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Like a supernova, the brightest stars do not always shine the longest – such was the case with Mike Bossy and Pavel Bure, two of the most lethal goal scorers the NHL has ever seen. At their respective peaks, each winger could consistently net 50-60 goals a season, but injuries eventually took their toll and forced both of them to retire in their early 30s. Despite the premature retirements, each player left an indelible mark on the game of hockey and is top-five all-time in terms of per-game scoring – with both legends taking their rightful place in the Hockey Hall of Fame, let us look back on their scintillating goal-scoring careers and ask the question:
Who was better – Mike Bossy or Pavel Bure?
The Beginning
Born in the hockey-mad countries of Canada and the Soviet Union (now Russia), respectively, Bossy and Bure both made an immediate impact in the NHL en route to being named the league’s top rookie.
Growing up in Montreal, Canada as one of ten children in a family of Detroit Red Wings fans, Bossy started playing for Laval National of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) at age 15 and would go on to set a career record for points scored; as a result, he was drafted 15th overall in the first round of the 1977 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Islanders. In his rookie year in 1977-1978, Bossy played on the team’s top line with Bryan Trottier and Clark Gillies on what would be known as “The Trio Grande” and had an all-time great rookie season – with 53 goals and 38 assists for 91 points with a +31 +/- rating, he set a then-rookie record for goals scored and won the Calder Trophy as top rookie, while finishing fourth for the Lady Byng Trophy for “sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability”.
Halfway across the globe, Bure was a native of Moscow in the then-Soviet Union, where his father Vladimir was a swimming legend; though his father wanted him to also take up swimming, Pavel opted for hockey instead (his younger brother Valeri also later played in the NHL). At age 14, he joined the Central Red Army’s junior team and began playing professionally for CSKA Moscow at age 16; playing on a line with future NHL stars Sergei Fedorov and Alexander Mogilny, a 17-year-old Bure set a Soviet League rookie record for goals scored and won Rookie of the Year honors while helping the team to both a Soviet title and an IIHF European Cup. Selected 113th overall in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by the Vancouver Canucks, Bure spent a couple more seasons with CSKA Moscow before moving stateside in 1991 and settling with his Russian team to join the NHL – as an NHL rookie in 1991-1992, he won the Calder Trophy with 34 goals and 26 assists for 60 points with an even +/- rating in 65 games played.
Career Comparison
During their primes, Bossy and Bure were among the greatest goal-scorers the NHL has ever been, though both players had their careers cut short in their early 30s due to injuries.
As an encore to his rookie season, Bossy was even better in 1978-1979, leading the league with a career-high 69 goals (which at the time was the second-highest season-season mark ever behind Phil Esposito’s 76 goals in 1970-1971), while adding 57 assists for 126 points and a +63 +/- rating; he finished seventh for the Hart Trophy and became the fastest player in NHL history to reach 100 career goals. In fact, Bossy scored at least 50 goals in each of his first nine seasons, also a record. Following a 92-point campaign (51 goals and 41 assists) in 1979-1980, he again led the league with 68 goals scored in 1980-1981 plus 51 assists for 119 points and a +38 +/- rating; in addition to a record nine hat tricks in a single season and a fourth-place Hart Trophy showing, Bossy became only the second player ever to score 50 goals in 50 games, following in the footsteps of Montreal Canadiens legend Maurice Richard (1944-1945). If that was not enough, Bossy then had arguably the best season of his career in 1981-1982: 64 goals and a career-high 83 assists for a career-best 147 points and +69 +/- rating, resulting in his highest career Hart Trophy showing (third) behind Wayne Gretzky (who had an otherworldly 92 goals and 120 assists for 212 points that year) and teammate Trottier.
In 1982-1983, Bossy put together yet another 60-goal season (60 goals and 58 assists for 118 points and a +27 +/- rating), thus becoming the first player ever with three straight 60-goal seasons; in addition to a 10th-place Hart finish, he also won his first Lady Byng Trophy. A second straight Lady Byng and a sixth-place Hart showing followed in 1983-1984 on the strength of 51 goals and 67 assists for 118 points and a +65 +/- rating. After scoring almost 60 goals again the next year (58 goals and 59 assists for 117 points and a +37 +/- rating), Bossy recorded his record-fifth 60-goal season in 1985-1986 with 61 goals and 62 assists for 123 points and a +30 +/- rating; moreover, he won his third and final Lady Byng and at the time, was the fastest player to reach 500 career goals. However, due to persistent back and knee pain, Bossy had his worst season in 1986-1987, netting “only” 38 goals and 37 assists for 75 points and a -8 +/- rating in 63 games – at age 30, this was the last time he would lace up his skates, though he did not officially retire until 1988.
