Mike Bossy
Encyclopedia
Michael Dean Bossy is a former Canadian ice hockey
player who played for the New York Islanders
for his entire career and was part of their four-year reign as Stanley Cup
champions in the early 1980s. He was the only player in NHL history to score consecutive Stanley Cup winning goals, in 1982 and 1983, and the only player to record four game-winning goals in one series (1983 Conference Final).
at the age of 15. Despite scoring 309 goals in four seasons, Bossy was considered a timid player by NHL scouts.
In the 1977 NHL Amateur Draft
, he was passed over by twelve teams, with the New York Rangers
and Toronto Maple Leafs
ignoring him twice. However, the New York Islanders made him their first choice, 15th overall. General manager Bill Torrey
was torn at first between taking Bossy and another forward. Bossy was known as a scorer who could not check, while the other forward could check but was not very good offensively. Coach Al Arbour
persuaded Torrey to pick Bossy, figuring it was easier to teach a scorer how to check. Bossy was placed on a line with Bryan Trottier
and Clark Gillies
, a combination that would come to be known as The Trio Grande
, or the "LILCO line" (standing for "Long Island Lighting Company", for their tendency to keep the goal lamp lit).
Bossy boldly predicted that he would score 50 goals in his rookie season. He made good on his promise, scoring a then-record 53 goals as a rookie in the 1977–78 season, won the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year, and was named a Second Team All-Star.
Many thought it would be impossible to duplicate Maurice Richard
's 50 in 50, set thirty-six years earlier. Then, in the 1980–81 season, sniper Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders became only the second player to score 50 goals in the first 50 games of the season
. This was hyped by the hockey press as Bossy was in an unofficial competition with Charlie Simmer of the Los Angeles Kings to see who could first accomplish the 50 in 50 milestone since Richard. Both players were involved in their 50th game, with Simmer at 46 goals and Bossy 48, with Simmer getting a hat trick that brought his total to 49 goals in 50. Making it particularly dramatic, Bossy was scoreless for much of the game but found the net twice within the last five minutes of his 50th game. Richard was on hand to congratulate Bossy for this achievement. Bossy finished the season with 68 goals in 79 games.
Bossy was known for being able to score goals in remarkable fashion, the most incredible, perhaps, in the 1982 Stanley Cup Finals
against the Vancouver Canucks
when, up-ended by a check from Tiger Williams
and flying several feet in the air, parallel to the ice, Bossy nonetheless managed to hook the puck with his stick and score. Bossy was also noted for his clean play, never resorting to fighting (and being one of the first players to speak out against violence on the ice), and winning the Lady Byng Trophy for gentlemanly play three times: 1983, 1984, and 1986.
Bossy has harbored some animosity towards Wayne Gretzky
and the Edmonton Oilers
, stating that the Islanders got little recognition for their dynasty (1980–1983) compared to the Montreal Canadiens
(1976–1979) or Edmonton Oilers
(1984–1990). Bossy complained "I do a lot of promoting for how good [the Islanders] were...We never got one millionth of the recognition we should. We had a very low-key organization. They didn't want guys doing too much, because they thought the hockey might suffer. People don't talk about us in the first mention of great teams." During Gretzky's interview with the New York Post
in 1993, he praised Bossy as the best right-winger ever to play, saying that their scoring totals would have been even higher if the two had played together. Bossy's response in the Post was not complimentary, as he pointed out that their playing styles were different, and also said that Trottier was the best. Gretzky afterwards could not be reached for comment.
The dominant scoring star of the late 1970s was Guy Lafleur
but his skills waned in the 1980s. In 1982, Bossy set a scoring record for right-wingers with 147 points while also winning the Stanley Cup
and the Conn Smythe Trophy
. However, far more attention was given to Gretzky who not only won the Hart Trophy and Art Ross Trophy
, but also shattered scoring records with an unheard of 212 points and 92 goals. Bossy aspired to be the best player of his era but fell short, as the Hart and Art Ross Trophies were two of the awards that eluded Bossy during his career, going to Lafleur, Trottier, and Gretzky. Although the Islanders swept the Oilers in the 1983 final to win a fourth consecutive championship, Gretzky and his Oilers still received the most attention.
