UNIONDALE, NY – DECEMBER 13: NHL Hall of Famer Clark Gillies waves to the crowd prior to a game … More
For more than 50 years, there’s been no shortage of examples of Islanders players who came from far away places and became islanders.
Ed Westfall won two Stanley Cups during an 11-season run with Bruins but is best-known for serving as the original Islanders captain and for his continued community involvement throughout Long Island. Decades later, Johnny Boychuk won a Cup with the Bruins before getting traded to the Islanders, with whom he transitioned into a player development role following his retirement.
Boychuk’s teammates included Josh Bailey, Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin, all of whom, like Boychuk, were born in Canada but laid down roots on Long Island almost immediately upon their arrivals.
Fourteen of the 16 men to play for all four Stanley Cup-winning teams in the early ‘80s were born outside the United States — including Butch Goring, a popular broadcaster with the team, and Bobby Nystrom, a native of Sweden who is forever identified as “Mr. Islander.”
But nobody embodied the transition from Islander to islander quite like the late Clark Gillies, the first-round pick from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan in 1974 who succeeded Westfall as the team captain before emerging as both a skilled offensive player and a valuable enforcer during the dynasty era.
And no one embraced the Island like Gillies, who famously enjoyed spending his summers in the ‘80s playing charity softball games and later reflected the area’s boisterous enthusiasm for the Islanders during the final run at Nassau Coliseum during the stirring surge to the 2021 NHL semifinals.
He was also a tireless fundraiser through his work with the Clark Gillies Foundation, which has raised millions of dollars for children and families enduring a pediatric health crisis.
Gillies’ charitable presence was felt once again last Thursday — more than three years after his death in January 2022 — when the New York Islanders Clark Gillies Media Room was dedicated at the Ronald McDonald House in New Hyde Park, NY.
The room — ringed with blue and orange furniture and adorned with Islanders memorabilia, including Stanley Cup banners, photos of alums throughout the years and a framed Gillies jersey — is modeled after UBS Arena and is intended for use by children and their families. Televisions can be utilized to watch the Islanders or play video games while work can be completed at the computers located throughout the facility.
The unveiling of the media room marked the second time a building has been named in Gillies’ honor since his death. The Dix Hills Ice Rink, located miles from where the Gillies family resides in Greenlawn, was renamed the Clark Gillies Arena at Dix Hills Park in May 2022.
Pam Gillies, Clark’s wife, was joined at last Thursday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony by Clark’s teammates Goring and Bryan Trottier as well Bailey, Boychuk and Clutterbuck — a melding of Islanders and islanders past and present, all following the lead of someone who best understood the connection between the team and the area.
“This would have been Clark’s dream,” Pam Gillies said. “It helps kids, it’s Islanders. If it’s two things Clark loved, he loved his New York Islanders and he loved helping kids. So this is a perfect partnership and the room is beautiful.”
