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Island Ice Ep. 125: The Clark Gillies interview 

Newsday

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From the moment he arrived as a 20-year-old from tiny Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Clark Gillies considered Long Island a great place. So much so that, 40 years later as the Islanders honored him, he pointed out that he had lost his Canadian accent. 
"I rarely say ‘eh,’ " he said at the time. "This really is home." 
Generations of his fellow residents are certain that Long Island is all the more wonderful because Gillies was part of it. They were shocked and saddened Friday night by the death of the 67-year-old, whose legacy includes a plaque in the Hockey Hall of Fame, a retired jersey in the rafters, four Stanley Cup rings and thousands of "thank you’s" for his gifts of friendship and humanitarianism. 
He will be forever remembered for raising the Cup and raising more than $1 million for the pediatric wing at Huntington Hospital. He will be revered as a strong and fierce competitor and a gentle and genial man off the ice. As his longtime friend Jim Johnson put it, "He was like a classic M&amp;M: Hard on the outside, all mush and sweet on the inside." 
The man’s sensitive side was never on greater display than during a layover in Toronto 20 years ago. Gillies and his family were traveling to Moose Jaw to celebrate his mother’s 80th birthday. He received an urgent message on his cell, quickly made a return call and instantly broke down in tears. 
His family thought something had happened to the elder Mrs. Gillies. It turned out he was crying for joy about being elected to the Hall of Fame after having fallen short twice. 
The man known as "Jethro" because of his resemblance to the strapping TV character on "The Beverly Hillbillies" always credited his wife, Pam, for deciding to put down roots on Long Island. They raised their three daughters here. Gillies got to know all the towns and villages by playing in 30 to 40 charity softball games in Nassau and Suffolk during summers. 
"We really helped a lot of communities and they really appreciated it," he said years later. "I know we had a lot of fun. It was pretty decent exercise. And it was sort of like hockey. You played a game, then you had a beer." 
No cause of death was immediately made public, which was reflective of Gillies’ belief in never complaining about problems. Johnson, a former Islanders executive and now executive director of Pat LaFontaine’s Companions in Courage Foundation, said few people knew that Gillies had prostate cancer a few years ago and that his stomach was perforated during surgery, forcing him to wear a urinary catheter for the rest of his life. 
His charitable heart helped extend his life. The prostate cancer diagnosis came out of a routine physical requested by Huntington Hospital after he had pledged to raise $1 million (apparently, hospitals want to ensure the health of big donors). 
Gillies went ahead with his treatment and his fundraising. When he heard about the death of a young local girl named Briana Titcomb, he got the Clark Gillies Foundation to team up with LaFontaine’s foundation to establish an electronic playroom in the pediatric wing and dedicate it in Briana’s memory. 
"It’s an incredible story," Johnson said. "It impacts every single kid who goes in Huntington Hospital to this day. It’s the value of having guys like that in our community. Even if you met Clark Gillies only once, he made you feel like you had been a friend for life." 
On the ice, Gillies had been a cornerstone in the Islanders’ foundation. He was the fourth overall pick in 1974, the same draft that brought Bryan Trottier. As a rookie in the 1975 playoffs, Gillies helped cement the deep connection between the team and its fans, a bond that still exists. He scored the deciding goal in the franchise’s first playoff game, a 3-2 win over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, setting the tone for an improbable postseason run that put the Islanders on hockey’s map and ensured they would be taken seriously. 
In Game 5 of the Stanley Cup semifinals against the defending champion Flyers, with the Islanders in command, Philadelphia strongman Dave Schultz — the NHL’s de facto heavyweight champion — sought to send a message. He picked a fight with the young left winger. Gillies pummeled him. 
