User:Echoedmyron/sandbox

Later career
As the 1983–84 NHL season got underway, Bossy had five goals in the first three games of the season, before missing six games with a hip injury. Bossy put together a 15-game point streak that ended in early December. He promptly put together a 19-game streak that lasted until mid-January. On January 15, Bossy scored his 400th career regular season goal, the fastest to hit that milestone, doing so in his 506th game, a 4-2 win against the Rangers. Bossy was named to appear the 1984 NHL All-Star Game, which would have been his sixth consecutive All-Star game, but a collision with Detroit's Dwight Foster resulted in a knee injury and Rick Middleton took his place in the starting lineup; Bossy wound up missing six games with this injury. At the end of the season, Bossy had 51 goals, for his seventh consecutive season with at least 50. Bossy was named a First Team All-Star for the fourth straight year, and again won the Lady Byng Trophy; the Lady Byng Trophy was presented to Bossy at the NHL Awards by Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau.

In the 1984 Stanley Cup playoffs, Bossy scored four times combined in the opening rounds against the Islanders and Rangers, but then equaled that total against the Canadiens, including three game-winners, as the Islanders won their record 19th straight playoff series and advanced to their fifth straight Stanley Cup final. Bossy missed game 1 of the 1984 Stanley Cup Finals, a rematch against the Oilers, with tonsillitis. When he returned, Bossy, who had scored 17 goals in each of the previous three post-seasons, failed to score, and was held without a shot on goal in two of the games, as the Oilers won their first Stanley Cup.

Bossy started the 1984–85 NHL season strong, tying his own team record by scoring in ten consecutive games, and by early November was leading the league with 33 points. By early December, he was scoring at better than a goal per game, with 25 markers in 23 contests. With Trottier missing time with injuries, the team's top line during the first five weeks of the season consisted of Bossy, Brent Sutter and John Tonelli, with that combination providing more than half of the team's offense. After Trottier returned, he took his usual place alongside Bossy, joined with Greg Gilbert, but the Bossy-Tonelli-Sutter combination would be resurrected later in the season when the team needed a boost. After 41 games, Bossy was having his best season so far, with 37 goals and 39 assists in that span, as he continued to carry the team. He was selected for the 1985 NHL All-Star Game, his seventh selection overall and the only unanimous choice that year. Bossy finished the season with 58 goals, his eighth consecutive season of 50-goals plus, and earned Second Team All-Star honours, as the Islanders stumbled into the playoffs. In the opening round of the 1985 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Islanders narrowly got past Washington in the opening round, with Bossy assisting on Brent Sutter's game-winning goal. In the second round, the Philadelphia Flyers held Bossy scoreless through the first three games, taking a 3-0 series lead; when Bossy scored in a 6-2 Islanders game 4 victory, it tied Maurice Richard's record for career playoff goals with 82. The Islanders were eliminated in game 5, a 1-0 shutout, as Bossy was held to two shots on goal.

After starting the 1985–86 NHL season with Trottier again, Bossy found himself on continually changing lines throughout the course of the season. By mid-October he had been teamed with Pat LaFontaine and rookie Ari Haanpaa. Al Arbour would frequently juggle the lines to spark his team with varying results; reuniting Bossy with Tonelli and Brent Sutter coincided with a Bossy hat trick in a 4-4 tie with Minnesota in November, while Bossy scored the winner in a 7-4 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins after being teamed with Trottier and Mikko Makela. Bossy and Trottier were playing alongside Tonelli in February, connecting on the only goal in a 1-0 victory over Vancouver, but this tandem was itself split up when Tonelli was traded to the Calgary Flames in March for Steve Konroyd and Richard Kromm. The Islanders and Flames faced each other on the same day as the trade, and Bossy scored four goals, while on a line with Kromm and Trottier.

