R.I.P. Mike Bossy

[fuswald]

Only 65, same as me. Was an amazing player.

The C word again.

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[94 Oil Drops]

WHAT? Never saw him play but the guy was a legend. Really sad news and quite surprising. May God bless his family and friends.

 

[RattsSSV]

Terrible news, however at least his family had time to be with him and to say their goodbyes.

Such an incredibly skilled hockey player, he will always be my favourite non-Oiler.

 

[redgrant]

Anyone know the cause of death? 65 is very young these days.

 

[82Ninety42011]

Sad news was one of the greatest goal scorers ever if not for back issues who knows how many more goals he ends up with. Regards to his family and friends very sad.

 

[RattsSSV]

Anyone know the cause of death? 65 is very young these days.

Lung cancer

 

[Drivesaitl]

Lung cancer

His death was prematurely reported here weeks ago by somebody. So several of us had already posted on his passing unfortunately before he had passed. RIP Mike Bossy. One of the greats. Best pure shooter in hockey. Oddly the knock on him in scouting reports was didn't skate well enough. He skated fine, and being that he had a howitzer he scored from almost anywhere in offensive zone. Had great hands too.

 

[Bring Back Bucky]

Greatest pure goal scorer in history.

 

[Mr Kot]

I can only give my condolences.

 

[Dakota Sioux]

No doubt in my mind he would of been the all time leading goal scorer had it not been for his injuries. Just a pure goal scorer who made it look easy

 

[RattsSSV]

His death was prematurely reported here weeks ago by somebody. So several of us had already posted on his passing unfortunately before he had passed. RIP Mike Bossy. One of the greats. Best pure shooter in hockey. Oddly the knock on him in scouting reports was didn't skate well enough. He skated fine, and being that he had a howitzer he scored from almost anywhere in offensive zone. Had great hands too.

That's a shame. I have learned to always check multiple sources with something like this because of things like that.

Watching the Islanders beat us in 83 and his play in 84 made me so jealous of his shot. Hell of a player.

 

[Stoneman89]

WHAT? Never saw him play but the guy was a legend. Really sad news and quite surprising. May God bless his family and friends.

Saw him lots as the Isles became a powerhouse in the late 70's , and then against the Oilers in the early 80's. OV is the best pure sniper playing today (apologies to Austin!), but Bossy was subliminal. He could score in a multitude of ways, but that shot. OMG, that shot. As deadly as you'll ever see,

 

[Stoneman89]

His death was prematurely reported here weeks ago by somebody. So several of us had already posted on his passing unfortunately before he had passed. RIP Mike Bossy. One of the greats. Best pure shooter in hockey. Oddly the knock on him in scouting reports was didn't skate well enough. He skated fine, and being that he had a howitzer he scored from almost anywhere in offensive zone. Had great hands too.

He went into palliative care then, which is pretty much like knockin' on heavens door, so we all knew it was close nonetheless. Unbelievable that 14 teams passed him over in his draft year, but like you say, they thought skating, but also defensive play would be an issue for him. He sure showed those scouts a thing or two.
Two big hits in the last while for the Isles franchise, Clark Gillies and now this. Bryan Trottier and Denis Potvin, please stay well.

 

[Oilhawks]

RIP to a legend. Never got to see him play outside of video recordings, but was a big fan and he’s one of the reasons that the Islanders are one of the few non-Oilers teams that I actually like.

There’s no doubt that he would hold the top goals scored of all time if not for the back injuries. His goals per game really stands out on the top goal-scorer list of all time

 

[Stoneman89]

RIP to a legend. Never got to see him play outside of video recordings, but was a big fan and he’s one of the reasons that the Islanders are one of the few non-Oilers teams that I actually like.

There’s no doubt that he would hold the top goals scored of all time if not for the back injuries. His goals per game really stands out on the top goal-scorer list of all time

9 straight 50 goal seasons. And within that, 6 seasons of 60 or more. Let that sink in for some of the youngsters on here. The only season he didn't pot 50 was his last year, when his back started to give out on him. ONLY got 38 that year. Came in like a blaze and went out like a fireball.