Former referee Kerry Fraser tweeted of Gillies on Friday night: "A big teddy bear who protected his cubs with a mama bear’s vengeance. Never really liked to fight but man could he ever." 
Fighting was a greater part of the sport in the 1970s and ’80s than it is now. Sometimes a team had to protect its identity and its stars. Perhaps Gillies could have scored more than his 319 goals if the Islanders had needed that, but sometimes he believed he served the team better by knocking people over and providing space for linemates Trottier and Mike Bossy. 
At Gillies’ 2002 Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Hall of Fame coach Al Arbour said of his former quintessential power forward: "He commanded respect the minute he walked into the dressing room. And he commanded respect every minute he was on the ice." 
Gillies commanded respect for his talent as well as his toughness. He had six 30-goal seasons, including a career-high 38 in 1981-82. 
He was a natural athlete who played professional baseball in the Houston Astros’ chain. Pat Gillick, then the Astros’ scouting director and on his way to becoming a Baseball Hall of Fame executive, signed him to a $5,000 bonus. The kid considered it a good summer job but figured he couldn’t improve unless he gave up hockey. That was out of the question. 
Later in life, Gillies became known as a long-hitting scratch golfer. He played in Celebrity Tour events and took pride in having won the club championship at Huntington Crescent. He died too soon to realize his one unfulfilled athletic dream: playing at Augusta National. Johnson said LaFontaine had set that up for later this year. 
No matter how much he accomplished, "Jethro" never took himself or his situation too seriously. When people inevitably asked him where Moose Jaw is, he readily answered them, "About six feet from the moose’s [backside]." 
When several Islanders were on Team Canada during the Cup run, star players from other NHL teams asked if Billy Smith was always as cantankerous as he seemed during national team practice. Gillies replied, "Nah, he’s usually worse than this." 
After the Islanders won their first Stanley Cup, Gillies ruffled sensibilities by filling the bowl atop the trophy with Ken-L Ration and allowing his German shepherd, Hombre, to eat out of it. When asked if that was really appropriate, Gillies said, "Why not? He’s a good dog." 
Once, after Arbour left the dressing room after delivering a basso profundo tongue-lashing for the Islanders registering only one hit through an entire period, one of the players said, "OK, who’s the idiot who made the one hit?" Gillies later insisted he was not the one who said it, but he did appreciate it. 
Last season, he was shown on the Nassau Coliseum screen celebrating the Islanders’ surge to within a win of the Cup Final. The camera spotted him draining a beer and crushing the can on top of his head. 
So he was never a things-were-better-in-my day kind of alumnus. Aside from his final two seasons as a player with the Buffalo Sabres, Gillies was the greatest thread running through Islanders history. He was drafted after the franchise’s second season and remained a big presence right through this year. 
Ray Ferraro, an Islander in the 1990s, issued a tweet on Friday calling Gillies "an amazing man . . . always welcoming those of us that came to the Island after their great teams." Current Islander Matt Martin, who plays Gillies’ former position at left wing, said, "I think he epitomizes everything being a New York Islander is. I remember when I met him for the first time, I was like, ‘That’s who I want to be when I grow up.’ " 
Many Long Islanders have a great memory of the first time they met Clark Gillies. He connected with them, he entertained them, he appreciated them and ultimately, he was one of them. 
He rooted for the Islanders until the end. He was superstitious about which road to take to the games from his Suffolk home. He was inducted into the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame. He was an early and enthusiastic supporter of UBS Arena. This was home. 
Longtime teammate Bob Nystrom knows the feeling. "I’ve spent a lot of my winter down in Florida, though," Nystrom said. "I was trying to talk him into getting a place down here, just to come down for a bit in the winter months. But that wasn’t going to happen." 
Clark Gillies was determined to be a Long Islander. And Long Island will be eternally grateful.

