Clark Gillies: Delayed Inductee To The Hockey Hall Of Fame

It took 14 years after his final game in the National Hockey League but Clark Gillies finally entered the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002. Putting in nearly 1,000 regular season games in the NHL, Gillies was an integral part of the New York Islanders Stanley Cup dynasty of the early 1980’s.

The winning ways started before that. Clark helped the Regina Pats to a Memorial Cup championship during the 1973-74 season, his final year of junior hockey. His play during that WHL season boosted Gillies to be the fourth overall pick by the Islanders at the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft.

Junior Career

NHL Career

Hockey Card Collection

Rookie Card

Career Stats

Clark Gillies – Junior

For three years from 1971-72 to 1973-74, Clark Gillies played for the Regina Pats. Over that time, he scored 117 goals and assisted on 166 for 283 points in 201 regular season games. He also showed his tough side with 570 penalty minutes. In 35 playoff games, he added 35 points.

In his final year with the Pats, the team finished first overall in the 12 team WHL. Regina won the championship, sweeping the Calgary Centennials in the finals. At the Memorial Cup tournament, Regina beat the Quebec Remparts 7-4 in the final for the title. The tournament was held at Calgary’s Stampede Corral and the third team participating was the Black Hawks from St. Catharines, Ontario.

In 1973-74, Gillies tied for tenth in the league with 112 points. Ironically, he equaled the point total of future teammate Bryan Trottier, then playing for the Swift Current Broncos. Clark was named a First Team All-Star for his performance.

Clark Gillies – NHL

Between 1974-75 and 1987-88, Clark Gillies appeared in 958 regular season National Hockey League games. Over that time, he scored 319 goals and assisted on 378 for 697 points. In a lofty 164 Stanley Cup playoff games, he added 94 points. Although the bulk of his career was spent with the New York Islanders, Gillies finished up with the Buffalo Sabres. He would play just a total of 86 games with the Sabres over two seasons.

Clark Gillies Collection

The Islanders chose Gillies fourth overall at the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft, behind Greg Joly (Washington Capitals), Wilf Paiement (Kansas City Scouts) and Rick Hampton (California Golden Seals). The Edmonton Oilers also made him a first round pick, taking Clark seventh overall in the 1974 WHA Secret Amateur Draft.

Over his career, he was a 20 goal scorer eight times and a 30 goal scorer on six occasions. His career high for goals came in 1981-82 when he scored 38 for New York. He topped out with 91 points in 1978-79, tying for ninth that year in the race for the Art Ross Trophy with Dave Taylor of the Los Angeles Kings. 1978-79 also brought a career best 56 assists.

Clark was team captain for the Islanders during the 1977-78 and 1978-79 seasons, a role he wasn’t overly comfortable with. He replaced Ed Westfall and was replaced by Denis Potvin. During both those two seasons, Gillies was named a First Team All-Star.

Of course, the highlight of his career was the four consecutive Stanley Cup championships with the Islanders between 1979-80 and 1982-83. His number 9 was retired by the team on December 7, 1996. In 2002, Gillies was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, along with Bernie Federko and Rod Langway.

Clark Gillies – Rookie Card

The Clark Gillies rookie card appears as number 199 in the 1975-76 O-Pee-Chee NHL hockey card set. He is shown with the New York Islanders. His final card is included in the 1988-89 O-Pee-Chee set as a member of the Buffalo Sabres, despite playing his final NHL game in 1987-88.

Although he was captain of the Islanders for just the 1977-78 and 1978-79 seasons, he is shown wearing the ‘C’ on his 1977-78, 1978-79 and 1979-80 OPC cards. According to his 1977-78 card, Gillies set an Islanders record with 34 goals in 1975-76. That record has long since been shattered. His 1978-79 card states that Clark played minor league baseball in the Houston Astros organization from 1970 to 1972.

Clark Gillies Career Stats

Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1971-72	Regina Pats	WCHL	68	31	48	79	199
1972-73	Regina Pats	WCHL	68	40	52	92	192
1973-74	Regina Pats	WCHL	65	46	66	112	179
1974-75	New York Islanders	NHL	80	25	22	47	66
1975-76	New York Islanders	NHL	80	34	27	61	96
1976-77	New York Islanders	NHL	70	33	22	55	93
1977-78	New York Islanders	NHL	80	35	50	85	76
1978-79	New York Islanders	NHL	75	35	56	91	68
1979-80	New York Islanders	NHL	73	19	35	54	49
1980-81	New York Islanders	NHL	80	33	45	78	99
1981-82	New York Islanders	NHL	79	38	39	77	75
1982-83	New York Islanders	NHL	70	21	20	41	76
1983-84	New York Islanders	NHL	76	12	16	28	65
1984-85	New York Islanders	NHL	54	15	17	32	73
1985-86	New York Islanders	NHL	55	4	10	14	55
1986-87	Buffalo Sabres	NHL	61	10	17	27	81
1987-88	Buffalo Sabres	NHL	25	5	2	7	51
	NHL Totals		958	319	378	697	1023