There’s been few people in the National Hockey League history that’s meant more for their organizations than Mike Bossy for the New York Islanders. Bossy spent his entire NHL career, from 1977 to 1987, with the Islanders, and he was a key figure as the team won four straight Stanley Cups in the early 80s.
Mike Bossy won the Calder Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year in 1987, as he set a then-record for most goals by a rookie (53). Four years later, he won the Conn Smythe and the Lady Bang, and twice in his career, he led the NHL in goals. Three further times, he was second.
To this day, Mike Bossy is the all-time leader in averaged goals scored per game, and he’s one of only five players to score 50 goals in 50 games. He’s undoubtedly one of the greatest goal-scorers in league history, and for nine straight years, he managed to have 50-goal seasons.
Bossy wasn’t the biggest player, not the strongest, but he had an ability to score that was out of this world. Who knows how many goals and points he would’ve scored if it wasn’t for the injuries that cut his career short?
And although Bossy wasn’t able to play more than he did, a goal-scorer like him just doesn’t forget about things. Martin Brodeur didn’t play in the NHL at the same time as Bossy did, but the two legends met when shooting a movie, and Brodeur got some tips that really said everything about his game.
”You have to read the play before it happens and anticipate what they’re going to do, but at that level, these guys do the same thing with goalies,” Brodeur said per writer Braydon Holmyard.
”I always say, it’s funny, when I was playing and Mike Bossy was retired and we did a movie shoot up in Montreal, and I never played against Mike Bossy, but he was one of the great goal-scorers of our league, and he went in a probably took 20 shots on me. He had me dissected.
”I couldn’t believe the stuff he was pointing out in my game. I’m like, this dude’s been retired, but that’s a goal-scorer. They just know. He was like, ’when you move to that side, why is your shoulder going down?’ He knew everything.”
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