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Clark Gillies: Big man for Islanders, big man for Long Island

Gillies: Big man for Islanders, big man for Long Island

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Andrew Gross

In accordance with the family’s wishes, there will be a private memorial and interment for Clark Gillies, the Islanders’ Hall of Famer who passed away at the age of 67 from cancer on Friday, Emily Tyree, the executive director for The Clark Gillies Foundation, said in a statement to Newsday on Tuesday. 
Tyree added those wishing to pay tribute to Clark Gillies’ memory can donate to his foundation at clarkgillies.org. It helps children who are physically, mentally or financially challenged and has donated around $4 million to organizations on Long Island. Huntington Hospital named its pediatric emergency unit for the foundation.

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Private service to be held for Islanders great Clark Gillies

Private service for Isles great Clark Gillies

Jon Ledecky marveled at how comfortable <a href="https://www.newsday.com/gillies">Clark Gillies</a> was with a microphone in his hand. But the Islanders’ co-owner noticed a purpose to the late Hall of Famer’s always humorous monologues. 
"He loved to tell stories and jokes and he loved the microphone," Ledecky told Newsday. "In a way, when he grabbed the microphone, it wasn’t stories regarding him. It was stories about people he played with, people who touched his life. And then it would eventually move into this incredible pitch for philanthropy. 
"That’s a talent that very few people have because he was a larger-than-life personality." 
Gillies, who won four Stanley Cups with the Islanders from 1980-83 and made <a href="https://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islanders/clark-gillies-1.50484756">Long Island his home</a> after retiring, <a href="https://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islanders/clark-gillies-dead-1.50484300">passed away Friday</a> at the age of 67 after a bout with a non-COVID-19 disease. 
As Gillies’ health faltered and since his passing, Ledecky has been receiving a stream of texts — "literally hundreds" — from members of the Islanders’ family and fans whose lives were impacted by Gillies, detailing <a href="https://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islanders/islanders-maple-leafs-1.50485016">No. 9’s</a> generosity and selflessness. 
The Clark Gillies Foundation (clarkgillies.org) helps children who are physically, mentally or financially challenged, and Ledecky estimated it has donated about $4 million to organizations on Long Island. 
Huntington Hospital named its pediatric emergency unit for the foundation. 
"Clark was a crier," Ledecky said. "Clark was emotional. Clark wasn’t afraid of being emotional. He was a guy’s guy. He would show us around and he would be tearing up as he described the different kids who were in the pediatric unit. 
"You could see how profoundly important it was to him. It wasn’t the fact that his name was on the door. It was the fact that he could help these kids. The fact that his name was on the door was such a privilege to him, but it also gave him the sense that he could ask the big ask. The donations that he got from the business community, never with any fanfare, never with any self-credit, were pretty enormous." 
So as Ledecky continues to receive these texts asking what to do to honor Gillies’ memory, he has a simple answer. 
"It doesn’t matter about donating big money," he said. "Donate $9 to his foundation." 
Ledecky said Gillies displayed the same passion toward the Islanders’ alumni and making sure they stayed connected with the organization. 
Ledecky and Scott Malkin bought into the Islanders in 2014, eventually taking over majority ownership from the late Charles Wang. 
Ledecky said one of his first conversations with Gillies was about the bonds with the Islanders’ alumni. 
"He was very kind in taking me aside and trying to teach me the history of the team," Ledecky said. "And what the team meant, not only to him, the alumni or to the current players, but also to the community. He was very taken with the notion that Scott and I felt that the team was a community trust. He thought that should be an enduring theme. 
"It was because he expressed better than I think anyone the essence of what it meant to wear the sweater. He talked a lot about the sweater and what it meant to wear the jersey and to be No. 9." 
Ledecky said Gillies insisted that mattered for anybody who ever wore the Islanders’ jersey. 
For instance, Petr Mika. 
The Islanders selected the Czech forward in the fourth round of the draft in 1997, and the sum of his NHL career was the three games he played for the team from March 21-24, 2000. He took one shot on goal and did not record a point. 
Mika left the Islanders’ organization in 2001 to continue his career in his homeland. In 2018, he brought his wife and daughters, plus his in-laws from the Czech Republic, to Long Island for the Islanders’ alumni weekend. 
And Gillies treated Mika as if he had played on all four Cup winners. 
"He was talking to Clark and turned to me and he says, ‘This is the highlight of my life,’ " Ledecky said. "Clark hugged him. And the fact that he was hugged by Clark Gillies, the guy started to cry. 
"The guy was so touched by the fact that he was being recognized as an alumni of the team, even though he played for a cup of coffee. And here’s Clark Gillies, who is in the Hall of Fame and his number is on the wall and Clark is totally relating to him just like another guy. 
"That’s Clark in a nutshell, what he meant to the team." 
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Clark Gillies' philanthropy, kinship with Islanders' alumni will live forever

