The doors of the funeral home opened in the rain, very slowly, around 1 p.m.
Posted at 7:05 p.m.
There was no rush, no long queue and no noise, either, as there can be too often when it comes to a famous deceased person who comes to greet for the last time.
There were a few cameras at the entrance, a few journalists too, nothing more. The Bossy family wanted something simple, modest, perhaps in the image of Mike, the son, the father, the grandfather, and also, in the eyes of a majority of admirers, the former glory of the New York Islanders, who passed away on April 15 at the age of 65.
Ron Fournier, the ex-referee and ex-radio host, was among the first to show up in the lobby. In the distance, very close to the main room, an Islanders jersey, framed and stamped with the number 22, was clearly visible, hanging on a wall. “Mike, I liked him very much. He had his way of teasing you, he was sarcastic, always with his little smirk…”
PHOTO PHILIPPE BOIVIN, THE PRESS
Near the main room, an Islanders jersey, framed and stamped with the number 22, was clearly visible, hanging on a wall.
In an adjacent room, notebooks containing newspaper clippings had been placed on a table. It had obviously taken forever over time to glue all of these items together like this, methodically, since the minor hockey years. But that’s what Mama Bossy had decided to do, obviously a very long time ago. Here photos of his Mike in action in his junior hockey years in Laval, there photos of Mike and his best friends in the pros, later, with a Stanley Cup lifted at arm’s length.
Among the frames on another table: a photo of Mike Bossy with another very tall, Maurice Richard. The two men are smiling, showing the camera two pucks marked with the number 50…
Fifty goals, we don’t do that every year, but Mike Bossy did it for nine years in a row, and Pierre Creamer, his coach in the minor ranks in Laval, remembers it very well.
“When Johnny Rougeau moved Mike to Laval for his hockey, he came to the Chomedey Arena, and I was the first to welcome him, recalled the ex-coach, who led the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1987-88. We had just created a Midget AA league in Laval, essentially for Mike. That’s where it started for him, and it’s been 51 years… Already at that age, he was an incredible player. He was 14 years old, and he was a terrific passer who was able to play with adults. »
While we replayed memories like that, left and right, simple supporters of Mike Bossy, all dressed in Islanders jerseys, entered the living room, to greet their idol one last time.
PHOTO PHILIPPE BOIVIN, THE PRESS
Memorabilia of Mike Bossy will be dyed in the blue and orange of the New York Islanders, colors prominently displayed here at the show on this gray Wednesday.
Trying to catch his breath, Ron Fournier admitted that the last few days had been difficult.
“I’m thinking of Mike, and I’m trying to keep things fun first… On the other hand, we just lost Guy. Right away, want it, don’t want it, you have to tell yourself: they’re going to have a whole team up there! Eh ? Because with Mike in Montreal, it didn’t happen the way it should have… The Canadiens should have chosen him. »
But that didn’t happen, and now Mike Bossy’s memories will be dyed in the blue and orange of the New York Islanders, colors prominently displayed here at the show on this gray Wednesday. Black ? No, not so much. Because the memories, the best, are always in color.
Ron Fournier agrees, even if the shock remains difficult to absorb.
“That’s it, and it’s also this sadness of losing someone who had his roots in Quebec, even if he played elsewhere,” he added. Also, I can tell you that 65 years old is young to leave…”