I always respected Clark Gillies for not being a bully. He was a hockey player first and a pretty darn good one. If you crossed the line and got him angered he was always ready for the challenge but he didn't look for trouble.
No argument here. As John Sterling who was the Islander’s radio broadcaster said after the fight, “Gillies just gave muscle beach Honda a beating”. Honda had to save face by picking on little Gary Howatt. Bobby Ny also gave Hoyda a good beating.
Just googled you, your from south Boston, I'm also from Mass, I grew up in Medford and I remember southie was always a tough crowd, had a few jams in faneual hall back in the day with a couple of southie dude's and your a cop now in Hanson Massachusetts, stay safe brother, that's such a tough job today
Priceless. I hated the Islanders when I was a kid, but watching the old videos now of their playoff runs, I gotta say that they were such a loaded team that paid their dues for many years before they won 4 cups.
Contrary to what host said here, Gillies played in the BEST era, when NHL hockey was played with PASSION, from the ice to the stands. Bettman bred the passion out of the game. Not in favor of bench-clearing brawls, but players do a good job of keeping it an honest game.
You and the other 3 repliers are off your rockers. I was a big fan of hockey fighting too but to me fighting doesn't necessarily equal passion. IT was the norm and a lack of dsicipline in all departments of there life was the norm and the reason for the amount of fighting. Not passion, lol. Watch a game from then, I mean the actual playing of hockey, not fighting then watch a game from today and I think your ideas may be rearranged a bit. I guess I question your idea of passion. To me, training all year round in the most efficient way possible for your exact body, position, goals for improvement, eating healthy foods specifically to optimize your body for the highest caliber athlete, not having any physically or mentally destructive vices to get in the way of you being the best possible player you can be all the time, not only having the insane discipline to do that but control every word you say and every move you make outside hockey because even the smallest thing can drown you and someones always watching and broadcasting you. Having the discipline to not take stupid penalties because its way more costly and you can't count on the other team to even it out by taking there share of stupid penalties Knowing that you have to do all those things and more all the time because if you don't there's a thousand other guys doing the same things that want to see you fail so they can take your place. I grew up playing hockey in the 80's and my best memories of hockey and the NHL use to be from that era. I had my own romantic ideas about that era until the last 5 years or so when i was first hand exposed by a couple guys to what things really look like for the players these days. I now look back on it and see it for what it was. They didn't have to do all those things I mentioned. It was seriously like they weren't even playing the same game, it's so different. You could pretty much do whatever the hell you wanted on and off the ice back then. That's not passion to me, that's apathy, that's a serious lack of discipline, commitment, professionalism, work ethic. If you said to an NHL'er today that there's a guy who lacks the most intense , freaky discipline he wouldn't hesitate to tell you that it's not possible if he made it to this level. Nevermind staying there for 15 or 20 years. IF you took some of the most dedicated players from back then and put them into today's game it would be a huge struggle and most likely impossible for them to adapt to what is required. It's pretty much 24/7 and 365 commitment. Other than the flying it was a 5 or 6 hour commitment approximately 3 times a week for games and a few hours a week of practice, maybe a couple hours of media and team meetings, 7 months of the year. But there was more fighting back then.
Gillies "played in a fucked-up era", the guy next to him says. That's true in a way. But everyone has been through stuff like that while growing up, in the schoolyard or in the neighbourhood. R.I.P, Jethro, the cleanest tough guy I've ever seen in hockey.
@@gogooshttrflshr6335 Wilson skated thru his punches and deck him with an over hand right. Wilson was sitting on top of him when the linesman rush in. I loved Gilly but he was dazed going to the penalty box.
Yes...God Bless Clark Gillies...Funny thing is I went to public school and then high school for a couple of years with Behn Wilson until he moved on to other places to play Hockey and as a classmate I kinda got to know him pretty well...He was a very big guy even then but I never expected him to become an NHL tough guy which of course he was... he was also a very good Hockey Player, had very good skill...!!!
