Bossy Billboard Lights Up in Times Square Tribute

The news of Mike Bossy's passing hit Isles Nation hard, and Steve Silberman wanted to find a way to pay tribute to the greatest pure goal scorer of all time.
Silberman, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Greyline Outdoor Advertising, had a unique opportunity at his disposal. His company owns a digital billboard in Times Square and a client drop out at the last minute left it vacant. Silberman, a die-hard Islanders fan, mocked up a graphic for Bossy for the 35' x 23' screen and proudly displayed the number 22 at 45th and Broadway, right in the heart of Time Square.

"I'm a die-hard Islanders fan and former season ticket holder and I was really sad about the news," Silberman said. "I called my boss and said I really want to do this and he said 'absolutely.'" Within five minutes I was mocking up the "22" and making it fit our specs and 10 minutes later it was up in Times Square."
Silberman is active on the Islanders subreddit and saw an immediate reaction once he posted the photo from Times Square. While the billboard was physically in the heart of Metro New York, respect for the greatest pure goal scorer of all time - Bossy's 0.76 goals-per-game is the highest in NHL history - transcended the league.

"In forums, the reaction was immediate," Silberman said. "I reposted it to the regular hockey subreddit on Reddit, and it received an even bigger reaction. Fans of every team were understanding and realizing and feeling good about the tribute. So, it felt really good that hockey fans of all teams - even the Rangers - were really appreciating it and being happy something was done for him."
The 35-year-old has been a life-long fan, going to his first Islanders game in 1993. He's had season tickets, wore Islanders cufflinks to his wedding and even used an Islanders onesie in a baby announcement. His second game was Bob Nystrom's jersey retirement, which was one of the first times he started to grasp the magnitude of what the dynasty teams - and Isles legends - achieved.
Silberman had the pleasure of meeting Bossy on a handful of occasions, whether it was at a meet and greet or on the concourse. Posting the billboard stirred some of those memories and from what Silberman could see, he wasn't the only one, especially after the team amplified the photo on its social media accounts.
"It felt really good for it to be a focal point for Islanders fans to share," Silberman said. "If you look at Reddit, it was the number one commented and upvoted post. If you look at the conversation, it's about people sharing their Bossy memories and it was really nice for it to be a spark of conversation for Islanders fans, near and far. I was very privileged to be able to do that."