The Islanders made a fifth consecutive Stanley Cup final in 1984 (The "Drive for Five") but they were outmatched by the Oilers who defeated them 4 games to 1. Bossy, who had scored 8 goals after the first three rounds of the playoffs (and 17 goals in the past three consecutive post-seasons), was silenced completely in the finals series.
Afterwards, the Islanders would slowly decline, while injuries would take their toll on Bossy's back. He was limited to 63 games in the 1986–87 season but he still managed to score 38 goals. He decided to take the next season off to rest his back, but officially retired after the 1987-88 season. During his season off, Bill Torrey had offered Bossy to be traded to the Montreal Canadiens, so he could be closer to home, but Bossy declined. Having played his last game at the young age of 30, he scored 573 goals and 553 assists in 752 NHL games, all with the Islanders.
The Islanders retired Bossy's number 22 on March 3, 1992, the second Islander afforded that honor after longtime teammate Denis Potvin
.
until 1990. He afterwards recalled not being able to get a job with an NHL organization since then, saying "I contacted the Canadiens at least two or three times [in the mid-1990s] because I thought I could help the organization in some way, not necessarily as a coach but in some role that could be developed. They never called back". Bossy also had hopes when former teammate Bryan Trottier
was hired as New York Rangers
coach in 2002, saying "I also thought I'd get a call. The reason was, I remember having umpteen conversations with Bryan, having roomed with him for 10 years, that went, 'One of these days, Mike, we're going to take a team and do it our way.' I've found out since from Bryan [who was fired in his first season] that he wasn't going to be given that chance."
Bossy then did a three-year stint as part of the morning zoo crew on CKOI, a French-language radio station in Montreal.
He started out doing promotional work for Humpty Dumpty
in the late 1990s, a snack-food manufacturer based in eastern Canada. He became the Quebec sales director of the company in 2003.
In 2005, Bossy made a cameo appearance on the fourth sequel to the French Canadian classic movie Les Boys
, playing himself.
On October 13, 2006, the Islanders held a news conference to announce that Bossy had rejoined the organization, working with the front office in sponsor and fan development. http://www.newyorkislanders.com/pressbox/blog.asp?blog_id=1
Bossy has won the following major NHL awards:
He also led the league in goals twice, in 1978-79 and 1980-81 (both predate the Rocket Richard Trophy). And of course, he was a part of all four Stanley Cup
-winning New York Islanders teams.
Here is a selected list of other official NHL record categories where Bossy was once the record-holder and/or is ranked very highly:
Bossy has several significant career achievements that are not official NHL records. He reached 100 career goals faster (in terms of career games played) than any other player in NHL history, requiring just 129 games to accomplish this. He was also the fastest to various other milestones such as 300 and 500 goals at the time he achieved them, but Wayne Gretzky
and Mario Lemieux
have since surpassed these marks. In the 1980–81 NHL season, he scored 50 goals in the first 50 games of the season
- only the second player, and the first in almost 40 years, to achieve this. He remains one of only five players who can claim to have accomplished this. He is the only player to score 17 goals in three consecutive playoff years.
Bossy was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991. His #22 jersey was retired by the Islanders on March 3, 1992. In 1998, he was ranked number 20 on The Hockey News
list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
player who played for the New York Islanders
New York Islanders
The New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Uniondale, New York. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
for his entire career and was part of their four-year reign as Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
champions in the early 1980s. He was the only player in NHL history to score consecutive Stanley Cup winning goals, in 1982 and 1983, and the only player to record four game-winning goals in one series (1983 Conference Final).
Playing career
He started his junior career with Quebec Major Junior Hockey LeagueQuebec Major Junior Hockey League
The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League...
at the age of 15. Despite scoring 309 goals in four seasons, Bossy was considered a timid player by NHL scouts.
In the 1977 NHL Amateur Draft
1977 NHL Amateur Draft
The 1977 NHL Amateur Draft was held at the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal, Quebec.-Selections by round:Below are listed the selections in the 1977 NHL Amateur Draft.Club teams are located in North America unless otherwise noted.-Round one:-Round two:...