 

[Drivesaitl]

RIP to a legend. Never got to see him play outside of video recordings, but was a big fan and he’s one of the reasons that the Islanders are one of the few non-Oilers teams that I actually like.

There’s no doubt that he would hold the top goals scored of all time if not for the back injuries. His goals per game really stands out on the top goal-scorer list of all time

Yep. If I could point out as well that any of the Goals Drai scored last night Bossy would be able to score. he could really pick his spot from anywhere, shoot through screens, get it away fast.

A lot of people think that past goal scoring is an artifice of past goaltending not being as good, or form not being as good. But Mike Bossy could be 100ft out and blow a screen shot through that hit a corner, and he intended to hit that corner. In the Words of Bossy he scored so many because he never missed. He's not just talking about missing the net. He's the purest calibration shooter I've probably ever seen. I mean even as an opponent seeing him pot one was magic. Perfect shooter. I wonder what he would do with Carbon Graphite sticks. Keeping in mind he displayed shooting perfection with imperfect wood sticks.

One of the wonders of hockey was showing up early and seeing Bossy shooting pucks in practice, seeing what he could do so consistently. He was worth the price of admission before game started, and this being wondrous Oilers vs Islanders games which were the best, even when we were losing. There was never shame in losing to the Islanders and Mike Bossy. Almost everybody did.

Off the ice Mike Bossy was as articulate as Ken Dryden.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Saw him lots as the Isles became a powerhouse in the late 70's , and then against the Oilers in the early 80's. OV is the best pure sniper playing today (apologies to Austin!), but Bossy was subliminal. He could score in a multitude of ways, but that shot. OMG, that shot. As deadly as you'll ever see,

What a thrill it was to see all the great NHL teams on TV, in the livingroom, and then later be able to see the same players in person. For instance in SC playoffs, in cup finals. I think I saw the Islanders live probably 10 times. They were always good here. The Islanders could come into Northlands Coliseum and shut us out, you'd walk out still thinking you saw a great game and that "This is the hill to climb"

 

[HockeyGuy1964]

My absolute favorite non-oiler or hab hockey player ever.
I never missed a chance to watch him & I marveled at what he was able to do. I used to soak up any English language interview I could find & loved listening to him talk about the art of hockey.
He was his own man & stood by his principles about fighting in hockey when he knew that it would make him an even bigger target then he already was but went on to show that it didn't mean he was soft.
RIP Mike. You will be missed.

 

[McSuper]

I hated the NYI for their sweep of the Oilers the first time the Oilers faced them in the final . I always like Bossy and wish he was on the Oilers with Gretzky passing .

Mike Bossy will always be remembered with the legends of the game . RIP and condolences to his family .

They should have a Bossy award so he can be remembered by future generation .

 

[Messrules11]

This is sad news indeed. Bossy was one of my favourite players back in the ‘80’s. A pure goal scorer and cocky as hell. RIP Boss.

 

[MoontoScott]

The only thing I didn't like about Mike Bossy was that he didn't play for the Oilers.

Can you imagine Gretzky between Bossy and Kurri? That would have been fun to watch.

In reality, Bossy always claimed that Bryan Trottier was all round better than Gretzky but of course that was the rivalry that existed between the clubs.

If you want to read more about the rivalry from the inside (including what happened when the two teams met in the same dressing room as teammates in the Canada Cup) then check out Messier's book "No One Wins Alone."

 

[Oilhawks]

9 straight 50 goal seasons. And within that, 6 seasons of 60 or more. Let that sink in for some of the youngsters on here. The only season he didn't pot 50 was his last year, when his back started to give out on him. ONLY got 38 that year. Came in like a blaze and went out like a fireball.

He’s probably one of the most interesting “what if’s”. Wonder where he would have ended up, if he would have won another Cup somewhere, etc?

