Mike Bossy

Michael Dean "Mike" Bossy (January 22, 1957) in Montreal, Quebec is a former player on the New York Islanders for his entire career and was part of their four-year reign as Stanley Cup champions in the early 1980s. Known for his powerful shot, he was among the league's goal scoring leaders and considered one of the greatest bona-fide snipers of the game. His career was cut short by injuries.

Playing career
He started his junior career with Quebec Major Junior Hockey League at the age of 14. 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 couldn't check, while the other forward could check but wasn't 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, known as The Trio Grande.

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.

In 1980–81, Bossy scored 50 goals in 50 games & 50 goals in the first 50 games of the season, the first to do so since the great Maurice Richard thirty-six years earlier. Richard was on hand to congratulate Bossy for achieving that milestone.

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 Gretzky and the 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."

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. 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 Islanders made a fifth consecutive Stanley Cup final in 1984 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.

Accomplishments
Bossy holds the current NHL record for most consecutive 50+ goal seasons with nine.

Bossy and Wayne Gretzky are the only players to have scored 50 or more goals for nine seasons. Additionally, both are the only players ever to have scored 60 or more goals in as many as five seasons. Unlike Gretzky, however, who played 20 seasons, Bossy was healthy enough only for 10, of which only the first nine were full.

As he never played long enough for his skills to diminish, his scoring averages remain quite high. Bossy averaged .762 goals per game in the regular season, more than any other player in NHL history, and .659 in the playoffs, second only to Mario Lemieux at .710.

In 1977–78, his rookie season, he scored 53 goals which established a rookie record. This was broken in 1992–93 by Teemu Selänne's 76 goals.

In 1980–81, he scored 50 goals in the first 50 games of the season. He also recorded nine hat tricks that season, establishing an NHL-record (later broken by Gretzky in 1981–82 with 10. Gretzky tied his own record with 10 hat tricks again in 1983–84).

In 1982, Bossy set scoring records for right-wingers with 83 assists and 147 points in 80 games. These would stand until the 1995–96 season when Jaromír Jágr broke both records with 87 assists and 149 points, in what was an 82-game schedule.

Bossy earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 1982, and scored 17 goals in three straight playoffs -- 1981, 1982, and 1983 -- the only player ever to do so. In reaching the Stanley Cup Finals five times, between 1980 and 1984, Bossy scored 69 goals. By contrast, in Gretzky's five Stanley Cup Finals playoffs during his peak years with the Edmonton Oilers, he scored 59 goals.

Bossy earned 5 First Team All-Star selections, one of only four right wings ever to do so, again a notable achievement considering that the other three had much longer careers (Gordie Howe - 26 years; Maurice Richard - 18 years; Guy Lafleur - 17 years).

He 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, despite having an injury-shortened career.

Bossy is the fastest player to reach 100 goals in the amount of games played in '78 - '79.

In 81'-82' Bossy was the fastest player to reach 300 goals in the amount of games played, as well as the fastest player to reach 500 goals in the amount of games played in 85'-86', to only have both goal marks to be surpassed and scored faster by Wayne Gretzky's 300 goals in 83'-84' and 500 goals in 86'-87'.

Bossy is the third fastest player to reach the 500 goal mark in the amount of games played (647), only behind Wayne Gretzky's 500 goals in 575 games played and Mario Lemieux's 500 goals in 605 games played.

Bossy is ranked 19th on the NHL all time goal scoring list with 573 life time goals.

Bossy has had seven 100 + point seasons in his NHL career.

Records and Achievements

 * Highest Career Goals Per Game Average- 0.762 (573 goals in 752 GP)
 * Most 50 Goal Seasons- 9 (1977-86) tied with Wayne Gretzky
 * Most Consecutive 50 Goal Seasons- 9 (1977-86)
 * Most 60 Goal Seasons- 5 (1978-79, 1980-83, 1985-86) tied with Wayne Gretzky
 * Most Goals in a Season by a Rookie- 53 in 1977-78 surpassed and currently held by Teemu Selanne (76 in 1992-93)
 * Most Goals in a Season Right Wing- 69 in 1978-79, surpassed by Jari Kurri (71 in 1984-85) and currently held by Brett Hull (86 in 1990-91)
 * Most Assists in a Season Right Wing- 83 in 1981-82, surpassed and currently held by Jaromir Jagr (87 in 1995-96)
 * Most Points in a Season Right Wing- 147 in 1981-82, surpassed and currently held by Jaromir Jagr (149 in 1995-96)
 * Fastest player in Modern NHL history to score 100 Goals- 129 GP *(Joe Malone (62) Newsy Lalonde (69), Cy Denneny (86), Babe Dye (88), Reg Noble (109) & Frank Nighbor (125) had previously reached the mark in fewer games)..
 * Fastest player in Modern NHL history to score 200 Goals- 255 GP surpassed and currently held by Wayne Gretzky (242 GP) *(Cy Denneny (181) & Babe Dye (211) had previously reached the mark in fewer games).
 * Fastest player in NHL history to score 300 Goals- 381 GP surpassed and currently held by Wayne Gretzky (350 GP)
 * Fastest player in NHL history to score 400 Goals- 506 GP surpassed and currently held by Wayne Gretzky (436 GP)
 * Fastest player in NHL history to score 500 Goals- 647 GP surpassed and currently held by Wayne Gretzky (575 GP)
 * Fastest player in Modern NHL history to score 200 Points- 143 GP surpassed and currently held by Wayne Gretzky (117 GP)
 * Fastest player in Modern NHL history to score 300 Points- 221 GP surpassed and currently held by Wayne Gretzky (159 GP)
 * Fastest player in NHL history to score 400 Points- 283 GP surpassed and currently held by Wayne Gretzky (197 GP) he currently ranks 4th behind Gretzky, Mario Lemieux (240) & Peter Stastny (247).
 * Fastest player in NHL history to score 500 Points- 349 GP surpassed and currently held by Wayne Gretzky (234 GP) he currently ranks 4th behind Gretzky, Mario Lemieux (287) & Peter Stastny (322).
 * Fastest player in NHL history to score 600 Points- 400 GP surpassed and currently held by Wayne Gretzky (274 GP) he currently ranks 4th behind Gretzky, Mario Lemieux (323) & Peter Stastny (394).
 * 4th Fastest player in NHL history to score 700 Points- 469 GP behind Wayne Gretzky (317) & Mario Lemieux (363) & Peter Stastny (457)
 * 3rd Fastest player in NHL history to score 800 Points- 525 GP behind Wayne Gretzky (352) & Mario Lemieux (410)
 * 3rd Fastest player in NHL history to score 900 Points- 582 GP behind Wayne Gretzky (385) & Mario Lemieux (463)
 * 3rd Fastest player in NHL history to score 1000 Points- 656 GP behind Wayne Gretzky (424) & Mario Lemieux (513)
 * 3rd Fastest player in NHL history to score 1100 Points- 725 GP behind Wayne Gretzky (464), Mario Lemieux (550)
 * He was the youngest player in NHL history to score 200 goals (23 years, 315 days) until he was surpassed by Wayne Gretzky (21 years, 256 days).
 * He was the youngest player in NHL history to score 300 goals (25 years, 60 days) until he was surpassed  by Wayne Gretzky (22 years, 321 days).
 * He was the youngest player in NHL history to score 400 goals (26 years, 357 days) until he was surpassed by Wayne Gretzky (23 years, 352 days).
 * He was the youngest player in NHL history to score 500 goals (28 years, 345 days) until he was surpassed by Wayne Gretzky (25 years, 300 days).

Career statistics

 * *Stanley Cup Champion