Mike Bossy played in the NHL for 10 years, all with the New York Islanders, and he made the most of his limited time in the league. A huge part of New York’s dynastic run in the early 1980s, Bossy is the NHL’s all-time leader in average goals per game and holds the NHL’s third-highest all-time average points per game.

Bossy was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991. Now let’s take a look at five mind-blowing facts about Bossy:

1. 50 Goals in Nine Consecutive Seasons

Only five players in NHL history have scored 50 or more goals in a season at least nine times. Only one of those skaters did it nine times in a row, and that was Mike Bossy. It started from his rookie season through almost his entire career. Some of the best goalscorers in the game, like Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, didn’t even do that. It was just a crazy level of elite production and consistency.

What makes this great is that he only played 10 seasons in the league and never truly had a down year. He definitely would have kept playing, but chronic back injuries forced him to hang up his skates.

2. Reached 500 Goals at a Fast Pace

When Bossy hit the 500 goal mark, he did it in 647 games, which at the time was the fastest pace in NHL history. Gretzky would eventually do it in 575 games, and Alexander Ovechkin did it faster than Bossy as well. Most of the players in the league don’t even come close to 500 goals in their entire careers, and his pace to 500 was 0.74 goals per game. It was basically a video game pace.

3. More Playoff Goals Than Games Played

Bossy just didn’t dominate the regular season, he was also a force in the postseason. He scored 85 goals In 129 playoff games, a goals-per-game rate of 0.66. During the Islanders cup run of the 1980s, Bossy was the main guy on offense and the reason why New York won four straight Stanley Cups. In the 1981 playoffs, he scored 17 goals and got 17 more in the 1983 playoff run. Bossy also scored 27 points in just 19 games, and some of those were game-winners.

While some of the best players in the game sometimes didn’t produce, Bossy was as reliable as any player in history. He ranks high in the all-time playoff goal leaders, even though he has fewer postseason games played than most of the guys on the list.

4. Never Scored Fewer Than 38 Goals

Even when his numbers were down, which they never really were, Bossy put up numbers that a lot of today’s players would love to have. In his final season in the league, he was fighting tough back pain and missed 17 games. However, Bossy still managed to put 38 goals in the net, in 63 games, and that was considered a low season for him.

In a lot of NHL seasons, 38 goals would have ranked in the top 10 and for Bossy, it was a casual number and way off from his usual production. The consistent efficiency is amazing, and it didn’t matter if he was a rookie, veteran, or playing through an injury, the numbers were always there. Even in a full 80-game season, where he only missed a few games, he still ended up with 51 goals.

5. Retired With Highest Goals-Per-Game Average

Bossy’s career goals-per-game average is 0.76 — the highest of any player in modern NHL history. It’s even higher than Gretzky and Ovechkin. No one has even come close to that efficiency for over an entire career.

What makes it even more impressive is that he didn’t get to play well into his 30s and continue to pad his stats. Even though Bossy had to retire at the age of 30, his production is still tough to match. If he didn’t have to retire early due to his back issues, then he probably would have finished with more than 700 goals, maybe even pushed for 800.

Bossy didn’t have the greatest longevity, but he was more consistently effective than some of the players who played almost 20 years in the league. He was an explosive player and all about elite skill and shot accuracy. Bossy became one of the NHL’s most feared scorers, and he did it in style. The guy didn’t talk trash, fight, or have a ton of flashy moments. He just found a way to put the puck in the net at an incredible rate.

Bossy passed away in 2022, but his scoring legacy lives on for an Islanders organization that has failed to meet the heights of the early 80s since that run. Regardless, Bossy remains one of the greatest to ever play the game of hockey.