Mike Bossy, four-time Stanley Cup champion with New York Islanders, dies at 65

Mike Bossy, one of hockey's most prolific goal scorers and a star for the New York Islanders during their 1980s dynasty, has died. He was 65.

The Islanders and TVA Sports, the French-language network in Canada where he worked as a hockey analyst, confirmed Bossy died Thursday night. A team spokesman said Bossy was in his native Montreal.

Bossy had said in October in a letter to TVA Sports that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer.

«It is with a lot of sadness that I need to step away from your screens, for a necessary pause,» Bossy wrote in French. «I intend to fight with all the determination and fire you've seen me show on the ice.»

It's the third loss from that Islanders era this year after fellow Hockey Hall of Famer Clark Gillies died in January and Jean Potvin died in March.

«The New York Islanders organization mourns the loss of Mike Bossy, an icon not only on Long Island but the entire hockey world,» Islanders president and general manager Lou Lamoriello said in a statement. «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.»

The New York Islanders are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of the greatest pure goal scorer, four-time Stanley Cup Champion and Hockey Hall of Fame member, Mike Bossy. https://t.co/hbyozJ4BUS

Daughter Tanya Bossy said her father was «no longer in pain.»

«My dad loved hockey, sure, but first and foremost he loved life,» she said in a statement in French on behalf of the Bossy family. «Until the end of his journey, he hung on. He wanted to live more than anything.»

Bossy helped the Islanders win the Stanley Cup from 1980 to 1983,