This from a long time Flyer fan, and I loved Behn Wilson still do but I now love Clarke Gillies what a great story and funny too, I had a suspicion that I would like this guy what a fighter and what a funny guy he appears to be, kudos to Clarke funny story.
I'm an Islander fan and think the same way about Behn Wilson. After watching several of his podcasts, he comes across as good man. Another thing was, Behn never felt like anyone of the Flyers had his back. Not Holmgren, Clark, Bridgman or anyone. Wilson told various players on that team, if you see me get in a fight, at least hold one guy so he doesn't jump in. If I don't see you containing at least one player, you WILL answer to me. The Flyers core was really screwed up, Wilson has said a couple of times, Paul Holmgren was strong, but he couldn't fight, mentioning how Fotui beat his ass. And Behn lost all respect for those core Flyer players. They pretty much used him for his fighting ability, his goals and assists were just a bonus in their eyes. Darn shame.
What a great historical record! And Bob Nystrom certainly handled himself against Cochran, who knew he was in a fight. Great interview! Last comment was hilarious!
Big time Isles fan here but the one guy I remember getting the best of Clarkie was Danny Gare on the Sabres. Gare was like 5’9” and 175 but he got the upper hand in that one. 50 goal scorer one year iirc, too. RIP Clark Gillies and thanks for countless great memories.
Let me get something straight for the record. I'm a Ranger fan for nearly 40 years, but I'm from the UK. I have always hated the Islanders, them being our local rivals and all that. One of the few players on the Islanders who I had any respect for was Clark Gillies. To be an enforcer type player and wear the "C" on his uniform carries a buttload of responsibility. He did his job well, the kind of man who you hated playing against, but you would love to have him on your team. I was saddened to hear of his untimely passing on the 21st January. RIP Clarkie. Btw I enjoyed the clip - I love to hear the ex-players answering questions from the audience and reminiscing about days gone by. Thanks for posting.
@Dani G80 thanks for the reply. The Rangers are doing well this season, Kreider has stepped up amazingly. But the Islanders dynasty of the late 70s and early 80s were definitely the team to beat. They had a great roster, they played physical hockey but had so many players who could tear opposition defences apart. Bossy, Trotter, Nystrom, Tonelli, the Sutter brothers - and I'm barely scratching the surface. All that plus solid blue line led by Denis Potvin, and great goaltending, what more do you need? Yes, the Isles had it all in those years.
@Rich Casino yes I knew about Mike Bossy, his goal scoring feats, the serious back injury that ended his career prematurely, and the cancer that ended his life. When he played for the Islanders along with the rest of that great team of the late 70s into the 80s, it made us Rangers fans want to beat them more, play harder. Gillies was my favourite Islanders player, but I still have a great amount of respect for guys like Bossy who were great players and great people.
Nice upload. Always respected Gillis and Nystrom as well, despite being a Ranger fan. A true warriors there and a star. I'd love to see Eichel, McDavid, Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin..etc try and play in that era.
All the players you mentioned would have performed well in that past era, not only because of their skills, each team had enforcers that would protect the star players without having to worry about the ridiculous instigating penalty that exists today.
Willie Gordon thank performance by flyers was pathetic and cowardly. Russians had NEVER played that style and flyers new they would get embarrassed if they did not resort to cheating. Its not tough to fight someone whos not teady or expecting it.
one of the islanders on my wall as a kid growing up. the islanders dynasty was the last of the old school Canadian style play before the more wide open European style took over the league with the oilers and the influx of Eastern European and eventually soviet players...it gers forgotten that not only did the islanders win 4 in a row..they made it to a 5th in a row. moving to long island from queens as a 6 year old in 1980 was a great time for the island...my father put a poster on my wall of the islanders players each in an individual box...potvin, bossy, trottier, gillies, Smith, Nystrom, morrow, and pearson...that was the first sports team I followed as a kid and cable TV was just making its way to long island so all the kids in suburban long island got to watch the games...in those days all the kids at school had islanders shirts...my favorite was they had mock gravestones for the 4 teams the isles beat in the cups...then a fifth with no name yet as they headed towards a 5th...it wasn't to be , but they went out fighting. thanks for the memories clark..rip
Clark "Jethro" Gillies, MAY HE REST IN PEACE, was like a pre Rip Wheeler before Yellowstone even came to be. However, he could light up the lamp oh, could he light up the lamp.