, he was passed over by twelve teams, with the New York Rangers
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
and Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
ignoring him twice. However, the New York Islanders made him their first choice, 15th overall. General manager Bill Torrey
Bill Torrey
William A. Torrey was a General Manager and executive in the National Hockey League, most famous for building up the expansion New York Islanders into a dynasty that won four consecutive Stanley Cups...
was torn at first between taking Bossy and another forward. Bossy was known as a scorer who could not check, while the other forward could check but was not very good offensively. Coach Al Arbour
Al Arbour
Alger Joseph "Radar" Arbour is a retired Canadian ice hockey player and a coach and executive in the National Hockey League .-Playing career:...
persuaded Torrey to pick Bossy, figuring it was easier to teach a scorer how to check. Bossy was placed on a line with Bryan Trottier
Bryan Trottier
Bryan John Trottier is a retired Canadian-American professional ice hockey centre who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League for the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins. He won four Stanley Cups with the Islanders, two with the Penguins and one as an assistant coach with the...
and Clark Gillies
Clark Gillies
Clark "Jethro" Gillies is a retired professional ice hockey player. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. He provided both physical presence and offensive punch for the NHL's New York Islanders during their four-year run as Stanley Cup champions. In a career that spanned 958 games, Gillies...
, a combination that would come to be known as The Trio Grande
The Trio Grande
The Trio Grande was a line of professional ice hockey forwards who played together for the New York Islanders from the late 1970s through the early 1980s. The line consisted of Hall of Famers Bryan Trottier at center, Clark Gillies at left wing and Mike Bossy at right wing.-Background:All three...
, or the "LILCO line" (standing for "Long Island Lighting Company", for their tendency to keep the goal lamp lit).
Bossy boldly predicted that he would score 50 goals in his rookie season. He made good on his promise, scoring a then-record 53 goals as a rookie in the 1977–78 season, won the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year, and was named a Second Team All-Star.
Many thought it would be impossible to duplicate Maurice Richard
Maurice Richard
Joseph Henri Maurice "the Rocket" Richard, Sr., was a French-Canadian professional ice hockey player who played for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League from 1942 to 1960. The "Rocket" was the most prolific goal-scorer of his era, the first to achieve the feat of 50 goals in 50...
's 50 in 50, set thirty-six years earlier. Then, in the 1980–81 season, sniper Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders became only the second player to score 50 goals in the first 50 games of the season
50 goals in 50 games
"50 goals in 50 games" refers to the act of scoring 50 goals in the first 50 games of a National Hockey League season. Scoring fifty goals in fifty games in the NHL is a rare achievement....
. This was hyped by the hockey press as Bossy was in an unofficial competition with Charlie Simmer of the Los Angeles Kings to see who could first accomplish the 50 in 50 milestone since Richard. Both players were involved in their 50th game, with Simmer at 46 goals and Bossy 48, with Simmer getting a hat trick that brought his total to 49 goals in 50. Making it particularly dramatic, Bossy was scoreless for much of the game but found the net twice within the last five minutes of his 50th game. Richard was on hand to congratulate Bossy for this achievement. Bossy finished the season with 68 goals in 79 games.
Bossy was known for being able to score goals in remarkable fashion, the most incredible, perhaps, in the 1982 Stanley Cup Finals
1982 Stanley Cup Finals
-References:...
against the Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver, :British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place,...
when, up-ended by a check from Tiger Williams
Tiger Williams
David James "Tiger" Williams is a former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League from 1974–75 to 1987–88. He is the NHL's career leader in penalty minutes.-NHL career:...
and flying several feet in the air, parallel to the ice, Bossy nonetheless managed to hook the puck with his stick and score. Bossy was also noted for his clean play, never resorting to fighting (and being one of the first players to speak out against violence on the ice), and winning the Lady Byng Trophy for gentlemanly play three times: 1983, 1984, and 1986.
Bossy has harbored some animosity towards Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Douglas Gretzky, CC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. Nicknamed "The Great One", he is generally regarded as the best player in the history of the National Hockey League , and has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters,...
and the Edmonton Oilers
Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League ....
, stating that the Islanders got little recognition for their dynasty (1980–1983) compared to the Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
(1976–1979) or Edmonton Oilers
Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League ....