Gillies' philanthropy, kinship with Isles' alumni will live forever

Obit Gillies Hockey

Island Ice Ep. 124: Remembering Clark Gillies

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Bob Nystrom roomed with Clark Gillies and formed a tight bond that lasted well past their years together as Islanders teammates. 
So after Gillies <a href="https://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islanders/clark-gillies-dead-1.50484300">passed </a><a href="https://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islanders/clark-gillies-dead-1.50484300"></a><a href="https://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islanders/clark-gillies-dead-1.50484300"></a><a href="https://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islanders/clark-gillies-dead-1.50484300"></a><a href="https://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islanders/clark-gillies-dead-1.50484300">away on Friday</a> at the age of 67, speaking about it wasn’t easy for Nystrom, but he wanted to make one point perfectly clear about his lifelong friend. 
"It’s devastating," he said Saturday morning. "This guy was just the best person that you could ever, ever, ever meet or be friendly with or be a teammate of. He was an incredible guy. 
"The one thing that I need you to just say is that he’s one of the greatest human beings that I have ever met," Nystrom said to conclude a telephone chat. 
That encapsulated the sentiment of all of Gillies’ former teammates and other members of the Islanders’ family who spoke to Newsday. 
Yes, he was a Hockey Hall of Famer, inducted in 2002, after compiling 319 goals and 378 assists in 14 seasons, the first 12 with the Islanders. Yes, he was a feared fighter with 1,025 penalty minutes. Yes, he was one of 16 Islanders to play for all four Stanley Cup championships from 1980-83 and had his No. 9 retired in 1996. 
But what stood out to people who knew Gillies, or got to meet him for a fleeting moment, was just how nice he was. Just how caring he was. Just how charitable he was through his foundation and philanthropy. Just how great a team he and his wife, Pam, were together. And, mostly, just how quick he was to crack a smile or a bad joke. 
Glenn "Chico" Resch said Gillies had 71 career fights in the NHL, "and was only mad in one of them." 
"When you think about Clark, the words that pop into my head are ‘optimism,’ ‘caring,’ ‘kindness,’ ‘considerate,’ " Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky said. "I’m going to miss that huge laugh that he had. I’m going to miss that bear hug I used to get, which he had for everybody. He was just so accessible and such a part of the history of the Islanders. He was always there for other people. This guy never asked for anything for himself." 
Gillies was a big teddy bear, a two-sport star from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan — the 6-3, 210-pounder nicknamed "Jethro" also played minor league baseball in the Houston Astros’ organization — who became a <a href="https://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islanders/clark-gillies-1.50484756">true Long Islander.</a> 
"My feeling is that I’d rather think about it as we had incredible years with Clarkie and it was a gift, rather than think about it as a passing," Hall of Famer Denis Potvin said. "He was so good for all of us because of his personality and the sacrifices he made as a power forward. I don’t think there’s ever been anybody better. 
"I’m just honored to have known him for so long and in such an intimate way. Sharing the Stanley Cups and everything else together. A lot of people are going to remember Clarkie off the ice, and they should. The charities. I always marveled at his golf game. He was a joy to be with. Whenever I saw him with people, they were loving being with him. He’s leaving quite a gift to all of us who had a wonderful opportunity to be with Clarkie for so long." 
Butch Goring, like Nystrom and Potvin, played for all four Cup champions. As the MSG Networks television analyst for the Islanders, he and broadcast partners Brendan Burke and Shannon Hogan had to break the news of Gillies’ passing immediately after Friday night’s 4-0 win over the Coyotes at UBS Arena. 
"You want to find the right words," said Goring, acknowledging that was the toughest moment in his broadcasting career. "You’re having an opportunity to express your feelings. That’s a difficult task. You’re talking about the passing of a very good friend and a former teammate." 
What made it even more difficult was the suddenness of Gillies’ passing. A cause of death has not been announced, but those close to Gillies knew he had been having health issues. 
However, Gillies was at his fun-loving best at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for UBS Arena on Nov. 19. The same could be said about the next night, before the first game at the team’s new home, as he took the ice with the other Islanders who have had their numbers retired. 
 
