He played ten seasons in the National Hockey League and scored more than 50 goals in each except for his last. Even at the low point in his career, when his back ailments took over and he was reduced to 63 games, Mike Bossy still put 38 pucks into the net in his final season.
It is simply a shame that Mike Bossy was forced to retire at the young age of 30, after the 1986-87 season. Despite the relatively short career, Bossy is still ranked 19th overall for goals in a career. Mike’s record of nine consecutive seasons with 50+ goals still stands as a NHL record and probably will for a long, long time.
After playing for the Laval National in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) from 1972-73 to 1976-77, Mike Bossy was chosen 15th overall by the New York Islanders in the 1977 NHL Amateur Draft. He was also taken in the WHA Amateur Draft by the Indianapolis Racers, 44th overall.
In his rookie season, he set the mark for most goals in a season by a rookie (since shattered by Teemu Selanne) with 53 and contributed 91 points. The offensive totals easily earned him the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie. In 73 games in that first season, Bossy served just three minor penalties. Normally, that would earn a player the Lady Byng Trophy as the NHL’s most gentlemanly player. However, Butch Goring of the Los Angeles Kings took just one minor penalty in 80 games while scoring 37 goals and totalling 73 points. Ironically, Goring would join Bossy on the Islanders two years later.
Mike topped out at a 69 goal season in just his second year. Bossy surpassed the 60 goal plateau in five of his ten seasons. In seven of the ten seasons, Mike topped 100 points. His best season was 1981-82 when he contributed 147 points. Unfortunately, 147 points was still 65 points behind league leader Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers who totalled an amazing 212.
Although the Hart and Art Ross Trophy eluded Bossy during his career, he was a three time recipient of the Lady Byng Trophy and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Stanley Cup playoffs MVP in 1982. Mike was an integral part of the New York Islanders winning the Stanley Cup on four consecutive occasions from 1980 to 1983. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991. In 1988, Bossy penned a book on his career titled Boss: The Mike Bossy Story
On cardboard, the Mike Bossy Rookie Card was the top valued hockey card in the 1978-79 O-Pee-Chee set. Number 115 from that series is valued by Beckett Hockey at up to $100. The nearly identical Topps version is worth half the price.
Why Mike Bossy’s rookie card should ne much more valuable than it is:
From the begining of the 80 and 82 game regular season, Mike Bossy is one
of only four players to score 500 goals in less than 10 seasons. The others
include the likes of Wayne Gretsky, Mario Leimeux, and Brett Hull. This is a
pretty elite club. Phil Esposito was the only other player to the achieve this during
Seasons with less than 80 games.
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