Mike Bossy, star of one of the NHL’s greatest dynasties, died Thursday night According to TVA Sports, a French-speaking network in Canada where Bossy was a hockey analyst.
The Canadian right winger spent his entire 10-year NHL career with the New York Islanders, playing a pivotal role in their four straight Stanley Cups from 1980-1983.
Bossy was 65 and had announced last October that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. It is the third death of these dominant islanders in 2022, as Clark Gillies died in January and Jean Potvin (brother of Denis) in March.
Wayne Gretzky and Bossy are the only two players in NHL history with nine seasons of 50 goals each. Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin has eight seasons of 50 or more goals and in the current regular season has eight games left to score four more goals to keep up with Bossy and Gretzky. Bossy is the only player to have scored 50 goals or more in nine straight years. Gretzky has managed it for eight seasons and Ovechkin’s longest streak is three straight years at 50 or more.
Bossy is still the all-time NHL leader with .762 goals in the regular season. Only two players have more career hat tricks than Bossy’s 39, Gretzky (50) and Mario Lemieux (40). Comparable to Barry Sanders or Jim Brown in football, the amazing fact about Bossy’s career is how he can compete with the best in league history despite playing several fewer seasons than them.
Between the Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers dynasties, Bossy, Bryan Trottier and company led the Islanders to six straight conference championships while winning four trophies I haven’t been to the Stanley Cup Finals since 1983. Bossy won the 1982 Conn Smythe Trophy, the NHL’s playoff MVP. He also scored the goals to win the championship in 1982 and 1983. Bossy is also the only four-game winner in the same playoff series.
Bossy is third all-time in points per game and his 69 goals in 1978-79 have been surpassed only four times since 1990 (Lemieux, Teemu Selanne, Brett Hull, and Alexander Mogilny). The eight-time All-Star finished with 573 goals, No. 22 all-time. He also had 553 assists for 1,126 points. Bossy added 160 points in 129 career playoff games. Knee and back injuries ended his career prematurely in 1987. Bossy scored 38 goals and had 75 points in his final NHL season, playing just 63 games. New York retired their No. 22 jersey in 1992.
Bossy was chosen Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991.
