Former NY Islander, Stanley Cup champ Mike Bossy dies of cancer

Hockey Hall of Fame legend Mike Bossy has died from cancer, his former team, the New York Islanders, announced.

In a statement, the team said, “The New York Islanders organization mourns the loss of Mike Bossy, an icon not only on Long Island but across the entire hockey world. 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.”

Bossy had said in October that he was diagnosed with lung cancer, ESPN reported. In a letter written in French to TVA Sports at the time, Bossy wrote, “It is with a lot of sadness that I need to step away from your screens, for a necessary pause. I intend to fight with all the determination and fire you’ve seen me show on the ice.”

Bossy, a Montreal native, played his entire career with the Islanders, after he was selected 15th in the 1977 NHL draft, CNN reported. He went on to win the Calder Memorial Trophy for Rookie of the Year that year, finishing with 53 goals and 91 points.

Former NY Islander, Stanley Cup champ Mike Bossy dies of cancer New York Islanders right wing Mike Bossy poses in New York with some of the spoils reaped after the Islanders defeated the Vancouver Canucks to win the Stanley Cup at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y., May 20, 1982. Bossy scored two goals in the game and finished the playoffs with 17, earning the Conn Smythe MVP trophy at right and the Sport Magazine MVP trophy, left, At center is the Stanley Cup. Bossy, one of hockey’s most prolific goal-scorers and a star for the New York Islanders during their 1980s dynasty, died Thursday, April 14, 2022, after a battle with lung cancer. He was 65. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler, File) (Marty Lederhandler/AP)

Bossy twice led the NHL in goals scored, and scored a total of 573 goals in 752 regular-season games in his career, The New York Times reported.

Bossy was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991, and his number (22) was retired by the New York Islanders in 1992. In 2017, Bossy was named one of the NHL’s 100 greatest players.

Former NY Islander, Stanley Cup champ Mike Bossy dies of cancer File photo: Former New York Islandes Mike Bossy waves to the crowd prior to the game during Mike Bossy tribute Night at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on January 29, 2015 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) (Al Bello/Getty Images)

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