Ek’s Note: I’m back from vacation on Monday morning….first this important piece from Kevin Allen…
NHL coach Tommy McVie told folks in the 1980s that he wanted a Mike Bossy doll for Christmas.
“You wind it up and it scores 60 goals,… McVie told Sports Illustrated years ago. Bossy, considered one of the NHL’s all-time great scorers, has died of lung cancer at age 65. His death was announced Friday and was greeted by sorrow around the hockey world. Quebec native Bossy helped the Islanders win four consecutive Stanley Cups from 1980 to 1983 while in the midst of recording nine consecutive seasons of scoring 50 or more goals. He is the only NHLer to accomplished that feat. His scoring rate of .76 goals per game is also the highest in NHL history. “Bossy was as good of a goal scorer as I ever saw,… said Detroit Red Wings general manager Jim Devellano who was the Islanders’ assistant GM when Bossy came to New York. Bossy had a gift for scoring and was blessed with an understanding of his gift that made him a treasure into his retirement. He was a polite star who enjoyed talking about his sport and his craft. Michael Farber, one of great hockey writers of this generation, summed up Bossy’s passing this way on Twitter “Mike Bossy, authentic. Goal scorer. Idealist. Mensch. May his memory be a blessing.… Bossy totaled 573 goals in a career that was cut short by a bad back. He was only 30 when he retired. After scoring 51 or more goals in his first nine season, he finished with 38 goals in 63 games in his injury-plagued final season. “His drive to be the best every time he stepped on the ice was second to none," Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello said in an Islanders’ press release. Bossy won the Calder Trophy and Conn Smythe Trophy, plus the Lady Byng Trophy three times. He was named to the NHL’s Top 100 Players five years ago. “He thrilled fans like few others,… NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said.
Devellano said Bossy’s offensive approach was hard to explain because it was instinctual.
“There are players who don’t have to tee up the puck, and he was one of those guys,… Devellano said. “The puck is on their stick and then it’s in the net. You can’t explain how they did it.…
Former New York Rangers defenseman Tom Laidlaw played against Bossy often in the 1980s and never figured out how to stop him.
“He didn’t look like he was all that,… Laidlaw said. “He wasn’t a very big guy. Wasn’t a great skater, but he always found a way to get it done. He would beat you sometimes one-on-one, and you would think, How did he do that?…
Bossy was so in tune with teammates, such as Bryan Trottier and Denis Potvin, that he always seemed to be where he needed to be.
“Bossy would be on my side, and I would have him covered,… Laidlaw said. “But Potvin would bring up the puck and he would pass it off the boards behind Bossy, I would think I was going to intercept the pass. Instead, Bossy would be in on a breakaway.…
Bossy made his cancer diagnosis public last October.
“An amazing player, tough, among the game's very elite scorers,… said former NHL player and current ESPN analyst Ray Ferraro. “ Privileged to play a few games against him.…
Wayne Gretzky and Bossy are the only NHL players to have scored 60 or more goals in a season five times.
.png){kind=spacer}