"It wasn’t all that long ago that we opened up the building and he’s bigger than life himself and he’s just his jovial self," said Goring, who roomed with Gillies when he was first traded to the Islanders in 1980. "We’re in touch with the family and knew what direction everything was going. It’s still just a huge shock that something like this can happen so quickly." 
"I saw him there," Potvin said of the UBS Arena ribbon-cutting ceremony. "I traveled with him. We did a card show together. We spent a lot of time. We had one of those days where we were sitting around the airport for a couple of hours. He was a great friend." 
Nystrom was starting his second full NHL season when Gillies joined the Islanders in 1974 after being drafted fourth overall. Nystrom said Gillies had the same personality at age 20 that he did later in life. 
"I can’t say that he was ever shy," Nystrom said. "I remember the first day I saw him. He came knocking on my door in Peterborough, Ontario, where we were training. He had a big bushy head of hair. He looked like a giant. He was the same from the start to the day he died. That’s the way he was." 
Patrick Flatley joined the Islanders at midseason in 1984; the team’s run of four straight Cups soon would be broken by the Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final. Flatley wound up playing 13 seasons for the Islanders and is a member of the team’s Hall of Fame. But he said he might not have had the same career were it not for Gillies. 
Flatley said he had an awful first practice with the Islanders. 
"I was very nervous and he just took me home and we stopped for a beer and he just made me feel so confident," Flatley said. "He just recognized people who needed help and encouragement and he did it. Who knows what Day 2 would have been like if he hadn’t taken me out? I would have been not sleeping and thinking I was not good enough. That really stuck out in my mind when I was thinking about him yesterday." 
Flatley said he also learned by watching Gillies handle a Flyers player who was cursing him out during a game. 
"A guy on Philadelphia was yapping," Flatley said. "So Clark just punched him right in the nose, knocked the guy down. Then he says to the guy, ‘It’s hard to fight when you’re talking.’ Honest to God, I don’t think I spoke the rest of my career. The fear of somebody punching me in the nose." 
Gillies spent his final two NHL seasons with the Sabres. Flatley said there was a simple message before those games with Buffalo. 
"For those on our team who may not have known him, we basically just said before the game, ‘Do not wake Clark,’ " Flatley said. " ‘Just skate up and down next to him. Don’t bug him. Don’t get him ticked off.’ Basically, that was how we prepared for the game. Just don’t do anything stupid to make him mad." 
While with the Sabres, Gillies developed a strong friendship with Lindy Ruff, now the Devils’ coach. Ruff sought out radio analyst Resch before the Devils’ game on Saturday to give him a hug. 
And to share a funny story about Gillies. 
"I get a call from Clarkie,’ " Resch said Ruff told him. "He says, ‘Lindy, you’ve got to get over here.’ He said, ‘There’s a bat in the house and I’m not sure I can get rid of it.’ So Lindy drives over. Lindy walks in and Clarkie and Pam, they love to snowmobile and be outdoors, he’s got his snowmobile outfit on with his snowmobile helmet and a tennis racket. The big, tough Clark Gillies taking on this bat." 
Resch said some of his favorite moments with Gillies came at alumni gatherings or other events in which Gillies usually would be the last to take the microphone. He was just a natural entertainer. Resch said Gillies would do everything from tell hilarious stories to sing. Bobby Darin was a particular favorite of Gillies. 
"Unfortunately, time is slipping by and having gone through this with my dad’s passing, which was rather sudden as well," said Artie Torrey, the son of the late Islanders Hall of Fame general manager Bill Torrey, who drafted Gillies. "There never would have been enough time for Clarkie to say goodbye to all the friends that he’s made. For those of us left behind, it’s really hard."

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In the end, his teammates will long remember Clark Gillies' humanity

In the end, his teammates will long remember Gillies' humanity

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Isles' last LI season episode 15: Hall-of-Famer Clark Gillies

Isles' last LI season (2015): Hall of Famer Clark Gillies

Bryan Trottier and the man he considered a "big brother," the late <a href="https://www.newsday.com/gillies">Clark Gillies</a>, not only were linemates, best friends, four-time Stanley Cup winners with the Islanders and fellow Hall of Famers, but they could be a fairly decent musical duo, too. 
Trottier learned how to play guitar as a child and Gillies, the natural entertainer that he was, had a strong singing voice. 
So several years back, as Gillies battled prostate cancer and then an infection that kept him off his feet and Trottier dealt with a hip issue, the two could entertain each other. 
"He and I were both laid up," Trottier told Newsday on Sunday, sharing memories about Gillies, who passed away on Friday at the age of 67. "He couldn’t walk there for about six months. But when I went and visited him, we were laughing like hell. We were singing songs. I was playing guitar. Sang all day and all night. God, we had a blast. Lots of really good memories with that big lug." 
Both of the wings most closely associated with Trottier have gone through tough medical times of late. Gillies passed away after his health took a downturn in December and Mike Bossy is fighting his own battle against cancer. 
"Rattled but rally," Trottier said of his outlook, adding that he wants to stay true to Gillies’ memory by living to the fullest each day, just as Gillies did. 
"I want to make sure that I’m there for them and for their families. For me, I may be, currently, the only one not battling something physically. But I’m proud of Mike swinging as hard as he can and battling as hard as he can. And proud of Clarkie. That’s a battle you don’t win, that kind of aggressive cancer. But he’s been battling like nobody else for the last several years. 
"My other best friend is fighting for his life, Mike Bossy. He turned 65 yesterday. I sent him a little note. He sent a nice note back, saying to tell Pam [Gillies’ wife] and everybody condolences." 
Trottier, who had previously committed to another event, was unable to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony at UBS Arena on Nov. 19 to see some of his former teammates. Gillies was at that event and at the opening game the next day, smiling broadly and appearing fully fit. 
When Trottier remembers Gillies, two things spring immediately to mind: laughter and music. 
"Those are the most special memories I have with Clarkie," Trottier said. "He was one of the greatest joke-tellers. I’ve heard his jokes 1,000 times and I laugh hard, still." 
And musically? 
"We did quite a few events together where Clarkie was my singer, I was the guitarist," Trottier said. "Probably his most famous song, whenever he sang, was ‘The Gambler’ [by Kenny Rogers]. He always liked ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ [by Johnny Cash]. Those were his two go-tos. He did ‘Friends In Low Places’ [by Garth Brooks] and then he had a repertoire of other ones." 
Trottier joked that Gillies always introduced "Blue Suede Shoes" by saying it was a song he wrote with Elvis Presley. 
So Trottier is grieving his friend — and trying to honor his memory. 
"Not a bigger heart," Trottier said. "A caring heart. The first guy to cry at anything. A softie."

