When Mike Bosso was 22 years old, the young entrepreneur held a pretty niche gig with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Now years later, Bosso might have one-upped his former self.
Bosso is quite literally near the forefront of Lightning Hall of Fame celebrations—he crafts, designs and delivers the iconic Hall of Fame jackets adorned by each year’s inductees.
“I’ve always liked nice clothes, growing up with James Bond and stuff like that. I always like to kind of dress nice, so it was always something I figured I’d do well at. I kind of just fell into it and went from there,” Bosso said from AMALIE Arena on Tuesday morning.
Bosso was at the arena to fit the 2025 Lightning Hall of Fame inductees, former All-Star forward Brian Bradley and longtime play-by-play television broadcaster Rick Peckham, for their honorary jackets.
Equipped with a retracting tape measure, Bosso took the future Hall of Famers’ measurements just steps from the NHL ice surface in the nearby media room.
“You never really know where your life’s gonna go,” Bosso said. “But yeah, I would have never guessed this.”
As Bosso hints, his pathway to crafting the emblazoned blazers for Lightning Hall of Fame inductees began at age 22, when he started an auto detailing business. Bosso was a family friend of Hall of Fame member Dave Andreychuk, who suggested that Bosso begin detailing Lightning players’ cars at the rink.
About five years ago, Bosso sold the auto detailing business, instead turning to fine-tuning the details of suits and custom clothing. Knowing Bosso’s interest in fashion, Andreychuk reached out again to see if his family friend had any interest in crafting the team’s Hall of Fame suits.
There are some similarities in the two crafts—mainly a lot of fine detail(ing).
“You’ve kind of got to be detail-oriented for both,” Bosso said, “because you want everything to be perfect in the jacket as well as a car getting detailed.”
The jackets are made in Los Angeles, which allows for a quick two-week turnaround on the celebratory outfits. Inductees can add recommendations or preferences for their jackets, and then it’s Bosso’s job to see what he can mesh into individual designs.
“We wanted to go pretty custom,” he said, referencing that each jacket has the original Lightning logo on its inner lining.
A well-fit, sharp-looking jacket is about balancing the coat’s length, something that can be difficult to do when buying from a department store clothing rack, according to the clothing expert.
“To try to get someone’s proportions right, it’s probably one of the most important things to really dial in for sure,” he said moments after jotting down the measurements of this year’s inductees.
Bosso also works in real estate and has established working relationships with players over the years. He started attending Lightning games more often and spending time with former players away from the rink. He's even helped a few find homes in the Tampa area.
Bosso has crafted every Hall of Fame jacket in team history, an honor he appreciates.
And it all started with a hand-held vacuum and squeaky clean car interiors.
“Back in the day I must have done something right to kind of keep that relationship going. I think it’s just hard work, and being nice and honest goes a long way.”
