Mike Bossi, one of the top scorers in hockey and a star of the New York Islanders during their 1980 dynasty, has died after battling lung cancer. He was 65 years old.
The Islanders and TVA Sports, the French-language network in Canada, where he worked as a hockey analyst, confirmed Bossi’s death. A spokesman for the team said Bossi was in his hometown of Montreal.
Bossi revealed his diagnosis in October in a letter to TVA Sports.
“I have to withdraw from your screens with great sadness, for a necessary pause,” Bossi wrote in French. “I intend to fight with all the determination and fire you have seen me to show on the ice.”
This is the third loss since the Islanders’ era this year, after Hockey Hall of Fame colleague Clark Gillis died in January and Jean Potwin died in March.
Daughter Tanya Bossi said her father was “no longer in pain”.
“My father loved hockey, of course, but above all he loved life,” she said in a statement in French on behalf of the Bossi family. “He held on until the end of his journey. He wanted to live more than anything.”
Nine seasons with 50 goals
Bossi helped the islanders win the Stanley Cup from 1980-83, winning the Cohn Smythe trophy as MVP in the playoffs in 1982. He scored goals for the Cup in 1982 and ’83.
Bossi was selected in the first round in 1977 and played his entire 10-year NHL career with New York. He won Calder’s Rookie of the Year trophy, won Lady Bing’s trophy for gentlemanly behavior three times and led the league in goals twice.
We are saddened to learn of Mike Bossi’s death this morning. Our thoughts and condolences are to his friends, family, former teammates and colleagues from TVA Sports.
A legend of our game that will be much missed. pic.twitter.com/K5qLpt0NjC
– @CanadiensMTL
Bossi has scored 50 or more goals in each of his first nine seasons, the longest in the league. He and Wayne Gretzky are the only players in the history of hockey with nine seasons with 50 goals each.
“The New York Islanders are grieving the loss of Mike Bossi, an icon not only of Long Island but of the entire hockey world,” said Island Lamps, president and general manager of the Islanders. “His quest to be the best every time he stepped on the ice was unparalleled. Together with his teammates, he helped win four consecutive Stanley Cup titles, shaping the history of this franchise forever.”
Bossi is one of five players to score 50 goals in 50 games. He remains the all-time leader in goals in a regular-season game at 0.762, and only two players have scored more hat-tricks than Bossi’s 39.
He ranks third in points per game and seventh on the list of all time. They are all in the regular season, when Bossy presented some of the best numbers in the history of the game. In the playoffs, Bossi was even more restrained. He is the only player with four winners in the same playoff series and has scored three goals in the playoffs.
Part of the hockey dynasty of the islanders
Led by Bossi, Gillis, Brian Trottier and defender Dennis Potwin, the Islanders inherited Scotty Bowman’s Montreal Canadiens from the 1970s as the next NHL dynasty, before Grecky’s Edmonton Oilers took over.
Bossi played eight times in the All Star and finished with 573 goals and 553 assists for 1,126 points in 752 games of the regular season. He was the fastest player to reach the 100-goal mark and is currently ranked 22nd on his career goals list. In the playoffs, Bossi had 160 points in 129 games.
New York Islanders coach Al Arbor, left, talks to Bossi, his goal scorer, during a training break in Denver, Colorado, in this photo taken on March 17, 1982 (Ed Andreski / Associated Press).
Back and knee injuries eventually ended his career in 1987. He was limited to 38 goals in 63 games and could not return for the 11th season.
Bossi was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991, and in 2017 was named one of the 100 Greatest Players in the NHL.
“My advice to you, kid, is to remember more. And to value your time more … ”
In this letter, Mike Bossi writes to his younger self. Read his stories from his point of view and more.< a href="https://t.co/gXZQ4U0Dzt">https://t.co/gXZQ4U0Dzt
– @ NYIslanders
NHL Commissioner Gary Batman called Bossi a “dynamic wing” whose goal-scoring skills are among the greatest in NHL history.
“Although his detention was the obsession of the opposing coaches and to test him in the focus of the opposing players, Bossi’s brilliance was unstoppable and his production tireless throughout his career,” said Batman. “He excites the fans like few others.”
Before reaching the NHL, Bossi played five seasons in Quebec’s Grand Youth Hockey League with Laval National. He has 602 points in 298 QMJHL games. Bossi also represented Canada in the Canadian Cup in 1981 and 1984, long before NHL players began attending the Winter Olympics.
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