US Politics

Mike Bossy, goal-scorer extraordinaire of New York Islanders dynasty, dies at 65

Mike Bossy, goal-scorer extraordinaire of New York Islanders dynasty, dies at 65

Mike Bossy, one of hockey’s most prolific goal-scorers and a star for the New York Islanders during their 1980s Stanley Cup dynasty, has died months after he revealed he was diagnosed with lung cancer.

He was 65.

TVA Sports, the French-language network in Canada where he worked as a hockey analyst, confirmed Bossy died Thursday night.

An Islanders spokesman said Bossy was in his native Montreal, where the team will play Friday night against the Canadiens.

Bossy helped the Islanders win the Stanley Cup four straight years from 1980-83, earning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 1982. He scored the Cup-winning goal in 1982 and ’83.

Bossy had revealed his diagnosis in October in a letter to TVA Sports.

“It is with a lot of sadness that I need to step away from your screens, for a necessary pause,” Bossy wrote in French. “I intend to fight with all the determination and fire you’ve seen me show on the ice.”

It’s the third loss from that Islanders era this year after fellow Hockey Hall of Famer Clark Gillies died in January and Jean Potvin died in March.

Daughter Tanya Bossy said her father was “no longer in pain.”

“My dad loved hockey, sure, but first and foremost he loved life,” she said in a statement in French on behalf of the Bossy family. “Until the end of his journey, he hung on. He wanted to live more than anything.”

Bossy was a first-round pick in 1977 and played his entire 10-year NHL career with New York. He won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year, got the Lady Byng Trophy for gentlemanly conduct three times and led the league in goals twice.

Bossy scored 50 or more goals in each of his first nine seasons — the league’s longest streak. He and Wayne Gretzky are the only players in hockey history with nine 50-goal seasons.

“The New York Islanders organization mourns the loss of Mike Bossy, an icon not only on Long Island but the entire hockey world,” Islanders president and general manager Lou Lamoriello said. ”His drive…

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