Did Mike Bossy smoke? NHL legend succumbs to lung cancer

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NY Islanders icon Mike Bossy has died aged 65 after a long battle with lung cancer. 

News of Bossy’s passing was confirmed today (Friday, 15 April) in a statement from his former hockey team, the New York Islanders, on Twitter. 

As tributes to the late hockey icon take over social media, some fans have since wondered if he ever smoked. We explore if Mike Bossy did smoke. 

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RIP Mike Bossy: NY Islanders legend dies after lung cancer illness

Mike Bossy, familiar to many NHL fans for his time as part of the New York Islanders, has died aged 65. 

The NHL legend’s death was confirmed in a statement by his former team via Twitter on Friday, 15 April. 

News of his passing comes after he revealed he had been diagnosed with lung cancer in October. Bossy shared the news on Quebec sports network TVA where he was a hockey analyst. 

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Did Mike Bossy smoke?

According to reports, Mike Bossy was previously a smoker. 

In a recent Sports.net article looking back on the now late hockey player’s career, Bossy was reported to be a “heavy smoker” in the early years of his career. 

Elsewhere Mike Bossy was also listed as a smoker in a 2012 article by Sports Illustrated titled When the NHL Lit Lamps And Smokes. In the 2012 piece, which listed smokers within the NHL, a 1983 report also by Sports Illustrated was referenced, which stated Bossy was smoking during an interview at the time.

More recently, he was seen to reference smoking in a 2017 letter to his younger self published in The Players Tribune. Ending the reflective piece, Bossy wrote: “We can stop smoking cigarettes after our rookie year.” 

Despite the reports, Bossy did not ever comment on whether he did or did not smoke publically and, in a 2012 interview with the Huff Post, said he “never answer[s] smoking questions.”

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NHL fans mourn the late hockey icon

Tributes to late NY Islanders legend have taken over social media following the news of his passing as fans look back on Mike Bossy’s life and career: 

We send our condolences to Mike Bossy’s family at this difficult time.

Amber Peake

Amber is an entertainment journalist with a love for anything showbiz, celeb or reality TV. After graduating with a degree in Journalism at Brunel University she became a Showbiz Reporter at Express.co.uk. Having written for both HITC and The Focus, Amber is now a staff writer for The Focus covering the latest celeb and entertainment trends.