Quebec is mourning one of its biggest names in hockey. Mike Bossy passed away last night from lung cancer diagnosed last October. He was 65 years old.
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He will be remembered as one of the greatest mavericks of all time. Were it not for a back injury that forced him out of competition following 10 seasons in the National League, he might be the No. 1 scorer in history.
His average of 0.762 goals per game gives him the first position in this chapter.
His 573 goals in 752 games with the New York Islanders place him fourth in the column of top scorers in Quebec behind Marcel Dionne, leader with 731; Mario Lemieux, second with 690; and Luc Robitaille, third with 668.
Photo The Archives Journal de Montreal
The compass in the eye
Bossy had an unparalleled flair for the net.
As soon as he received the puck and was in a good position to score, he often shot without looking in the direction of the net. Because the portrait was already visualized in his head.
“All I was looking for was to shoot in this space that’s four feet (wide) by six feet (high), he said.
“I loved scoring goals and I hated missing the net. »
Photo archives, QMI Agency
As proof, this anecdote that he told in 2017 in a story published on the Players Tribune site.
“His strength was his speed of execution, explained his trainer Al Arbor.
“He was drawing at an incredible speed. We liked to say that he shot faster than his shadow.
First rookie to score 50 goals
Bossy had absolute confidence in his abilities.
As proof, this anecdote that he told in 2017 in a story published on the Players Tribune site.
The scene was at his first training camp with the Islanders, four decades earlier.
Because he wanted to play in the NHL, Bossy had accepted half the money to join the New York team offered to him by the Nordiques, who were part of the World Conference.
Knowing that he was unhappy with his contract, Islanders general manager Bill Torrey issued him a kind of challenge.
And Bossy to tell: “Bill said to me: Hey, Mike, since you’re not happy with the agreement you signed, what do you think you can do in the National League?
“I answered him: I think I can score 50 goals this season. “Thing said, thing done.
Arbor replaced Billy Harris, the first pick in organizational history, with Mike Bosy on the right wing alongside Bryan Trottier, an outstanding playmaker, and the late Clarke Gillies, a tough guy who might protect Bossy and produce offensively.
The Trio Grande was born.
Bossy finished the season with 53 goals becoming the first NHL rookie to reach that milestone.
His feat of course earned him the Calder Trophy awarded to the NHL’s most outstanding rookie.
50 goals in 50 games
On January 24, 1981, during a home game once morest the Nordiques, he became the second player following Maurice Richard, who had followed him in minor hockey, to score 50 goals in 50 games by beating Ron Grahame.
The Rocket had accomplished its feat of arms during the 1944-1945 campaign, its third in the uniform of the Canadian.
Bossy had an all-time high of nine straight 50-goal seasons. He reached 60 goals five times, a record he shares with Wayne Gretzky.
Photo Archives Journal de Québec
He is also preceded only by Gretzky for the number of points obtained during the duration of his career, which spanned the 1977-1978 season to 1986-1987.
Gretzky totaled 1,520 points in 632 games for a phenomenal average of 2.4 points per game.
Bossy averaged 1.50 per game with 1,126 points in 752 games.
Collective and individual honors
His career has been marked by several collective exploits and individual honours.
Probably the proudest achievement of all was winning four consecutive Stanley Cups with the Islanders from 1980 to 1983.
In 1983, 1984 and 1986, he was awarded the Lady Bing trophy given to the player presenting the best sportsmanship.
Photo The Archives Journal de Montreal
In 1982, he was voted winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy awarded to his team’s most valuable player in the playoffs.
Big goal once morest the Soviets
Bossy has also made his mark on the international scene.
In 1981, he scored eight goals and three assists in seven games in the second appearance of the Canada Cup tournament.
The competition ended on a low note, however, for Team Canada.
Under pressure following losing to the Americans at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, the Soviet Union team went all out by beating the Canadian team 8-1 in the final at the Forum. Bossy was still selected to the competition’s all-star team.
At the next tournament in 1984, he avenged Canada’s failure three years earlier by scoring the winning goal in overtime in the semi-final once morest the USSR.
The Canadian squad defeated Sweden in the final.
After his glorious career, Bossy received the two highest accolades a retired player can get.
The Hockey Hall of Fame opened its doors to him at the same time as his teammate Denis Potvin, on June 22, 1991.
Then, on March 3, 1992, the number 22 he wore brilliantly during his 10 seasons in the NHL was retired by the Islanders.