Bossy hit a number of milestones during the course of the season. On January 2, 1986 Bossy became the fastest player to reach 500 goals in NHL history, scoring twice in his 647th game, a 7-5 victory against the Boston Bruins. On January 24, Bossy collected his 1,000th regular season point by assisting on a Trottier goal in a 7-5 win against Washington; a goal in the same game moved Bossy into 10th place at the time on the all-time scoring list. Bossy's four-goal game against Calgary on March 11 included his 50th of the year, making this the record-setting ninth straight season in which he had scored at least 50 goals. Bossy scored his 61st goal in the last game of the season against the New Jersey Devils, completing his record fifth season with at least 60 goals.

In the 1986 NHL All-Star Game, Bossy assisted on Bryan Trottier's overtime game-winning goal in a 4-3 Wales Conference victory. The Islanders did not make it past the opening round of the 1986 Stanley Cup playoffs as they were swept in three games by Washington, but Bossy did set a new all-time record by scoring his 83rd playoff goal. Bossy was named a First Team All-Star and won the Lady Byng Trophy for the third time.

86-87

At the beginning of training camp Bossy experienced back pain, and after playing two uncomfortable games in which he did not score, he was ordered to rest for 10 days. The hiatus spanned four games, after which Bossy returned strong, scoring 12 times across 12 games, in addition to recording 9 assists. By Christmas, Bossy had 22 goals but was playing through pain and was not at his usual level, and was undergoing chiropractic treatments and considering taking time off in February. On January 6, playing on a line with Gilbert and Trottier against Minnesota, Bossy scored twice and was still on pace for another 50-goal season. Bossy then missed seven consecutive games in January as the back pain flared up, and doctors were at a loss to determine a diagnosis. It was believed that he was putting undue strain on his back by skating in a manner to take pressure off his right knee, which had required surgery when he was a child. Bossy was voted to be the starting right wing representing the NHL against the Soviet Union in Rendez-vous '87, the 1987 replacement for the NHL All-Star Game, but ultimately pulled out of the series due to his back problems. Bossy still hoped to record a tenth consecutive 50-goal season, with it still possible as of early February, and had reached 32 by the end of the month. However by late March it was apparent to Bossy that he would not be reaching the milestone, as the pain increased, and he additionally found himself the target of hits that exploited his condition. In a March 14 game against New Jersey, Bossy scored his 38th goal of the season, which proved to be his last, as he finished the season tied with Pat LaFontaine for the team lead. After sitting out the final seven games of the season to rest his back for the 1987 Stanley Cup playoffs, Bossy returned for the opening game of the Patrick Division semifinal against Washington, and scored a powerplay goal. He then suffered an injury to his left knee on a hit from Lou Franceschetti in game 2, and missed the rest of the series, in which the Islanders came back from a three-games-to-one deficit and won the deciding seventh game in quadruple overtime. Bossy returned to the ice in the fourth game of the Patrick Division final against Philadelphia, scoring his 85th career playoffs goal in game 6 as the Islanders again were coming back from a three-to-one deficit, but the Islanders were eliminated with a 5-1 loss in game 7.

Bossy intended to attend training camp in 1987, but with his condition remaining stagnant, and pain preventing him from bending to tie his own skates, Bossy instead underwent a series of tests and x-rays on his back. Doctors eventually concluded that he had two discs in his lower back that were damaged and could not be repaired by surgery, leading Bossy to sit out the 1987-88 season in favour of therapy. During his season off, Bill Torrey had offered to trade Bossy to the Canadiens, so he could be closer to home, but Bossy declined. The Los Angeles Kings acquired Wayne Gretzky in the summer of 1988, and owner Bruce McNall and general manager Rogie Vachon each invited Bossy to sign with the team as a free agent; Bossy declined this offer as well, believing he would not have been able to meet expectations. Bossy officially retired in October 1988, having played his last game at the young age of 30; he scored 573 goals and 553 assists in 752 NHL games, all with the Islanders.

The Islanders retired Bossy's #22 on March 3, 1992, the second Islander afforded that honour after longtime teammate Denis Potvin.