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.

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. He is an executive at Hilton Capital Management in Garden City. He plays in 30 to 40 charity softball games per year. 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 editor of The Backhand Shelf 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.

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

[ Source: Wikipedia ]