Tough guy Trevor Gillies has waited a long, long time to get his shot in the NHL: he played in his second NHL game on his 31st birthday. A gutsy minor league brawler, he fought 33 times in the AHL during the 2003-04 regular season. In September, 2009, Gillies joined the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL, and after dressing in 18 games and amassing 123 penalty minutes, he was inked by their NHL affiliate, the New York Islanders. He saw the ice in 14 games for the Islanders last season, registering 75 penalty minutes and five fighting majors. In March, 2010, he notched his first and only NHL point, assisting on a Tim Jackman goal in a 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Trevor Gillies New York Islanders
Gillies has paid his proverbial dues to reach this point in his career. In April, 2010, at age 31, with nearly 570 professional hockey games to his credit, Gillies, 6’3”, 215, re-signed with the Islanders on a one-year contract through to the end of the 2010–2011 season. Noted for his trademark facial hair and fiery team spirit, Gillies had five fights for the New York Islanders last season, going 4-0-1, with wins over an over-matched Brandon Prust, a torpid Riley Cote, Mike Rupp and Matt Carkner. Gillies bloodied Carkner in a wild third-period scrap, April 3, 2010. The lone draw came in a fight against Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond of the New Jersey Devils.
Trevor Gillies Hockey Fights
Gillies will have plenty of opportunities to demonstrate his toughness and play the enforcer role in 2010. In a perfect world, he avenges the solid knockdown he suffered as an Anaheim Mighty Duck at the hands of Derek Boogaard November 6, 2005. In that game, the Minnesota Wild’s Boogaard threw a check up along the boards on Gillies, and Gillies immediately dropped the gloves. Both guys threw wild haymakers, Boogaard rights, Gillies lefts and uppercuts. Gillies got twisted and spun around, as Boogaard attempted a few uppercuts. Gillies landed a straight left, which connected squarely on Boogaard’s cheek. But Boogaard showed patience and stamina, and used his tremendous size to pull Gillies off-balance, and then land a clean, swift uppercut to Gillies’s jaw. Gillies went down for the count, an ugly ending to his first regular season NHL fight.
High-intensity tough guys Trevor Gillies and Zenon Konopka should eclipse the New York Islanders' paltry team total of 33 fights for the entire 2009-2010 season. Pugilistic competition and opposition shall be ubiquitous in the rugged Atlantic Division. Both players bring a physicality lacking in the New York Islanders lineup for too many years.
Brian D'Ambrosio - Brian D'Ambrosio is the author of more than 500 published articles and seven books, including From Haikus to Hatmaking: A Year in the Life ...