Known as “The Russian Rocket” for his blazing speed, Bure exploded in his second season to the tune of 60 goals and 50 assists for 110 points and +35 +/- rating in 1992-1993, in the process setting a Canucks single-season points record that would stand until Henrik Sedin’s 112 points in 2009-2010. This was followed by a second straight 60-goal season, as he led the NHL with 60 goals and added 47 assists for 107 points and +1 +/- rating, finishing eighth for the Hart Trophy and becoming just the eighth player in league history with back-to-back 60-goal seasons. During the strike-shortened 1994-1995 season, Bure posted 20 goals and 23 assists for 43 assists and a -8 +/- rating in 44 games, but then tore his ACL early in the 1995-1996 season and was limited to just 15 games. After successfully coming back in 1996-1997 with a 55-point campaign (23 goals and 32 assists with a -14 +/- rating) despite playing through a neck injury, Bure returned to form the next year with another 50-goal season: 51 goals and 39 assists for 90 points and a +5 +/- rating. However, as his relationship with the Canucks continued to deteriorate, Bure demanded a trade in the offseason and held out for much of the 1998-1999 season until he was traded in a blockbuster deal in January 1999 to the Florida Panthers along with Bret Hedican, Brad Ference, and a 2000 third-round draft pick for Ed Jovanovski, Dave Gagner, Mike Brown, Kevin Weekes, and a 2000 first-round draft pick.
Though Bure ended up only playing in 11 games in 1998-1999 due to his holdout and then, a knee injury after the trade, he quickly re-established himself as a superstar in Florida with back-to-back Richard Trophies as the league’s top goal-scorer (note that the award was only introduced in 1998-1999, with Teemu Selanne being the first winner):
- 1999-2000: 58 goals and 36 assists for 94 points and a +25 +/- rating; set franchise records for goals and points in a season and also finished a career-high third for Hart Trophy in a close race behind Chris Pronger and Jaromir Jagr, and placed fourth for the Lady Byng
- 2000-2001: 59 goals and 33 assists for 92 points and a -2 +/- rating; finished ninth for the Hart and accounted for a record 29.5% of the team’s goals scored
Ahead of the 2001-2002 season, the Panthers acquired Bure’s younger brother Valeri, though Pavel was subsequently moved at the trade deadline to the New York Rangers; across Florida and New York, Bure put up 34 goals and 35 assists for 69 points with a -5 +/- rating in what would be his last full NHL season. In 2002-2003, he was limited to 30 points (19 goals and 11 assists) in 39 games before suffering a meniscus tear. As a result, Bure sat out the entire 2003-2004 season to recover, but then came the NHL lockout in 2004-2005; ultimately, he announced his retirement in 2005, having played his last NHL game at age 31.
While Bure played 12 NHL seasons to Bossy’s 10, the latter actually played in 50 more games due to better durability while active. As a result of both better health and playing in a much higher-scoring era, Bossy has a significant edge in most career categories (goals, assists, points, and +/- rating). Unpacking that into individual seasons, Bossy has the edge in 50-goal seasons (9x vs. 5x), 60-goal seasons (5x vs. 2x), and 100-point seasons (7x vs. 2x), though Bure led the league in goals scored 3x vs. 2x for Bossy. On a point-per-game basis, Bossy also has a distinct edge (1.50 vs. 1.11); purely in terms of goals scored, Bossy has the highest goals-per-game average in NHL history (0.762), while Bure comes in fifth all-time at 0.623. In terms of regular season hardware, in addition to seven All-Star Games apiece, Bossy won three Lady Byngs vs. two Richard Trophies for Bure. As two of the elite goal scorers in league history, both men are immortalized in the Hockey Hall of Fame, Bossy in 1991 and Bure more recently in 2012.
Regular Season Statistics
| Mike Bossy | Player | Pavel Bure |
| 10 (1977-1987) | Seasons | 12 (1991-2003) |
| 752 | Games Played | 702 |
| 573 | Goals | 437 |
| 553 | Assists | 342 |
| 1,126 | Points | 779 |
| +380 | +/- | +42 |
| 7x | All-Star Games | 7x |
| – | Hart Trophies | – |
| – | Ross Trophies | – |
| 4x | Stanley Cups | – |
| 1x | Conn Smythes | – |
| 3x Lady Byng, ROY | Other Awards | 2x Richard, ROY |
| 1991 | Hall of Fame Induction | 2012 |
Source: Hockey-Reference.com
In terms of the postseason, Bossy was a key piece of an underrated Islanders dynasty, while Bure played on less prolific teams, but managed to nearly lead the Canucks to their first-ever Stanley Cup.
Bossy made the playoffs in all 10 of his NHL seasons, most notably winning four straight Stanley Cups with the Islanders in the early 1980s:
- 1979-1980: beat the Philadelphia Flyers in six games; 10 goals and 13 assists for 23 points with a -4 +/- rating
- 1980-1981: beat the then-Minnesota North Stars in five games; led the playoffs with 17 goals and 18 assists for 35 points and a +14 +/- rating
- 1981-1982: swept the Canucks; led the playoffs with 17 goals and added 10 assists for 27 points and a +7 +/- rating to win the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP
- 1982-1983: swept the Edmonton Oilers; led playoffs again with 17 goals and added 9 assists for 26 points and a +7 +/- rating
Going for their fifth consecutive title in 1983-1984, the Islanders fell to the Oilers in a Finals rematch in five games, breaking a record-streak of 19 straight playoff series won; this would effectively mark the end of one dynasty on Long Island and the beginning of a new one in Edmonton spearheaded by Hall of Famers like Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Paul Coffey, and Grant Fuhr.
As for Bure, he appeared in the playoffs 5x during his career, 4x with Vancouver in the early 1990s and once with Florida at the end of the decade. Undoubtedly, his postseason highlight came in 1993-1994, when the seventh-seeded Canucks surprisingly advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals. In the first round, Bure scored a memorable game-winner in the second overtime of Game 7 vs. the Calgary Flames to help Vancouver advance to the next round. Later on, in the Finals vs. a heavily-favored New York Rangers team led by Messier and Brian Leetch, the upstart Canucks took the Rangers to the brink before losing in Game 7; overall, Bure led the playoffs that year with 16 goals and added 15 assists for 31 points with a +8 +/- rating.
Internationally, Bossy won gold and silver medals for Team Canada at a pair of Canada Cups in the 1980s. Meanwhile, Bure represented Russia at two Winter Olympics, winning a silver medal in 1998 in Nagano, Japan and a bronze medal in 2002 in Salt Lake City; additionally, prior to that, he also won gold and bronze medals for the Soviet Union at the World Championships.
Playoff Statistics
| Mike Bossy | Player | Pavel Bure |
| 129 | Games Played | 60 |
| 85 | Goals | 34 |
| 75 | Assists | 32 |
| 160 | Points | 66 |
| +34 | +/- | +11 |
Source: Hockey-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; as mentioned, Bossy was forced into an early retirement by back problems, while Bure suffered a number of major injuries during his career that likewise forced him to retire prematurely. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete (this idea is embodied in a sense by the NFL’s All-Decade teams), though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| Mike Bossy | Player | Pavel Bure |
| 1977-1987 | Decade of Dominance | 1991-1995, 1996-1998, 1999-2003 |
| 752 | Games Played | 676 |
| 573 | Goals | 418 |
| 553 | Assists | 332 |
| 1,126 | Points | 750 |
| +380 | +/- | +41 |
Source: Hockey-Reference.com
Since Bossy only played 10 NHL seasons, his decade of dominance is his entire career; for Bure, this takes out a couple of his injury-marred years, but Bossy nevertheless maintains the edge in all categories.
My Thoughts
While neither Mike Bossy nor Pavel Bure was ever quite the very best player in the NHL at their peak (it was usually someone like Gretzky or Mario Lemieux), it is not a stretch to say that at one point or another, each one was the most dangerous goal scorer in the league. From an absolute numbers perspective, Bossy has the clear lead, but I think two important factors need to be taken into account – first of all, Bossy played in the highest-scoring era in NHL history during the 1980s, which no doubt helped boost his numbers a bit (the 10 highest single-season point totals all came during the decade, either by Gretzky or Lemieux); secondly, he had the benefit of playing with four other Hall of Famers in their prime (Trottier, Gillies, Denis Potvin and Billy Smith). In contrast, Bure’s peak came during the 1990s, which gradually saw a shift towards very defensive-minded play (particularly at the end of the decade), and even though he never had the same type of star supporting cast, he still managed to lead the league in goals scored more often than Bossy. All things considered, however, there is something to be said for Bossy not only having the highest goals-per-game average in NHL history, but also being a model of dominant consistency for nearly a decade despite chronic back pain.
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Mike Bossy
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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