Clark Gillies

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Clark Gillies
Hockey Hall of Fame, 2002
Born (1954-04-07)April 7, 1954
Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada
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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 (April 7, 1954 – January 21, 2022) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played for the New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League between 1974 and 1988. Gilles served as captain of the Islanders from 1977 to 1979, and won the Stanley Cup four years in a row with them, from 1980 to 1983. In 958 career games, Gillies recorded 319 goals, 378 assists, and 1,023 penalty minutes. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002.

Early life

Gillies grew up in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Starting skating around the age of four, Gillies' father insisted he learn to skate and keep his balance before allowing him to bring a hockey stick onto the ice. He began playing ice hockey casually at the age of six and in organized leagues at the age of seven. He played with a local team in Moose Jaw until it ceased operation. As one of the bigger players on the ice, he was often engaged in fights with players on other teams, which he felt added to the fun of playing.[1]

Playing career

Early career

Gillies' first professional sports experience was in baseball. In 1970, at 16, Gillies signed with the Houston Astros and played three years of minor league baseball in Covington, Virginia. He hit .241 in 86 games as a catcher/first baseman.[2] He platooned at first base in 1972 with future Islander teammate Bob Bourne.[3] Gillies suffered from home sickness and continued to play hockey during the off season.[4] He eventually moved on to play in the Western Canada Hockey League with the Regina Pats. The Pats had been scouting another player at the time, but were impressed by Gillies, who was a bigger player for the era (he would be listed at 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) and 210 pounds (95 kg)).[5] During his tenure with the Pats, Gillies accrued 570 penalty minutes in 201 games.[6] In 1974, his final season for Regina, Gillies had 46 goals and 66 assists, was named to the league's first (highest rated) All-Star team, and the team won the 1974 Memorial Cup as Canadian major junior hockey champions.[1]

Professional career

Later in 1974, the Islanders made Gillies their first-round selection in the 1974 NHL draft, taking him fourth overall. Gillies was also selected by the World Hockey Association's Edmonton Oilers in the WHA draft, but signed with the Islanders, making the team out of training camp.[7] It was during his rookie season of 1974–75, in the playoffs, that Gillies established himself as one of the toughest players in the National Hockey League (NHL), pummeling Philadelphia Flyers enforcer Dave Schultz.[8][9]

In the latter half of the 1976–77 season, Gillies was named team captain; however, in spite of Gillies' articulate speaking manner and amiable nature, he never felt completely comfortable as captain. Gillies captained the Islanders through two disappointing seasons, in part because the Islanders appeared to lack team toughness. During the pre-season of 1979–80 Gillies allowed Denis Potvin to take over as captain.[10]

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 the Stanley Cup in four consecutive years, from 1980 to 1983, during Gillies' tenure.[11]

Gillies scored over 30 goals for four straight seasons (starting in 1975–76) as part of the "Trio Grande", the Islanders' top forward line with Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier, and again in 1980–81 and 1981–82. In 1977 he finished tenth in the voting for the Hart Trophy for most valuable player in the NHL. In 1978 and 1979 he led all left-wingers for most votes for the All-Star game.[8] In 1981, he played for the Canadian national team in the 1981 Canada Cup, scoring seven points in seven games.[12]

After scoring only four goals in 55 games in 1985–86, Gillies was left unprotected in the NHL waiver draft, and was claimed by the Buffalo Sabres.[13] While wearing number 9 in Buffalo, Gillies retired after playing a season and a half with the Sabres. On December 7, 1996, Gillies' No. 9 was retired by the Islanders.[14]

In 2002 Gillies was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.[11] He was also inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame.[15]

Personal life

His nickname, "Jethro", came from the character Jethro Bodine in the TV series The Beverly Hillbillies.[11]

Gillies, who was honoured by the Islanders on December 13, 2014, remained active in the Long Island community.[9] He was a Business Development Manager at Protective Wealth Consultants in Huntington, New York. He played in 30 to 40 charity softball games per year.[9] He was inducted into the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame on Long Island in the Hockey Category with the Class of 1998.[16]

He was married to Pam, who is also from Moose Jaw. They lived in Greenlawn, New York. His son-in-law, Justin Bourne, was the son of his former teammate Bob Bourne, and worked as an assistant coach of the Toronto Marlies.[17] His nephew, Colton Gillies, played in the NHL between 2008 and 2013.[18] He was not related to Trevor Gillies, who also played for the Islanders.[19] Gillies died on January 21, 2022, at the age of 67.[20]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

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
1973–74 Regina Pats M-Cup — — — — — 3 1 3 4 19
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 1,023 164 47 47 94 287

International

Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
1981 Canada CC 7 2 5 7 8
Senior totals 7 2 5 7 8
  • All statistics are taken from NHL.com.[21]

Awards

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Shea, Kevin (January 19, 2007) One on One with Clark Gilles The Official Site of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
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  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Loyal to Islanders and LI Too Gillies still a huge presence on adapted home turf" Newsday December 14, 2014
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  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.Free to read
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links

Achievements
Preceded by New York Islanders first round draft pick
1974		 Succeeded by
Pat Price
Preceded by New York Islanders captain
1977–1979		 Succeeded by
Denis Potvin
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