#bryan trottier

Trottier remained in constant communication with Bossy during his fight with cancer, texting him on a daily basis even if Bossy didn’t always respond.

About a week ago, Bossy’s wife, Lucie, called Trottier to say that her husband had gotten very weak and that Trottier, who lives in the Pittsburgh area, should come and visit. “So I jumped in the truck and drove up to Montreal and spent a couple of days with Mike,” Trottier said. “We watched golf and we laughed a lot." “I walked in and he put his arms up and he goes, ‘My friend, mon ami.’ That hug was probably the best hug you can have.”

When asked to pinpoint why he and Bossy meshed so well on the ice as linemates as the Islanders won four Stanley Cups from 1980-83 and off the ice as friends, Trottier said it was the affection the two shared for each other. “The only word I can think of is love,” Trottier said. “We loved each other. Our friendship turned into a wonderful friendship which turned into a lifelong friendship. But it was deep. It was sincere." “You can’t lie about being someone’s friend. It’s real or it’s not. We just felt really good that it was honest. I don’t think we had any anger, ever. From our first meeting to our last, everything was heartfelt.”

“It was good to have somebody in my life like that,” Trottier said. “There’s like three or four weeks to go and Mike was sitting, and he goes, ‘Why don’t you just go for it?’ I said, ‘What do you mean? I am going for it.’ He goes, ‘No, no, no. Go for it.’ He said, ‘You might never get another chance.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’m pretty confident I’ll get another chance.’ “He said, ‘No, we’re going for it.’ It wasn’t me. All of a sudden, it was we. And that last two, three weeks, he was red-hot. How do you thank somebody for that? Those are powerful, precious moments.”

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