1981 Hart Memorial Trophy (Mike Bossy)

Lore & Background

Mike Bossy arrived in the NHL in 1977 as the second overall pick, a lanky, long-limbed French-Canadian winger from the Montreal suburbs whose shot could crack the crossbar from the blue line. By the 1980–81 season, he had shed his rookie polish and become something more terrifying: a player who could score at will, set up teammates with surgical passes, and make an opposing defencemen's job feel like a full-time punishment. His partnership with Bryan Trottier — the 'Bobby and Mike' line — was the most feared scoring duo in the league, and Bossy's 1981 Hart was the league's formal acknowledgment that he was the engine behind it all.

What made the 1981 Hart feel different from any other was the context. The Islanders were not simply a good team; they were a dynasty in the making. Bossy's award came in the same season the club captured the Stanley Cup, meaning his individual brilliance was inseparable from collective triumph. He was not the best player on a mediocre roster; he was the best player on the best team, and the Hart reflected that dual standard. For Long Island fans, the trophy symbolised the moment the Islanders stopped being a surprise and became the standard.

Bossy's career would later be shadowed by a devastating knee injury in 1987 that ended his playing days at just 31, making the 1981 Hart all the more precious. It was the season he was untouchable, the year the league said, without reservation, that no one in hockey was more valuable than the French Cannon. His 2005 Hall of Fame induction confirmed what Long Island already knew: that one perfect season in 1981 was not a fluke but the natural apex of a player who, for a few years, made the game look effortless.

In Their Own Story

The arena is humming, that particular Long Island buzz that only exists when the Islanders are about to do something extraordinary. The ice is fresh, the boards gleaming under the floodlights, and somewhere behind the net a Zamboni hums its low mechanical note. Mike Bossy stands at his mark, stick in hand, the puck balanced on the blade. Across the ice, the opposing defenceman is already leaning in, eyes locked, jaw set, knowing full well what's about to happen. The face-off drops. Bossy wins it clean, feeds Trottier, who flicks it back. For a heartbeat the puck hangs in the air, and then Bossy's stick whips through it — that unmistakable crack, the sound Long Island fans have learned to associate with the number 13. The net ripples. The crowd detonates. And somewhere in the press box, a writer is already reaching for his pen, knowing that at the end of this season, the Hart Memorial Trophy will have a name on it that belongs to Long Island.

Reader's Guide

The Hart Memorial Trophy is the NHL's Most Valuable Player award, given each season to the player judged most valuable to his team. In 1981, for the 1980–81 season, it was awarded to New York Islanders left winger Mike Bossy.

The previous year's Hart had gone to Islanders teammate Bryan Trottier, making Bossy's win a statement that the franchise's talent was not a one-man show but a depth of excellence. Bossy led the league in scoring that season and anchored the 'Bobby and Mike' line, the most prolific duo in the NHL at the time. His award came in the same year the Islanders captured the Stanley Cup, giving the individual honour the weight of a championship backdrop.

The 1981 Hart remains a landmark in Islanders history. As an individual season award, it does not 'stand' as a record in the way a career total might, but it is widely regarded as one of the most deserved and iconic Hart wins in the trophy's history, particularly given Bossy's subsequent career-ending injury. For fans of the franchise, it represents the single season in which the league's best player and the league's best team were, in effect, the same thing.

Did You Know?

• Mike Bossy was selected 2nd overall in the 1977 NHL Entry Draft, chosen by the Islanders as a lanky, long-limbed winger from the Montreal area.
• His line with Bryan Trottier, nicknamed 'Bobby and Mike,' was widely considered the most dangerous scoring partnership in the NHL during the early 1980s.
• Bossy's career was effectively ended by a severe knee injury in 1987, making his 1981 Hart season all the more remarkable as the peak of a career cut short.
• He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005, a recognition that Long Island fans felt had been long overdue.