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Bryan Trottier: 'Big brother' Clark Gillies was a strong singer, joke-teller and had 'a caring heart'

Trottier: Gillies was a strong singer, joke-teller and had 'a caring heart'

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Flowers were placed in front of Clark Gillies’ plaque on the Islanders’ Wall of Fame and there was a touching tribute to the late Hall of Famer before Saturday night’s 3-1 loss to the Maple Leafs at UBS Arena. 
It started with a photo montage accompanied by fans’ messages via Twitter. An emotional video ended with "9 In Our Hearts Forever." The crowd responded with a "Gil-lies, Gil-lies" chant before a moment of silence. 
It all got to some of the players on the bench. 
"I know it did, there’s no question," coach Barry Trotz said. "He meant a lot to a lot of those guys. I could feel the emotion behind the bench as well." 
The Islanders announced that they will wear a "No. 9" patch on their jerseys the rest of the season. Gillies passed away on Friday at the age of 67. 
Zach Parise’s late father, J.P. Parise, was Gillies’ teammate. 
"I remember my dad talking about those teams a lot," Zach Parise said. "Bringing up Clark’s name a lot." 
<h3>Bellows for Wahlstrom</h3> 
Trotz inserted Kieffer Bellows, a healthy scratch Friday, for Oliver Wahlstrom, who was benched in Friday’s third period. The previous two games Wahlstrom missed this season were related to COVID-19. 
"For consistency," Trotz said. "Wahlly is a big piece of what we do and a big piece of our future. But the consistency has been all over the map for me. And that’s where I’m trying to reel it in a little bit with him." 
Trotz also shuffled his lines in the third, swapping Jean-Gabriel Pageau onto Mathew Barzal’s right wing for Austin Czarnik. 
  
<h3>Return trip</h3> 
The Leafs became the first opponent to play twice at UBS Arena after a 3-0 win on Nov. 21. 
  
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Islanders honor Clark Gillies before game, will wear No. 9 patches for rest of season

Isles honor Gillies before game, will wear No. 9 patches for rest of season

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Islanders fans and players paid&nbsp;tribute to Clark Gillies before the Isles' game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022, the first game since the announcement of Gillies' death.

Islanders, fans pay tribute to Clark Gillies

Photos: Isles, fans pay tribute to Gillies

Neil Best

Dave Maloney and Clark Gillies once were fierce on-ice adversaries, former captains of the Rangers and Islanders whose careers overlapped during the height of the teams’ late 1970s-early 1980s rivalry. 
On Saturday, the day after Gillies died at 67, Maloney remembered him as the heart and soul of the Islanders’ four-Stanley Cup dynasty. 
"To me, he and (Bryan) Trottier epitomize that group," Maloney, now a Rangers radio analyst, told Newsday in the booth at Madison Square Garden before the Rangers hosted the Coyotes. 
"They would rather play, but they would do whatever it took to win. Trottier may have been a little bit meaner, actually, but Clark, you didn’t want to poke the bear. Leave the bear alone." 
Maloney said he sent Gillies a note when Gillies was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002. 
"I so respected how that team played, and to me, he epitomized how they played," Maloney said. "Clark Gillies was exactly who I hoped he’d be when I met him." 
Rangers coach Gerard Gallant, 58, who grew up on Prince Edward Island, Canada, said his favorite team as a young player was the Islanders, and his favorite player was Gillies. 
"As a kid growing up, I wanted to be Clark Gillies: score and fight," Gallant said. 
Gallant made his NHL debut for the Red Wings against the Islanders 37 years ago Saturday. (Gillies did not play in that game.) Gallant scored a goal in his first game, then had a fight against the Rangers in his second. 
Notes &amp; quotes: Before the game, the Rangers recalled Anthony Greco and Tarmo Reunanen to the taxi squad and assigned Tyler Wall to the Hartford Wolf Pack.

