Despite their ambitions to compete for the Stanley Cup, it has been a slow start for the New York Rangers (8-8-2) in this shortened season. To Rangers legend Mark Messier, who currently serves as a special assistant to Blueshirts president and GM Glen Sather, that record doesn't look so bad in light of injuries.

"We're pretty thrilled to be where we are right now considering the injuries that we have sustained previously," Messier said Wednesday night at the Ice Hockey in Harlem Winter Sports Celebration in Manhattan. "We were moving along OK, a few games above .500. I guess it all depends on how you define someone's start."

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