(1984–1990). Bossy complained "I do a lot of promoting for how good [the Islanders] were...We never got one millionth of the recognition we should. We had a very low-key organization. They didn't want guys doing too much, because they thought the hockey might suffer. People don't talk about us in the first mention of great teams." During Gretzky's interview with the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
in 1993, he praised Bossy as the best right-winger ever to play, saying that their scoring totals would have been even higher if the two had played together. Bossy's response in the Post was not complimentary, as he pointed out that their playing styles were different, and also said that Trottier was the best. Gretzky afterwards could not be reached for comment.
The dominant scoring star of the late 1970s was Guy Lafleur
Guy Lafleur
Guy Damien "The Flower" / "Le Démon Blond" Lafleur, OC, CQ is a former Canadian professional ice hockey player who is widely regarded as one of the most naturally gifted and popular players ever to play professional ice hockey...
but his skills waned in the 1980s. In 1982, Bossy set a scoring record for right-wingers with 147 points while also winning the Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
and the Conn Smythe Trophy
Conn Smythe Trophy
The Conn Smythe Trophy is awarded annually to the player judged most valuable to his team during the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup playoffs. The Conn Smythe Trophy has been awarded 46 times to 40 players since the 1964–65 NHL season...
. However, far more attention was given to Gretzky who not only won the Hart Trophy and Art Ross Trophy
Art Ross Trophy
The Art Ross Trophy is awarded to the National Hockey League player who leads the league in scoring points at the end of the regular season. It was presented to the NHL by former player, general manager, and head coach Art Ross. The trophy has been awarded 61 times to 25 players since its inception...
, but also shattered scoring records with an unheard of 212 points and 92 goals. Bossy aspired to be the best player of his era but fell short, as the Hart and Art Ross Trophies were two of the awards that eluded Bossy during his career, going to Lafleur, Trottier, and Gretzky. Although the Islanders swept the Oilers in the 1983 final to win a fourth consecutive championship, Gretzky and his Oilers still received the most attention.
The Islanders made a fifth consecutive Stanley Cup final in 1984 (The "Drive for Five") but they were outmatched by the Oilers who defeated them 4 games to 1. Bossy, who had scored 8 goals after the first three rounds of the playoffs (and 17 goals in the past three consecutive post-seasons), was silenced completely in the finals series.
Afterwards, the Islanders would slowly decline, while injuries would take their toll on Bossy's back. He was limited to 63 games in the 1986–87 season but he still managed to score 38 goals. He decided to take the next season off to rest his back, but officially retired after the 1987-88 season. During his season off, Bill Torrey had offered Bossy to be traded to the Montreal Canadiens, so he could be closer to home, but Bossy declined. Having played his last game at the young age of 30, he scored 573 goals and 553 assists in 752 NHL games, all with the Islanders.
The Islanders retired Bossy's number 22 on March 3, 1992, the second Islander afforded that honor after longtime teammate Denis Potvin
Denis Potvin
Denis Charles Potvin is a former defenseman and team captain for the New York Islanders in the National Hockey League and cornerstone for the Islanders' four Stanley Cup championship teams in the early 1980s. His brother, Jean Potvin, was also an NHL defenseman and the brothers were teammates for...
.
Career after hockey
Bossy played his last NHL game in 1987, at the age of 30, after taking a year off he officially retired in 1988. He worked as a television broadcaster for the Quebec NordiquesQuebec Nordiques
The Quebec Nordiques were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association and the National Hockey League...
until 1990. He afterwards recalled not being able to get a job with an NHL organization since then, saying "I contacted the Canadiens at least two or three times [in the mid-1990s] because I thought I could help the organization in some way, not necessarily as a coach but in some role that could be developed. They never called back". Bossy also had hopes when former teammate Bryan Trottier
Bryan Trottier
Bryan John Trottier is a retired Canadian-American professional ice hockey centre who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League for the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins. He won four Stanley Cups with the Islanders, two with the Penguins and one as an assistant coach with the...
was hired as New York Rangers
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
coach in 2002, saying "I also thought I'd get a call. The reason was, I remember having umpteen conversations with Bryan, having roomed with him for 10 years, that went, 'One of these days, Mike, we're going to take a team and do it our way.' I've found out since from Bryan [who was fired in his first season] that he wasn't going to be given that chance."
Bossy then did a three-year stint as part of the morning zoo crew on CKOI, a French-language radio station in Montreal.
