Gillies blend of size, skill and willingness to drop the gloves was his trademark as a player - a reliable goal scorer who scored 30-plus goals six times in his first eight seasons. He's credited with helping define the term power forward, a role that's considerably easier to say or write than it is to live out every day.
"If he's going down the boards he's going through the defender," Chico Resch said. "He'd go to the corners and he just loved being part of the Trio Grande
with Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier. He had about as many three-point games (48) as he did fights (around 50), but despite all of those offensive accolades,
his four bouts with Terry O'Reilly in Games 2 and 3 in the 1980
playoffs, as the Islanders stood up to the Big, Bad Bruins en route to winning their first Stanley Cup, will be remembered as one of his most impactful on-ice contributions.
Gillies certainly looked - and was - imposing at 6'3, 215 lbs., and especially with a scruffy beard, but the irony was that despite being gifted a novelty gold boxing glove during his jersey retirement in 1996, he didn't favor fighting the way some people with his natural toughness would. Gillies needed to be provoked, and God help whoever did the provoking.
"I don't think he ever prompted a fight, or started one that I could recall, but he sure finished it," Jiggs McDonald said. "If you got him upset and he got into it, he was by far the toughest I have ever seen, the best."
Remembering Clark Gillies
ARTICLES
Islanders Honor Gillies With Patch
The Reluctant Warrior
Bourne Remembers Gillies
Hockey World Mourns Gillies
Photos: Clark Gillies Through the Years
Clark Gillies Passes Away
VIDEO
Clark Gillies Tribute Video
Fans Pay Tribute to Gillies
Clark Gillies Moment of Silence
PODCAST
Gillies on Talkin' Isles
Gillies giant frame was matched by his larger-than-life personality.
He was good natured and lit up every room he walked into, bringing a gravitational pull towards his outgoing and boisterous personality. McDonald remembers numerous Gillies renditions of Kenny Rogers' The Gambler, or Bobby Darin's Mack the Knife, or duets with Bryan Trottier.
There were the jokes, told over and over. He always had a quip, or five, but gave the dynasty Islanders the levity they needed, a balance to the serious business of Stanley Cup chasing and a demanding coach like Al Arbour.
"To know Clark Gillies is to love him," Butch Goring said during an emotional, impromptu euolgy on MSG+ after Friday's game. "He was a fun guy, always joking, would sing and keep it going. We know all about his ice prowess and how good he was. It's like losing a family member."
Gillies used to tell a story of a time when Arbour chewed out the team during an intermission for only throwing one hit during a period. When Arbour left,