Mike Bossy (Cancer) New York Islanders

Mike Bossy…the man was simply magic.

Mike Bossy Cancer

Michael Dean Bossy was born on January 22, 1957, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He played professional hockey for the New York Islanders of the NHL. He played his entire career for the Islanders and was an integral component in helping the team win four consecutive Stanley Cups during the early nineteen eighties.

Bossy was drafted 15th overall in 1977 by the New York Islanders. It’s hard to believe, but Bossy was passed on by twelve teams, including the New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs twice. Even more astonishing is that Montreal Canadians general manager Sam Pollock picked Mark Napier as the tenth pick while passing on Bossy, who played in Montreal’s backyard with the Laval National of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Sam Pollock was the same man that masterminded the trade that brought Guy Lafleur to Montreal and obtained Ken Dryden from Boston as well as a slew of superstars such as Larry Robinson, Guy Lapointe, Serge Savard, and Yvon Cournoyer. Despite scoring 309 goals in five seasons and a record 532 points, both of which are still records today, it was felt that Bossy wasn’t robust enough and lacked defensively. When you look at the fourteen players picked ahead of Bossy in the 1977 NHL Entry Draft, his closest competitor in goals was John Anderson, with 282 goals in 814 games and picked eleventh by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Doug Wilson was a defenseman picked 6th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks. He registered the most points of the players picked ahead of Bossy, with 827 points in 1024 career NHL games, while Bossy played 272 fewer games than Wilson and notched career NHL totals of 573 goals and 1126 points in just 752 NHL games played. Incidentally, Sam Pollock had earlier tried to swing a deal with the Islanders in the 1973 NHL Entry Draft to obtain Denis Potvin. Imagine the dynasty Montreal Canadians of the late 1970s with Mike Bossy and Denis Potvin in the line-up.

NHL Career (Mike Bossy Cancer)

Upon entering the NHL as a rookie in 1977, Bossy promised Islanders general manager Bill Torrey that he would score 50 goals. This is how the conversation went. Bossy: “They weren’t offering me enough money, so my agent said, ‘why don’t you tell him you’re going to score 50 goals?’” Torrey: “Mike turned to me and said, ‘What is a 50-goal scorer worth to you?’ And I said, ‘Are you telling me you’re going to score 50?’” Bossy: “He sort of looked at me like, ‘Maybe you should make the team first, and then we’ll see about 50 goals.”

Bossy would go on to win the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year in 1978 while scoring a then-rookie record of 53 goals. The record stood until 1993, when Teemu Selanne of the Winnipeg Jets shattered it with 76 goals. From 1977 to 1986, he would score 51 or more goals every season, reaching a peak of 69 goals in 1978 and a career-high in points of 147 in 1982. In his final year, he lit the lamp 38 times while playing in only 63 games before hanging up the blades for good due to chronic back pain. He would sit out the 1987-88 NHL season in an effort to heal his back, but to no avail, as doctors would later inform him that he had two discs in his lower back that were damaged and could not be repaired through surgery. during the off-season, Bossy would receive two separate offers to return to the NHL, one from Los Angeles Kings owner and his general manager Rogie Vachon who had just acquired Wayne Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers, and the other was an offer by Bill Torrey of the New York Islanders to accept a trade to the Montreal Canadians in order to allow Bossy to be closer to home.

Bossy was a gifted player who possessed a remarkably accurate shot combined with a nose for the net. His uncanny abilities made him the NHL’s all-time leader in average goals scored in regular-season games. He is the third-highest-scoring player all-time in average points scored per regular-season game and is the first player to score 50 goals in 50 games since Maurice Richard accomplished the milestone 36 years earlier in 1945. He is tied for the league record of most 50 goals or more seasons at 9 with Wayne Gretzky and Alexander Ovechkin and is the only player to score 50 or more goals in nine consecutive seasons. In addition, he is one of two players to score two Stanley Cup-winning goals (1982 and 1983) and the only player to notch four game-winning goals in one playoff series (1983 Conference Final) against the Boston Bruins.

Mike Bossy was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991. On March 3, 1992, Bossy became the second Islander to have his jersey retired, joining teammate Denis Potvin. In 2017, he was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in history.

On April 15, 2022, at the age of 65, Mike Bossy passed away due to lung cancer. He leaves behind his wife, Lucie, and two daughters, Josiane and Tanya.

Keep Your Stick on the Ice.

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs (Mike Bossy Cancer)

Bold indicates led league

		Regular season		Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1972–73	Laval National	QMJHL	4	1	2	3	0	—	—	—	—	—
1973–74	Laval National	QMJHL	68	70	48	118	45	11	6	16	22	2
1974–75	Laval National	QMJHL	67	84	65	149	42	16	18	20	38	2
1975–76	Laval National	QMJHL	64	79	57	136	25	—	—	—	—	—
1976–77	Laval National	QMJHL	61	75	51	126	12	7	5	5	10	12
1977–78	New York Islanders	NHL	73	53	38	91	6	7	2	2	4	2
1978–79	New York Islanders	NHL	80	69	57	126	25	10	6	2	8	2
1979–80	New York Islanders	NHL	75	51	41	92	12	16	10	13	23	8
1980–81	New York Islanders	NHL	79	68	51	119	32	18	17	18	35	4
1981–82	New York Islanders	NHL	80	64	83	147	22	19	17	10	27	0
1982–83	New York Islanders	NHL	79	60	58	118	20	19	17	9	26	10
1983–84	New York Islanders	NHL	67	51	67	118	8	21	8	10	18	4
1984–85	New York Islanders	NHL	76	58	59	117	38	10	5	6	11	4
1985–86	New York Islanders	NHL	80	61	62	123	14	3	1	2	3	4
1986–87	New York Islanders	NHL	63	38	37	75	33	6	2	3	5	2
NHL totals	752	573	553	1,126	210	129	85	75	160	38

International (Mike Bossy Cancer)

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	Pts
1981	Canada	CC	7	8	3	11	2
1984	Canada	CC	8	5	4	9	2
Senior totals	15	13	7	20	4

Award	Year(s)	Ref(s)
Calder Memorial Trophy	1978
All-Star Game	1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986
First All-Star Team	1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986
Second All-Star Team	1978, 1979, 1985
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy	1983, 1984, 1986
Conn Smythe Trophy	1982
Stanley Cup	1980, 1981, 1982, 1983
Canada Cup	1984