Bob Probert is still the toughest sob to ever play the game!!! What scared guys about probert was you couldn’t hurt him and he got better as the fight dragged on, just a animal!!! RIP
Probert was and will always be the best ever fighter in the NHL. There is no doubt. Rip both! But Watching Probert was the best era of hockey for me ever!!!
Never saw him play in his prime but the players of his era said Gordie Howe was the toughest SOB in the league. His opponents said he couldn’t get away with a lot of stuff Howe did in today’s game.
I grew up in that era. Behn Wilson was one big bad ass mother who could really fight. I loved that 2nd fight. But it really was Bob Probert who taught Behn Wilson who the No.1 Heavyweight was in the NHL at the time. Much love and respect for Clark Gillies. Love ya my brother. P.S . That Dave Schultz pounding was just so awesome !!
Good post, but Bob Probert "taught Behn Wilson who was No. 1?" When? I'll tell you when - never. They started to fight once, on February 17, 1988, but the linesmen got in just a few seconds into the tussle. Other than that, they never fought each other.
Dave Schulz beat gilles in the first fight in Jan 1975. gilles won in May of 75 but when your regularly fighting like Schultz(unlike gilles) eventually you tire
Was also at The Rock Shop that night and have my own recording of this story. It's been saved on my desktop for nearly 6 years now. When I need a pick-me-up I either watch this, or if I'm in a hurry, Jocelyne Lamoureux's shootout goal from the 2018 Olympics.
Lifelong Ranger fan here nothing but respect for #9 not a stick guy didn't go after little guys played the game the right way...remember when he got dealt to Buffalo...hated that Islander team but loved when he beat up Dave Schultz...you could hear a pin drop in the Spectrum.
@@tomconnors8494 You should stop thinking, it's causing more brain damage, Clark would have annihilated Fotiu! 👊👊👊 Nystrom kicked Fotiu's ass and Bob was half the fighter Clark was.
Rocky Mtn TJ , Fotiu was a gold gloves boxer and would have clobbered Gillies. Can’t believe Nystrom beat Fotiu. My favorite is Nystrom taking a beating from Bridgman. They called him Knuckles Nystrom cause he tasted a lot of Bridgeman’s knuckles! LOL
Clark Gilles was a straight up tough dude. Never dirty, feared. He and Bobby Nystrom were the backbone of those championship Islander teams. Another one was Howatt, but he was a little off his rocker. Met him once after a game at the Coliseum. I said hello and he thought I wanted to fight him. I'm not that nuts...
I would take Clark over Nystrom. Nystrom was dirty at times. Especially later in his career. Check out video tape against George Mcphee and Dave Brown. Just to name 2 people. But , all in all he could fight
Basil Fromeen Please don't put Howatt in the same class as Button or Gillies. Gillies is a HOF winger and Bobby NY. was a solid all around player who excelled in games. As far fighting goes Howatt was a mediocre scrapper at best who built his reputation on fighting Schultz to a couple of draws and as a player. hä, finale me laugh. Gillies was a great fighter but more guys then Behn Wilson could have cleaned his clock. Larry Robinson, Barry Beck to name two. Nystrom got his ass handed to him by George McPhee (twice) who he out weighed by 25 lbs and 5 inches. If McPhee was 6-3 & 225 lbs they would have had to make him illegal. Stan Jonathan was once asked who the best short fighter ( under 5-9 or so), himself. or Howatt and he responded by saying George McPhee of the Rangers was by far and away the best he had ever seen, nobody even close.
Toni Chappell Rick Tochett was 6-0, 212 lbs, hardly what I'd call a middle weight my friend. The fact that McPhee kicked his ass twice while giving away 3-4 inches and at least 25 lbs., that's what made George "the man". Get your facts right before you talk shit.