New York Rangers

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Dave Maloney remembers Clark Gillies as heart and soul of Islanders' dynasty team

Maloney remembers Gillies as heart and soul of Isles' dynasty

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Clark Gillies, the fun-loving Hall of Fame power forward who won four Stanley Cups with the Islanders, passed away at age 67 on Friday, the team announced. 
The coaching staff and players were informed immediately after a 4-0 win over the Coyotes at UBS Arena. The team did not reveal the cause of death. 
"I think he epitomizes everything being a New York Islander is," Matt Martin said. "I remember when I met him for the first time. I was like, that’s who I want to be when I grow up. He’s just an amazing human being. 
"It’s just very sad and unfortunate, and I speak for the whole organization when I say our hearts and thoughts and prayers go to the family. He’s got a beautiful family." 
The 6-3, 210-pound Gillies was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, but made a life on Long Island after 14 seasons in the NHL, the first 12 with the Islanders. 
Gillies compiled 319 goals and 378 assists in 958 regular-season games plus an additional 47 goals and 47 assists in 164 playoff games. A feared fighter, he also had 1,023 penalty minutes. 
"The entire Islanders community is devastated by the loss of Clark Gillies," president and general manager Lou Lamoriello said in a statement. "The pride he felt wearing the Islanders sweater on the ice was evident by his willingness to do anything to win. Off the ice, he was just as big of a presence, always taking the time to give back to the community. 
"The New York Islanders have four Stanley Cups because of the sacrifices he and the members of those dynasty teams made for the franchise. On behalf of the entire organization, we send our deepest condolences to the entire Gillies family." 
Coach Barry Trotz said he’ll never forget last season’s playoff run when a smiling Gillies was shown on the Nassau Coliseum scoreboard. Gillies drank a beer, then smashed the can on his head to thunderous applause. 
"Any time you ran into Clarkie, it was a wonderful experience," Anders Lee said. "He lived and breathed Islander hockey." 
"He loved to tell bad jokes," said Martin, adding that he modeled his foundation after Gillies’ foundation. "For as tough a guy as he was on the ice, probably not a nicer human being away from the game. His presence and who he was will continue to live on with us." 
The Islanders selected Gillies fourth overall in 1974, the same year the WHA’s Edmonton Oilers drafted him seventh overall. He made his debut that year, recording 25 goals and 22 assists in 80 games as a rookie. 
He finished his career with two seasons with the Sabres starting in 1986. 
Gillies was inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame in 2002. He represented the Islanders at the 1978 NHL All-Star Game and was named to the NHL First All-Star Team in 1978 and 1979. Gillies had his number 9 retired on Dec. 7, 1996, and his banner hangs at UBS Arena. 
"It was tough to hear," Brock Nelson said. "Barry mentioned it to us after the game. Thoughts and prayers to the family. He’s an upbeat guy. We’ll be thinking about him tomorrow." 
Gillies was one of 16 Islanders players who won four straight Stanley Cups from 1980-83 and also was a member of the group that set the NHL record of 19 straight playoff series wins, a mark that still stands today. 
Nelson called Gillies and the rest of the players on the 1980-83 Cup champions "the foundation of what the team and what the organization are all about. A lot of those guys stuck around and made this place their home. The Island embraced them. We’re lucky to interact with them." 
Nelson said Gillies was a regular at the team’s alumni events. 
Lee recalled a planned golf event with Gillies several years back that got rained out and still turned into a special day. 
"We sat in the clubhouse all morning and it turned into a long day," Lee said. "It was just a great morning with Clarkie. Nothing mattered about the round that day. We just got to sit around a table and spend time with him." 
Trotz said the continuing relationships the Islanders’ alumni have with the current team is crucial, and that Gillies was a huge part of that. 
"He was bigger than life," Trotz said. "You saw Clark Gillies, you thought Islander. My heart dropped when I was told coming off the ice. And he’ll be missed. He really will." 
  
  
  
  
"The National Hockey League mourns the passing of Clark Gillies, a tower of strength on the ice for the dynastic New York Islanders of the early 1980s and a pillar of the Long Island community ever since," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. "Gillies helped define the term ‘power forward’ during a 14-season Hall of Fame career with the Islanders and Buffalo Sabres that was highlighted by winning four straight Stanley Cups with the Islanders. 
"His 319 goals and 378 assists in 958 NHL games — and 47 goals and 47 assists in 164 Stanley Cup Playoff games — reflected his talent. The adoration and admiration of his teammates reflected the heart and passion he brought to our game. We send our deepest condolences to his family and his countless friends and fans."

