Mike Bossy was not big for an NHL player, just 6-foot, 186 pounds. He took hits as teams tried to test his ability to withstand physicality, but he never fought, just bounced right back up.
Now, he’s in a fight for his life.
Bossy, 64, announced Tuesday afternoon in an open letter that he has been diagnosed with lung cancer, and will step away from his job as an analyst for TVA Sports, the French-language carrier for the NHL in Canada.
“Needless to say, it was a kick in the teeth,” Bossy’s former Islanders teammate, Bobby Nystrom, said of the diagnosis.
Nystrom said he wants to be careful in reaching out to Bossy. He does not want to contribute to what is presumably an overload of calls. He’ll leave him a note at some point, to let Bossy know he believes his old teammate will fight this and beat it.
“Mike’s not gonna lay down and die,” Nystrom said. “He’s gonna fight this big-time. That’s just his mentality.”
That mentality was reflected in Bossy’s playing career. Even though Bossy was the 15th-overall draft pick in 1977, Nystrom remembered him working as hard as anyone on the team in his rookie season.
When Bossy first came to the Islanders, Nystrom had doubts about his scoring ability. Yes, he had averaged 77 goals per year in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, but questions abounded whether that could translate to the NHL.
“He was, needless to say, a slender hockey player,” Nystrom told The Post. “That’s for sure.”
The first few games of the 1977-78 season came and went. Bossy found himself with scoring chances — but seemed to hit the goalpost every time.
“He must have hit about 12 goalposts,” Nystrom said. “And so we kind of figured, well, what’s going on with this. He had golden opportunities.”
In time, Bossy started to take advantage of those opportunities. He soon was on his way to becoming one of the most prolific scorers in NHL history, winning the Calder Trophy after a 53-goal, 38-assist rookie season, and scoring more than 50 goals every season until his last (1986-87).
The questions Nystrom had about Bossy’s scoring had evaporated. The questions about his toughness, which played a role in him slipping to the Islanders in the draft, were solved by playing next to Clark Gillies — and by Bossy’s own attitude.
“He wasn’t satisfied,” Nystrom said. “Neither were we until we won the [Stanley] Cups. Mike would just stay out there with the goaltenders and just practice shooting.”
Bossy’s shot, with which he scored 50 goals in the first 50 games of the 1980-81 season, was uncanny. Goaltenders back then, in essence, were standing. Bossy routinely pulled it short-side and got them to cover that area. As soon as they did, he’d take it through the five-hole.
Years later, Nystrom still marvels at his quickness.
“I really have never seen anyone get a shot away that fast,” he said. “The thing is that he disguised it so well. That was the big difference. And such accuracy.”
Islanders coach Barry Trotz has only met Bossy in passing, he thinks on a night honoring one of his former teammates. Nevertheless, Bossy left an impression.
“He lives Islanders,” Trotz said, “and he’s obviously an Islander legend. … I’m kind of in awe of him. I used to watch him all the time.”
Bossy will always engender respect and reverence in the Islanders’ universe, and that’s why Tuesday’s announcement came as such a blow.
“The best thing I can say about Mike is that there’s no such thing as perfection, in hockey or in any sport,” Nystrom said. “But the fact is that he was driven to be the best that he could be. And that’s the best compliment I could pay him.”
