Hockey Hall Of Famer Mike Bossy Dead At 65

Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Bossy, one of the NHL's top goal scorers and brightest stars on the New York Islanders' 1980s dynasty teams, has died at the age of 65.

The Islanders and the French-language Canadian network TVA Sports, where Bossy worked as a hockey analyst, confirmed his death Thursday (April 14) night.

"The New York Islanders organization mourns the loss of Mike Bossy, an icon not only on Long Island but across the entire hockey world," Islanders President and General Manager Lou Lamoriello said in a statement shared on the team's official website. "His drive to be the best every time he stepped on the ice was second to none. Along with his teammates, he helped win four straight Stanley Cup championships, shaping the history of this franchise forever. On behalf of the entire organization, we send our deepest condolences to the entire Bossy family and all those who grieve this tragic loss." 

Bossy announced he had been diagnosed with lung cancer in a letter to TVA Sports in October.

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

Bossy spent his entire NHL career with the Islanders after being selected by the franchise at No. 15 overall in the 1977 NHL Draft.

The Montreal native is the NHL's all-time leader in average goals scored per regular season game and has the third-highest all-time average points scored per regular season game, as well as being one of only five players in league history to score 50 goals in 50 games, having tied Wayne Gretzky for the most 50 goal seasons in NHL history with nine, which Bossy achieved during his first nine consecutive seasons of his 10-year career.

The Islanders won all four of their Stanley Cups during Bossy's career, was well as six Eastern Conference championships.

Bossy won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's rookie of the year in 1978, the Conn Smythe Trophy as the 1982 Stanley Cup Playoffs' most valuable player and was a two-time NHL Leading Goal Scorer (pre-dating the Rocket Richard Trophy) and three-time Lady Byng Trophy winner, which is rewarded for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct.