Hockey Tips from the NYI Alumni
Mike Bossy # 22
Mike spent his entire career with the New York Islanders, from 1977-78 to 1986-87. Here are some of Mike's accomplishments during his 10 year career.
- Games Played - 752
- Goals - 573 (most in Islanders history)
- Assist - 553
- Points - 1126
- Four Time Stanley Cup Winner
- Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year) 1977/1978
- Conn Smythe Trophy (Playoff MVP) 1982
- Lady Bing Trophy 1983, 1984, & 1986
- NHL Hall of Fame Inductee in 1991
- One of Three Players in NHL history to record 50 Goals in 50 Games
- Mike Bossy's #22 Jersey was retired by the New York Islanders on March 3rd, 1992
Making the Most of Practice
Everything about hockey games are great. Thinking about whom we are playing against, getting prepared the day of the game and the excitement once the opening face-off is dropped are things I remember most about playing hockey. Do you know that the most important part of my career didn't take place during games but rather during practice. Yes, I spent hours and hours practicing my shot in the backyard skating rink my father made for my brothers and I. When the skating rink wasn't available I would be in the driveway or in the basement. Before you go out and ruin the basement walls or garage door ask your parents to help you set up a safe area to do this. There is nothing better that shooting pucks to develop strong wrists and great accuracy.
Team practices are also an important aspect of any player's development. We often look or think of practices as a waste of time. On the contrary my friends, they are essential if we want to develop a good team concept and better our individual skills. One of the most important things to work on during practices is our focus and hearing skills. When you attend practice be sure you do it with the intention of getting everything you can out of it. Your coaches, who give up their valuable time to be there, as well as the cost of renting ice, make it important that we take full advantage of the hour we spend on the ice. How can we do that? By making sure we follow the instructions of our coaches before and during practice. There is nothing worse than wasting 15 minutes of valuable ice time because of undisciplined before and during practice. We all listen to our coaches, MAKE SURE WE HEAR what he is saying. Practices are much more fun when we know what we are doing on the ice. Not only are we in sync when we do drills but we also become a better team and develop chemistry together. Practices help us work on many things. Breakouts, fore-checking, power play and penalty killing strategies are a few of the things that we have to practice and master if we want to be part of a successful team.
Remember, leave the pucks alone until your coach instructs you handle them. If you want extra practice on your shot, use the driveway with a board as a target.
GOOD PRACTICE AND GOOD LUCK
Until the next Tip,
Mike Bossy and The NYI Alumni
If you are looking for a tip on a skill that you are looking to improve on please feel free to send an e-mail at the below address, and maybe your e-mail will be answered by one of our NYI Alumni greats and be posted on our sight.
sbeisel@newyorkislanders.com
All Tips from our Alumni
- Mike Bossy Are you ready
- Pat Lafontaine Work on your weaknesses
- Mike Bossy Making the most of practice
- Steve Webb The Art of having FUN while playing the game of Hockey
