Mike Bossy, who ended his career at the age of 30 and died at the age of 65, is an NHL legend from a time when the game was raw and violent.
Mike Bossy scored his career high in points in the 1981–82 season: 64+83=147. AOP
- Mike Bossy was the goaltender and superstar of the New York Islanders’ dynasty years.
- Bossy won four Stanley Cups and three playoff and two regular season goals.
- He surpassed the 50-goal mark in nine consecutive seasons, which is still the NHL record.
The Edmonton Oilers succumbed to a 2-3 loss as a guest of the St. Louis Blues early Monday morning Finnish time, but the brightest superstar of the Oilers and the entire NHL Connor McDavid still made headlines.
McDavid, who scored both goals for the visitors, became NHL history fourth fastest player to reach 1100 power points.
McDavid’s points in 726 career regular season games are now recorded at 364+737=1101.
In a smaller number of games, they have only reached 1100 points Wayne Gretzky (464), Mario Lemieux (550) and Mike Bossy (725).
Everyone who follows hockey even a little knows “Ysiys” and “Super-Mario”, but “The Boss” may have remained more distant from the superstars of the past years. With McDavid’s latest achievement, many may ask, what man?
Career ended early
Canada’s Mike Bossy (left), Wayne Gretzky and Larry Robinson celebrate winning the Canada Cup in 1984. ZumaWire / MVPHOTOS
Mike Bossy, who represented the New York Islanders throughout his NHL career from 1977 to 1987, won four consecutive Stanley Cup championships in 1980, -81, -82 and -83.
His role of Al Arbour in the dynasty team he coached was huge. Bossy was the top scorer in the playoffs three times in a row, and in the 1980–81 season he also won the regular season scoring statistics and the playoff point exchange.
For the French Canadian born in Montreal in 1957, the regular season scoring crown was the second of his career, after the first came already in his second NHL season in 1978–79.
In total, Bossy forged 573+553=1126 powers in 752 matches, which means an average of 1.5 points per match. Lukema is the third best in the NHL, and only Gretzky and Lemieux are ahead here.
Bossy also played in the playoffs with an average of more than a point (129, 85+75=160), until back problems ended his career at only 30 years old.
Brutal game
Mike Bossy on a late 1970s collectible card. AOP
In 2017, Bossy wrote to The Players’ Tribune an open letter to the young self. In it, he described the change in the NHL by saying that the NHL players of the 21st century no longer smoke cigarettes and drink black coffee during game breaks, but rather stretch and drink smoothies.
– A man with 50 goals is paid 9 million dollars a year, and fighting is considered a dying art form, Bossy wrote and continued:
– I know that last one sounds good to you, because you get more than your fair share of violence. I am writing to you now because you will soon have to go through the most difficult phases of your life. I hope you’ve enjoyed your beautiful nose for the past 14 years, because soon it won’t be straight anymore.
– Other teams will target you big time. You are tackled from behind. You get beaten cheaply when you don’t know how to prepare for it. You will be knocked unconscious from behind a tree. In the future, a serious injury called a concussion is known. You don’t know what it is yet, but unfortunately you’re going to have a lot of them.
Your back passed
Teemu Selanne broke the goal record for NHL rookies in the spring of 1993. ZumaWire / MVPHOTOS
Despite being guarded and roughed up by opponents, Bossy was the Islanders’ top scorer in all ten of his NHL seasons.
Known for his sharp and accurate shot, the sniper holds the NHL record for the number of consecutive seasons with more than 50 regular season goals. Bossy crossed the line in nine seasons in a row – in other words, he fell short of 50 goals only once in his entire career!
He crossed the 60-goal mark five times, and he shares this record with Gretzky.
Bossy won the Conn Smythe award for the most valuable player in the playoffs in 1982 and the Lady Byng award for the NHL’s gentleman player a total of three times.
In Finland, he is remembered at the juncture of his career Teemu to Selänte.
In his first NHL season 1977–78, Bossy won the Calder Trophy for the best rookie with 53+38=91, and the number of goals remained the NHL rookie record until the 1992–93 season.
That’s when Selänne crushed it after hitting the board with the still valid record readings of 76+56=132. No one else has been able to cross the bar set by Bossy.
Mike Bossy died of lung cancer at the age of 65 on April 15, 2022.