 10 years.
"I just know New York fits best for me and my family. And this is what I know best and what I love the most," said Messier of taking two years away from the game to think through what he'd like to do with the rest of his life.
"I'm going to put my kids in school in New York," he said of the two toddlers in his new family.
Messier's dad Doug wonders if there's already something going on in the background.
He says he hasn't talked to his son about it, but the fact that Mark decided to move back to New York tells him there has to be some method to his madness.
"He's not moving back just to go to nightclubs. He must know something."
At Madison Square Garden yesterday, where the final day of a four-day Mark Messier leadership camp was held, Sather spoke to the subject.
Could Messier move back to New York and begin an apprenticeship under the current Rangers GM?
"He probably could," said Sather. "We'd have to sit down and figure out a lot of details.
"The first thing would be to be sure it's what he really wants to do because it's not something you can work at part-time. I talked to him previously, just last spring, and he wasn't sure.
"I'm glad he's interested. He's been able to accomplish everything he set his mind to at this stage in his life.
"Most guys who have stepped in as a general manager have worked to get a little background, either in coaching or working under others in an organization. I think there are necessary steps to take."
Doug Messier says he can see it.
"Mark has been away from it a bit now. He's had time to really think about it and he's come to the conclusion he wants to get back into hockey."
Mike Keenan, the coach of that 1994 New York Rangers team - who coached one of the teams in the Captain's Cup at Messier's weekend leadership camp - can see it, too.
"I think Slats would be respectful of Mark's wish to do that. There is such a strong relationship with Mark and Glen.
"And Mark has probably already learned a lot from Glen. To be mentored by Glen to take over ... I think Glen would probably be proud to pass the torch to him."
Former Ranger and Oilers teammate Jeff Beukeboom can see it. "It wouldn't surprise me. It wouldn't surprise me one bit. It would be hard not to give it to him, too."
Beukeboom said having Messier in the job would bring on "extreme pressure."
Beukeboom laughed. "Which he'd relish," he added.
Attending Messier's camp for the last four days, he said, really opened his eyes to the idea that Messier might be able to succeed as a GM.
"Seeing him here this weekend, the way he's poured himself into his camp and his attention to detail, I can see him doing the job."
And bringing another Stanley Cup to New York?