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Clark Gillies, Islanders legend and Hockey Hall of Famer, dies at 67

Islanders legend Clark Gillies dies at 67

EDITOR’S NOTE: Pat Calabria covered the Islanders for Newsday from 1975-85. The following are excerpts from a story he wrote that was published in Newsday on Oct.12, 1986, a few days after Clark Gillies was left unprotected in the NHL waiver draft and claimed by the Buffalo Sabres. 
The Islanders came of age May 9, 1975. Clark Gillies made sure of that. He did it with his bare hands. 
Gillies fought and bloodied Dave Schultz, the NHL villain of his time, in a playoff game the Islanders had to win. Gillies would go on to spend 12 productive seasons with the team, become an all-star twice and a Stanley Cup champion four times, and he once said that when he died he wanted to be buried in his home white jersey. 
Even when the Buffalo Sabres claimed him on waivers last Monday, Gillies, 32, knew he would be linked forever with the Islanders. In fact, he will be linked forever with Schultz. 
"When we think of Clarkie," former Islander Gerry Hart said, "we all think of Schultz." 
Gillies was just finishing his rookie season that night 11 years ago. He was 6-3, 220 pounds, a raw-boned left wing tagged with the nickname "Jethro," after the Max Baer Jr. character on "The Beverly Hillbillies." It fit. 
Gillies, remember, was the pride of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. When asked where Moose Jaw was, he'd always identify it: "Six feet from the moose's behind," and laugh. 
"I can still see him that first year, following the veterans around," Glenn Resch said. "There he'd be, sitting like a big kid in the back seat of a car with Eddie Westfall and Craig Cameron, that big, old head sticking out the window. He just looked like Jethro." 
His Bunyonesque size and enormous strength had an immediate impact on a team that had lost 101 games in two years and driven two coaches to retirement. It wasn't simply that the Islanders usually were beaten. Too often, they also were beaten up. 
It was the era of the brawling Flyers — the Broad Street Bullies — with Moose Dupont and Don Saleski and, most of all, Schultz. The year before Gillies arrived, the Flyers were routing the Islanders when Schultz skated by their bench, shook his fist and dared the whole team to climb over the boards to fight. No one did. 
"There were 20 guys looking for a hole to crawl into," Lorne Henning said. 
But in 1975, the Islanders had an authentic star in Denis Potvin and an iron-willed coach in Al Arbour, and they had Gillies, who protected them. 
 The Islanders lost the first three games to the Flyers in the [1975] semifinals before winning Game 4. The Flyers had won the Cup the year before, and they were big and mean. They wore black helmets. 
They were wrapping up a 5-1 victory at the Spectrum in Game 5 to avoid elimination again when Flyers coach Fred Shero sent Schultz out for the final shift. Years later, Schultz acknowledged in a biography that he was ordered to start a fight. 
"You could sense that," Resch said. 
There were 22 seconds left in the game when Gillies and Schultz turned up ice, past Resch in the goalmouth, and skated along the boards until reaching the top of the faceoff circle in front of the Islanders bench. There were words and suddenly both players stopped and shook their gloves off. The others rushed to form a circle around them. 
Gillies hit Schultz hard, grabbed him by the neck of his uniform, and hit him again and again, until Schultz crumpled to the ice. The fight was over in seconds. 
"I remember the power of those punches," Resch said. "Clark just engulfed him." 
Schultz had to be helped off the ice. "I told the referee, `Don't let him hit me anymore,' " he said by telephone recently from his home in Cherry Hill, N.J. "It was the only time in my career I ever had to do that." 
The Spectrum was silent. On the Flyers bench, faces dropped in disbelief. Gillies didn't like to fight and, in fact, later in his career was criticized for not fighting enough. But when he stood up to Schultz, the event changed him and the rest of the Islanders. It changed Schultz, too. 
"It wasn't just that two guys had squared off and our guy had won," Hart said. "It was the way it happened. It was so one-sided. Schultz just cowered. It changed the course of the way we began to think about ourselves."

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When Clark Gillies pummeled Dave Schultz, he lifted Islanders' championship hopes

When Gillies pummeled Schultz, he lifted Isles' championship hopes

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Photos of Islanders legend Clark Gillies, who passed away on Jan. 21, 2022.

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Islanders' Clark Gillies through the years

Isles' Clark Gillies through the years

On Monday, Islanders greats Butch Goring and Clark Gillies appeared at Newsday for a Q&A with fans as part of the ongoing Newsday Live series. The former players shared some stories from the Stanley Cup years in the 1980s and talked about the current team, which begins its playoff run Wednesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.


Newsday Live

Newsday Live with Islanders legends Clark Gillies and Butch Goring

Newsday Live with Islanders legends Gillies and Goring

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Clark Gillies, 1954-2022

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