Maven's Memories: Mike Bossy's Road to the Islanders

Looking backward, there are two things about Mike Bossy's childhood that suggested that -- long range -- he might have a future in the professional ranks.
1. His father, Borden, loved the ice game so much that he planted a hockey stick in Michael's baby crib before the lad even could walk.

2. His mother, Dorothy, loved hockey so much she unfailingly would send the immortal right wing Gordie Howe, a birthday card every year.
   Put another way, hockey was in the Bossy genes before Mike could spell puck.
   In his autobiography, Boss -- The Mike Bossy Story -- the author makes it clear that Michael Dean Bossy knew that somewhere over the rainbow, there'd be a National Hockey League contract with his name on it.
   "Before I turned 10 years old," he wrote, "I envisioned playing in the NHL. To me it was just a natural progression."
   For starters, that was easy. Borden Bossy, a natural craftsman, constructed a makeshift rink in the back of their Montreal home. It was lined with a chain-link fence and a mish-mash of various boards.
   And if Mike needed bigger ice in that Ahuntsic (the north end of Montreal) community there were public rinks sprinkled all over the area, not to mention one rubbing shoulders with the Bossy home at 10335 Meunier Street.
   The Bossy's were by no means poor but there were 10 kids in the family and they all liked to eat. Which meant, as Mike simply put it, "We were never able to afford anything special."
   "The most fun I ever had growing up," he revealed in his autobiography, "was playing a game in the backyard rink with my brothers, Pat and Chris."

While an NHL contract was at the top of Mike's fantasy wish list there were many rungs to climb on his ladder to the big league. One rung was marked pee-wee, then bantam, midget and, finally, junior.
Motivated in the extreme -- not to mention armed with talent -- Mike was making upward headway until a track and field tournament almost turned his dream into a nightmare.
Bossy: "I went to do a running broad jump, but as soon as I planted my two feet after my running approach, my knee gave out."
This was serious stuff. Despite the necessary surgery Mike never was fully satisfied with the result. In fact both he and his dad suffered doubts about whether he'd play hockey again.
In this case, the fear was worse than the falling. He eventually recovered and resumed his ascent in the metropolis where the Montreal Canadiens were regarded by most citizens as royalty.
That is, except for Mike. As a kid, he instinctively rooted "against the Canadiens" because, "I rooted for the underdog all the time."
When it came to playing, Borden Bossy never had to push his gifted son. Nor did Dorothy who became her offspring's official stat-lady when he was a five-year-old whiz kid.
He scored 23 -- correct, twenty-three -- goals in his first organized game. From there it was onward and upward. When he reached the pee-wee level, Mike achieved what amounted to a milestone -- his first body check.
When he was 12, his scoring talents earned him induction into the Minor Hockey Hall of Fame. One bonus included a trip to France and participation in a four-team tournament during January 1970.
At that time he reached what Michael calls "my adolescence" as well as notoriety. His shooting and scoring had become an attention-getter and by the 1971-72 season he was scouted by several Junior teams.
MAVEN'S MEMORIES
WRITTEN COVERAGE
The 2002-03 Homestretch
John Tonelli Five-Goal Game
Isles vs Leafs in 2002
The Amazing 2001-02 Season
Explosive Trades Launch 01-02
Denis Potvin's Breakout vs Rangers
The Sutter Brothers
Kelly Hrudey Origins
How The Trio Grande Happened
Maven's Haven
One key hockey guy -- mesmerized by the young sharpshooter -- was based in Laval, a smaller city just a slap shot away from Montreal.
Paul Rougeau was head coach of the Laval Nationals in the Quebec Junior Hockey League and he had a plan. Bossy would make his way to the big club by way of the Midget and Junior B levels on the Laval ladder.
Chomedey, a neighborhood in Laval became a new home for the Bossy family because Mike was assigned to the Chomedey Midget AA team.
As it happened -- and by pure accident -- Chomedey would become a turning point in Bossy's life not only on ice but, alas, in love as well.
In addition to starring for the local hockey team, Mike was smitten by an attractive teenager who happened to be the counter girl at the town's arena snack bar. Her name was Lucie Creamer, daughter of the rink manager
"Once I noticed Lucie," Mike wrote in his autobiography, "I couldn't get her out of my mind."
(He never did. Mike eventually married Lucie, but that's getting ahead of the story.)
After his year at Chomedey, Bossy followed the blueprint and graduated to the Laval Satellites, springboard to the big-time, Junior A Nationals. It was 1972-73, he was 15 going on 16 and also en route to stardom.
Mike: "What I noticed was the more I scored the more high sticks and questionable checks I received."
Didn't matter. He won the scoring title with 58 goals and 64 assists and won a single game tryout with the Junior A team and scored a goal on a breakaway. That adventure turned the heads of many NHL bird dogs.
There was no question after that, Mike was promoted to Laval's big team, the Nationals. One more step and he'd be somewhere in the NHL. That was the good news.
The bad news had everything to do with violence in the QMJHL. Bossy's rookie year coincided with Philadelphia's Broad Street Bullies winning their first of two Stanley Cups. Their intimidation tactics had spread to Quebec
Chapter Four in Mike's book is titled SURVIVAL. His opening line was explicit: "The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League was hell."

The Bossy response went something like this: when he got mugged on the ice, he'd rebound and score a goal. It was as simple as that and well-documented to boot.
He was rookie-of-the-year and over a four-season span in succession he tallied 70, 84, 79 and 75 goals.
"From the day I played my first Junior A Game," he recalled, "I knew I was good enough to play pro."
Maybe yes, maybe no.
For one thing, his beanpole physique did not measure up against the bigger and bigger players being drafted into the NHL. For another, Mike's overwhelming offense negated the need to learn defense. And he didn't know a backcheck from a bagel.
The Quebec media didn't seem to care. By 1974 Bossy was being hailed as the "next Guy Lafleur." At the time, it was the highest compliment he could receive.
It also would benefit Mike's chances of being a high pick at the Entry Draft. And for that bit of business he hired Pierre Lacroix as his agent. Mike had met the affable Lacroix when Pierre was Laval's interim head coach.
By 1976 Bossy was named Laval's captain and one of the most likely high picks in the 1977 Entry Draft. According to Mike he was considered "either the fourth or fifth" best Quebec League player eligible for the Draft.
Defenseman Robert Picard headed the list followed by left wing Jere Gillis and right wing Lucien DeBlois.
Bossy: "Left wing Normand Dupont and I were ranked below those three because we were considered one-way players, goal-scorers who couldn't check and weren't physical."
Considering that the Islanders would not make their pick until 14 other players would be selected, the odds were heavily against Bossy coming to Uniondale. Especially since the Rangers were selecting at 8 and 13.
"We knew we had to be lucky if -- when our turn arrived -- Mike still would be available," said the Isles Scouting Director Jim Devellano, now Red Wings Executive Vice President.

Even if no team had called Bossy's name after 14 tries the Isles high command debated whether it would be more prudent to go for Dwight Foster who had led the Ontario Hockey League in scoring.
While General Manager Bill Torrey and Head Coach Al Arbour intently listened to arguments pro and con, the team's Quebec scout Henry Saraceno tipped the scales for Mike.
Devellano: "Henry was always in Laval watching Bossy and he was sold on him. When the discussion came up regarding Bossy or Foster, Henry said 'Bossy!' pretty firmly."
Mike would get confirmation via a Torrey phone call. "Congratulations," said Bow Tie Bill. "The Islanders got you."
Bossy would describe it as a "wildly exhilarating moment" in his young life.
"Henry Saraceno won," Mike concluded. "What I had waited so many years for had arrived."