It’s heartbreaking: A very talented New York Islanders player has announced his sudden retirement, sending a powerful statement and bidding the team and supporters a heartfelt farewell.

It’s heartbreaking: A very talented New York Islanders player has announced his sudden retirement, sending a powerful statement and bidding the team and supporters a heartfelt farewell.

Imagine feeling like you could have done so much more when you retired as the sixth-highest scorer in NHL history. When Mike Bossy, a legend of the New York Islanders and Hockey Hall of Famer, announced his retirement on October 24, 1988, at the age of just 31, it’s likely that he was thinking of this.

Mike Bossy, a legend of the New York Islanders, decides to retire.
After finishing the 1986–87 season with a career-low 38 goals in 63 games—yes, a career-low—Bossy decided to take a year off from hockey to recover from a back injury. Game 7 of the 1987 Patrick Division Final between the Philadelphia Flyers and him was his final game. In Game 6 of that series, he scored the game’s last goal on the power play as the Isles defeated the team 4-2 at the Nassau Coliseum.

“After waiting for my back to get better for a year and a half, I’ve finally concluded that my back issue has prevailed. Consequently, my NHL career has ended.”

Mike Bossy
Bossy played a major role in the Islanders’ dynasty, which saw the team win 19 straight playoff series and four Stanley Cups between 1980 and 1984. At the time of his retirement, he was ranked 16th on the all-time NHL point list (1,126) with 573 goals and 553 assists during his career.

After scoring 53 goals in his rookie season, he set a rookie record and was awarded the Calder Trophy in 1977.

Bossy won the Conn Smythe Award as playoff MVP following the Islanders’ four-game Stanley Cup Final series sweep of the Vancouver Canucks. At his retirement ceremony, head coach Al Arbour remarked, “When it counted, he was there.” “He scored 17 goals a year in 1981 and 1982, two of the most consecutive playoff seasons ever.”

In the years that followed, Bossy said he felt guilty about retiring early and that pride was the driving force behind the decision. The idea of playing in pain and performing poorly, coming from the purest goal scorer of his generation, was too much for him to bear.