R.I.P. Mike Bossy

Mike Bossy, the New York Islanders’ Right Wing who won four consecutive Stanley Cups Championships and scored 573 regular season goals in a ten year career cut short by injury, died April 15, 2022 in his native Montreal. Bossy reported back in October that he had lung cancer. He was 65.

Bossy entered the NHL as a 21 year old rookie in the 1977-78 season, scoring 53 goals and 38 assists, and winning the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year. Bossy led the NHL in goals scored the following season (69) and again in 1980-81 (68). The next year, he scored 64 goals with 83 assists for a career high 147 points. The Islanders won the Stanley Cup four years in a row from 1979-80 through 1982-83, and almost won a fifth in ’83-’84 but lost to Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers in five games in the Finals.

Bossy had back problems throughout the 1986-7 season, but still managed 38 goals and 37 assists in 63 games. It was his final season; the back pain was caused by two damaged discs in his lower back, and after sitting out the ’87-’88 season, he retired in October 1988 at age 30. He had scored 1126 points (573 goals, 553 assists) in just 752 games over 10 years. He also had 160 points (85 goals, 75 assists) in 129 playoff games. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991.