Yep. If I could point out as well that any of the Goals Drai scored last night Bossy would be able to score. he could really pick his spot from anywhere, shoot through screens, get it away fast.

A lot of people think that past goal scoring is an artifice of past goaltending not being as good, or form not being as good. But Mike Bossy could be 100ft out and blow a screen shot through that hit a corner, and he intended to hit that corner. In the Words of Bossy he scored so many because he never missed. He's not just talking about missing the net. He's the purest calibration shooter I've probably ever seen. I mean even as an opponent seeing him pot one was magic. Perfect shooter. I wonder what he would do with Carbon Graphite sticks. Keeping in mind he displayed shooting perfection with imperfect wood sticks.

One of the wonders of hockey was showing up early and seeing Bossy shooting pucks in practice, seeing what he could do so consistently. He was worth the price of admission before game started, and this being wondrous Oilers vs Islanders games which were the best, even when we were losing. There was never shame in losing to the Islanders and Mike Bossy. Almost everybody did.

Off the ice Mike Bossy was as articulate as Ken Dryden.

I think he’d win the Rocket in any season he’d play in today’s NHL, easily.

 

[Black Gold Extractor]

Rest in peace, Mike Bossy. My condolences to his family and friends.

At his absolute peak, he was astounding. Here are the top 20 goal scorers over the 1981 through 1983 playoffs:

Player​	GP​	G​	A​	P​	+/-​	PIM​	P/GP​	GWG​
Mike Bossy​	56​	51​	37​	88​	28​	14​	1.57​	11​
Bryan Trottier​	54​	25​	53​	78​	35​	92​	1.44​	4​
Wayne Gretzky​	30​	24​	47​	71​	29​	16​	2.37​	5​
Steve Payne​	32​	24​	20​	44​	-8​	27​	1.38​	4​
Bob Bourne​	53​	21​	33​	54​	30​	69​	1.02​	3​
Dino Ciccarelli​	32​	21​	14​	35​	-4​	38​	1.09​	6​
Barry Pederson​	28​	21​	29​	50​	15​	23​	1.79​	4​
Denis Potvin​	57​	21​	45​	66​	47​	68​	1.16​	3​
Butch Goring​	57​	20​	23​	43​	19​	22​	0.75​	5​
Denis Savard​	31​	19​	16​	35​	-3​	74​	1.13​	3​
Mark Messier​	29​	18​	13​	31​	8​	35​	1.07​	2​
Bobby Nystrom​	53​	18​	17​	35​	24​	67​	0.66​	1​
John Tonelli​	55​	18​	29​	47​	26​	54​	0.85​	5​
Glenn Anderson​	30​	17​	22​	39​	0​	52​	1.30​	3​
Rick Middleton​	31​	17​	32​	49​	12​	8​	1.58​	1​
Duane Sutter​	51​	17​	18​	35​	25​	110​	0.69​	3​
Bobby Smith​	32​	16​	25​	41​	-4​	35​	1.28​	2​
Brian Sutter​	25​	16​	10​	26​	-3​	136​	1.04​	1​
Ron Duguay​	33​	15​	12​	27​	2​	75​	0.82​	1​
Jari Kurri​	30​	15​	27​	42​	30​	22​	1.40​	0​

Three straight 17-goal playoffs. 51 goals in 56 playoff games for 0.91 goals per game. (Even Gretzky was at "only" 0.80 goals per game over the same stretch.) I doubt that will ever be seen again.

 

[Stoneman89]

Habs were in the midst of their own 4 in a row dynasty and had a shot at him before the Isles (they decided on a "safer" pick - 60 goal man Mark Napier). Hell, even the hated crosstown Rangers had TWO chances at him before, and chose to not even take a flier on him. Apparently everyone in junior tried to take runs at him and destroy him before he even got to the NHL, but he just came back for more. Most teams thought he'd get killed by the big boys in the top league. Probably just like they thought the scrawny little kid from the Soo would fold under the physical pressure of real men.

 

[bobbyking]

saw some numbers before on HF looks like he was the most clutch of all time