He started out doing promotional work for Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty Snack Foods
Humpty Dumpty Snack Foods is a Canadian food company that packages and sells snack foods. The company is named after the popular nursery rhyme character and features the character as the company logo.Humpty Dumpty originally sold a variety of potato chips...
in the late 1990s, a snack-food manufacturer based in eastern Canada. He became the Quebec sales director of the company in 2003.
In 2005, Bossy made a cameo appearance on the fourth sequel to the French Canadian classic movie Les Boys
Les Boys
Les Boys is a 1997 Quebec-made comedy film directed by Louis Saia. It has spawned three sequels and by any measure is the most successful Quebec made film series of all time, and one of the most successful Canadian-made film series of all time.-Plot:The plot revolves around the players on a...
, playing himself.
On October 13, 2006, the Islanders held a news conference to announce that Bossy had rejoined the organization, working with the front office in sponsor and fan development. http://www.newyorkislanders.com/pressbox/blog.asp?blog_id=1
Accomplishments
As of 2011, Bossy holds or shares the following NHL records:- Most consecutive 50+ goal seasons: 9
- Most 50+ goal seasons (not necessarily consecutive): 9 (tied with Wayne Gretzky)
- Most 60+ goal seasons (not necessarily consecutive): 5 (tied with Wayne Gretzky)
- Highest goals-per-game average, career: .762 goals per game
- Most power-play goals, one playoff season: 9 (tied with Cam NeelyCam NeelyCameron Michael Neely is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played right wing for the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League from 1983 to 1996. He currently serves as the president of the Boston Bruins.-Playing career:Cam Neely was born in Comox,...
) - Most consecutive hat tricks: 3 (tied with Joe MaloneJoe MaloneMaurice Joseph "Phantom Joe" Malone was a professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey Association and National Hockey League. He was notable for his scoring feats and his clean play...
, who accomplished this twice)
Bossy has won the following major NHL awards:
- Calder Trophy (rookie of the year), 1978
- Conn Smythe TrophyConn Smythe TrophyThe Conn Smythe Trophy is awarded annually to the player judged most valuable to his team during the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup playoffs. The Conn Smythe Trophy has been awarded 46 times to 40 players since the 1964–65 NHL season...
(playoff MVP), 1982 - Lady Byng Trophy (player best combining a high skill level with gentlemanly play), three times (1983, 1984, 1986)
- First Team All-Star, five times
He also led the league in goals twice, in 1978-79 and 1980-81 (both predate the Rocket Richard Trophy). And of course, he was a part of all four Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
-winning New York Islanders teams.
Here is a selected list of other official NHL record categories where Bossy was once the record-holder and/or is ranked very highly:
- Goals, career: 19th all-time with 573, achieved in about 200 fewer games than anyone else in the top 50
- Goals, regular season and playoffs combined, one season: seventh all-time with 85 (was a record at the time it was achieved)
- Assists by a right wing, one season: second all-time with 83 (was a record at the time it was achieved)
- Points by a right wing, one season: second all time with 147 (was a record at the time it was achieved)
- Goals by a rookie, one season: second all-time with 53 (was a record at the time it was achieved)
- 100+ point seasons, career: fourth all-time with 7
- Goals per game, playoffs, career: second all-time with .659
- Goals per game, regular season and playoffs combined, career: second all-time with .747
- Points per game, career: third all-time
- Assists per game, career: seventeenth all-time
- Shooting percentage, career: fourth all-time with 21.18%
- Hat tricks, one season: tied for third all-time with 9 (was a record at the time it was achieved)
- Hat tricks, career: third all-time with 39
Bossy has several significant career achievements that are not official NHL records. He reached 100 career goals faster (in terms of career games played) than any other player in NHL history, requiring just 129 games to accomplish this. He was also the fastest to various other milestones such as 300 and 500 goals at the time he achieved them, but Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Douglas Gretzky, CC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. Nicknamed "The Great One", he is generally regarded as the best player in the history of the National Hockey League , and has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters,...
and Mario Lemieux
Mario Lemieux
Mario Lemieux, OC, CQ is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He is acknowledged to be one of the best players of all time. He played 17 seasons as a forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League between 1984 and 2006...
have since surpassed these marks. In the 1980–81 NHL season, he scored 50 goals in the first 50 games of the season
50 goals in 50 games
"50 goals in 50 games" refers to the act of scoring 50 goals in the first 50 games of a National Hockey League season. Scoring fifty goals in fifty games in the NHL is a rare achievement....
