Back Problem Forces Islander Star Mike Bossy to Sit Out ‘87-88 Season

Mike Bossy, the right wing who led the New York Islanders to four consecutive Stanley Cup titles, announced Monday he will sit out the 1987-88 season because of a chronic back injury.

“Mike Bossy isn’t retiring,” he said at a news conference. “I will approach therapy with the hope of getting back to a normal way of living. Hopefully, this will clear up, and at some point I’ll put on the skates again.”

Bossy, who has a disk problem in the base of his spine, said he hopes to play again in the 1988-89 season.

Bossy, 30, set a National Hockey League record by scoring at least 50 goals in each of his first nine seasons. But the bad back limited him to 63 games last year, when he scored 38 goals.

He scored the Cup-winning goals in 1982 and ’83 and led the playoffs with 17 goals in 1981, ’82 and ’83.