Clark Gillies

Clark Gillies
Hockey Hall of Fame, 2002
Born	(1954-04-07) April 7, 1954 Moose Jaw, SK, CAN
Height	6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight	210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position	Left Wing
Shot	Left
Played for	New York Islanders Buffalo Sabres
National team	Canada
NHL Draft	4th overall, 1974 New York Islanders
WHA Draft	37th overall, 1974 Edmonton Oilers
Playing career	1974–1988

Clark "Jethro" Gillies (born April 7, 1954) is a former professional ice hockey player. He provided both physical presence and offensive punch for the NHL's New York Islanders during their four-year run as Stanley Cup champions. In a career that spanned 958 games, Gillies notched 319 goals, 378 assists, and 1023 penalty minutes. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002.

Playing career

Gillies earned his tough-guy reputation in the Canadian Junior leagues, earning 570 penalty minutes in 201 games with the Regina Pats. In 1974, Gillies and the Pats won the Memorial Cup. Later that year, the Islanders made him their first round selection in the NHL draft, taking him 4th overall. Gillies would also be selected by the World Hockey Association's Edmonton Oilers in the WHA draft, but Gillies signed with the Islanders, making the team right out of training camp. It was during his rookie season of 1974–1975 in the playoffs that Gillies established himself as one of the toughest players in the NHL, pummeling Philadelphia Flyers enforcer Dave Schultz who he is currently friendly with.^[1]

Gillies scored over 30 goals for four straight seasons as part of the "Trio Grande", the Islanders' top forward line with Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier, and was named to the NHL's All-Star team twice.

In the latter half of the 1976-77 NHL season, Gillies was named team captain; however, in spite of Gillies' articulate speaking manner and amiable nature, he never felt completely comfortable as team captain and it affected his play adversely in big games. Gillies captained the Islanders through two big disappointments in his two-year stint as captain, in part because the Islanders appeared to lack a team toughness. During the pre-season of the 1979–1980 season Gillies allowed Denis Potvin to take over as captain.

During the 1980 playoffs, Gillies got the best of Terry O'Reilly, one of the Boston Bruins toughest players, several times, helping to fuel the Islanders' drive to the Stanley Cup. Gillies was used during this series as the Islanders' chief protector and enforcer, and in taking on this role, Gillies allowed his team to battle through a violent series with the Bruins. Gillies, now totally comfortable with his role with the team, prospered individually and collectively, as the Islanders won four consecutive Stanley Cups during Gillies' tenure.

Gillies was a solid skater, possessed a great shot, passed the puck well, back-checked well, and developed an uncommon hockey savvy through the championship years with the Islanders. Gillies never exceeded 100 penalty minutes during any NHL regular season.

Gillies' swan song may have been during the 1983–1984 playoffs. After struggling through the regular season, he came alive in the playoffs, leading the Stanley Cup runners-up in scoring for that playoff year.

After scoring only 4 goals in 55 games in 1985–86, Gillies was left unprotected in the NHL Waiver Draft, and the Buffalo Sabres picked him up. He wore #90 in Buffalo. Gillies retired after playing a season and a half with the Sabres. On December 7, 1996, Gillies' #9 was retired by the Islanders. In 2002 Gillies was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Personal life

In 1982 Gillies and three teammates — Bob Nystrom, Wayne Merrick, and Gordie Lane — stripped to their briefs in the February issue of Penthouse magazine for a fashion layout.

Gillies who was honored by the Islanders on December 13, 2014 remains active in the Long Island community.^[1] He is an executive at Hilton Capital Management in Garden City. He plays in 30 to 40 charity softball games per year.^[1] He is married to Pam, who is also from Moose Jaw. They live in Greenlawn, New York.

He is the father-in-law to his former teammate's son, and current assistant coach of the Toronto Marlies Justin Bourne.

Despite having the same last name and playing for the same team, Clark Gillies is not related to former Islanders enforcer Trevor Gillies. Clark is the uncle of Colton Gillies.^[2]

Career statistics

			Regular season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1971–72	Regina Pats	WCHL	68	31	48	79	199	15	5	10	15	49
1972–73	Regina Pats	WCHL	68	40	52	92	192	4	0	3	3	34
1973–74	Regina Pats	WCHL	65	46	66	112	179	16	9	8	17	32
1974–75	New York Islanders	NHL	80	25	22	47	66	17	4	2	6	36
1975–76	New York Islanders	NHL	80	34	27	61	96	13	2	4	6	16

1976–77	New York Islanders	NHL	70	33	22	55	93	12	4	4	8	15
1977–78	New York Islanders	NHL	80	35	50	85	76	7	2	0	2	15
1978–79	New York Islanders	NHL	75	35	56	91	68	10	1	2	3	11
1979–80	New York Islanders*	NHL	73	19	35	54	49	21	6	10	16	63

1980–81	New York Islanders*	NHL	80	33	45	78	99	18	6	9	15	28
1981–82	New York Islanders*	NHL	79	38	39	77	75	19	8	6	14	34
1982–83	New York Islanders*	NHL	70	21	20	41	76	8	0	2	2	10
1983–84	New York Islanders	NHL	76	12	16	28	65	21	12	7	19	19

1984–85	New York Islanders	NHL	54	15	17	32	73	10	1	0	1	9
1985–86	New York Islanders	NHL	55	4	10	14	55	3	1	0	1	6

1986–87	Buffalo Sabres	NHL	61	10	17	27	81	—	—	—	—	—
1987–88	Buffalo Sabres	NHL	25	5	2	7	51	5	0	1	1	25
NHL totals			958	319	378	697	1023	164	47	47	94	287

*Stanley Cup champion

References

1 2 3 "Loyal to Islanders and LI Too Gillies still a huge presence on adapted home turf" Newsday December 14, 2014
↑ "Colton Gillies". NHL. Retrieved 16 October 2014.

External links

Preceded by Denis Potvin	New York Islanders first round draft pick 1974	Succeeded by Pat Price
Preceded by Ed Westfall	New York Islanders captain 1977–79	Succeeded by Denis Potvin

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