- only the second player, and the first in almost 40 years, to achieve this. He remains one of only five players who can claim to have accomplished this. He is the only player to score 17 goals in three consecutive playoff years.
Bossy was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991. His #22 jersey was retired by the Islanders on March 3, 1992. In 1998, he was ranked number 20 on The Hockey News
The Hockey News
The Hockey News, commonly abbreviated to THN, is a North American ice hockey magazine published by Transcontinental. The Hockey News was founded in 1947 by Ken McKenzie and Bill Côté, and has since been the most recognized hockey publication in North America...
list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season Season (sports) In an organized sports league, a season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session. For example, in Major League Baseball, one season lasts approximately from April 1 through October 1; in Association football, it is generally from August until May In an... |
Team | League | GP | G Goal (ice hockey) In ice hockey, a goal is scored when the puck completely crosses the goal line between the two goal posts and below the goal crossbar. A goal awards one point to the team attacking the goal scored upon, regardless of which team the player who actually deflected the puck into the goal belongs to... |
A Assist (ice hockey) In ice hockey, an assist is attributed to up to two players of the scoring team who shot, passed or deflected the puck towards the scoring teammate, or touched it in any other way which enabled the goal, meaning that they were "assisting" in the goal. There can be a maximum of two assists per goal... |
Pts Point (ice hockey) Point in ice hockey has three official meanings:* A point is awarded to a player for each goal scored or assist earned. The total number of goals plus assists equals total points. In some European leagues, a goal counts as two points, and an assist counts as one... |
PIM Penalty (ice hockey) A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for inappropriate behavior. Most penalties are enforced by detaining the offending player within a penalty box for a set number of minutes, during which, the player can not participate in play. The offending team usually may not replace the player on the ice,... |
GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1972–73 1972–73 QMJHL season The 1972–73 QMJHL season was the fourth season in the history of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The summer of 1972 saw the departure of the Saint-Jérôme Alouettes and the Verdun Maple Leafs from the league, reducing the circuit to eight teams... |
Laval National | QMJHL Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League... |
4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1973–74 1973–74 QMJHL season The 1973–74 QMJHL season was the fifth season in the history of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. East and west divisions resumed with the addition of two new teams, the Hull Festivals and Chicoutimi Saguenéens... |
Laval National | QMJHL | 68 | 70 | 48 | 118 | 45 | 11 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 2 | ||
| 1974–75 1974–75 QMJHL season The 1974–75 QMJHL season was the sixth season in the history of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Ten teams played 72 games each in the schedule... |
Laval National | QMJHL | 67 | 84 | 65 | 149 | 42 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 38 | 2 | ||
| 1975–76 1975–76 QMJHL season The 1975–76 QMJHL season was the seventh season in the history of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The league inaugurates the Emile Bouchard Trophy to be awarded to the "Defenceman of the Year." Ten teams played 72 games each in the schedule.... |
Laval National | QMJHL | 64 | 79 | 57 | 136 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1976–77 1976–77 QMJHL season The 1976–77 QMJHL season was the eighth season in the history of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The leagues renames its division in honour of Robert Lebel and Frank Dilio, two lifetime contributors to ice hockey in Quebec. The East Division becomes the "Dilio Division" and the West Division... |
Laval National | QMJHL | 61 | 75 | 51 | 126 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 12 | ||
| 1977–78 | New York Islanders New York Islanders The New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Uniondale, New York. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League... |
NHL National Hockey League The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States... |
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 | 1126 | 210 | 129 | 85 | 75 | 160 | 38 | ||||
- *Stanley CupStanley CupThe Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
champion
See also
- Hockey Hall of FameHockey Hall of FameThe Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
- List of NHL players with 500 goals
- List of NHL players with 100-point seasons
- List of NHL players with 1000 points
- 50 goals in 50 games50 goals in 50 games"50 goals in 50 games" refers to the act of scoring 50 goals in the first 50 games of a National Hockey League season. Scoring fifty goals in fifty games in the NHL is a rare achievement....
- List of NHL statistical leaders