Willie Gordon I didn't know that but I did see Ted Irvine knock him cold with a couple of hard right hands . When Irvine was with St. Louis , Gillies gave Ted some payback by giving him a serious beating. Broke his jaw, can't remember.
one of the most feared fighter was dave semenko when many people scared him because semenko was simply very big-sized in his time. No one wasnt as big as semenko in that era.
Back in the 80s I used to see Clark around Long Island. Asked him where Moose Jaw Saskatchewan was? He said 9 feet the moose's ass. The joke was back then nobody knew where Moose Jaw was where Clark was born. 😉
Ya....those were the good ole days.....i remember when i played major peewee....and we were in the all ont.biggest toury at harman park for 3 days......and our 3rd game.we.played.the bay.ridges all.stars....with the great billy caroll as there captian.....he got 3 goals and 2 assists on me and we lost 7-2....and out of the tournament....yrs later iafter he retired from the NYI.s my bud asked if id come play on ice with him and some buddy.s.....in pickering and sure as hell ....who shows up.....billy caroll.....still so great with the puck.....he still scored at will.....lol
Always had much Respect for Clark, a real stand up guy. This is coming from a Behn Wilson Fan/ Flyers Fan. I would take him on my Flyers team any time. And seeing him tell the truth about Losing the first fight ( as the story progressed ) He tells you later he took it on the Chin in that First Fight ....But , He isn’t very honest in their second fight. Behn doesn’t fall over top of Clark from being dazed after a punch . Footage does not show that
Bobby Nystrom was one of the most underrated fighters ever. Would kick the shit out of most players today. Look at his fight with Larry Playfair and you will know
yeah, but bobby was a pillow puncher. to compare him with a boxer I would say sugar ray leonard. looks good, throws a lot of punches, but doesn't do much real damage.
He and Barry Beck seemed to have a mutual respect. I thought he would have said Barry Beck but as an Islander he cant. Just like Barry can't say Clark Gillies.
Gillies had a great sense of humor and was gentleman until he had to defend himself or a teammate. Recently, Behn Wilson has been doing various podcasts promoting his book, Facing Behn Wilson. I never knew much about him except like everyone else, he was one of the toughest sobs ever. Behn mentions on these podcasts that he respected Bossy and Trottier for their toughness, not in a brawling sense, but being able to stand their ground on the ice and their mental toughness, definitely impressed Wilson. Occasionally, Behn will mention Gillies and Nystrom as two of the toughest fighters in the league. But Behn has never even brought up the 1st round where he smoked Clark or the 2nd where Clark got his revenge with the most brutal uppercuts I've ever seen hit anyone. As Gillies pointed out, he never heard from Wilson again, and judging by Behn's silence on this, I would agree with Gillies statement here. The 2nd round was arguably the worst beating Behn ever received. Sure, Plett rang Behn's bell and vice versa in their many matches. I've never seen such a one-sided fight for a superior fighter like Wilson. Clark hit Wilson with some tremendous shots that I don't ever recall anyone else hitting Wilson like that. Fotui blasted Wilson with that last shot in their '79 match that sent Behn backwards. And it's obvious Clark took a page out of Fotui's fighting style, keeping Wilson at a distance. Like most Islander fans, I hated Wilson for decades. Now after hearing him talk about having to leave the game early due to various injuries and becoming a father to 3 daughters, he comes across as a good man. He pointed out after you become a dad, you realize you have to provide, and he goes on to say, my 3 daughters have this funny habit of having to eat every day. Which all of us dads can relate to. But anyway, Gillies and Wilson are 2 of the toughest sobs to ever play hockey, and it was great growing up in the 70's watching brutes like this take care of business.
Trivia fact. In the video Gillies mentioned fellow Islander player, Bob Bourne as his best buddy. Gillies daughter, Brianna is married to Bob Bourne's son, Justin.
Bourne did repairs on the Cup in his garage...another fun fact. He and Gillies were neighbors on the island. Cup spent a lot of time in that neighborhood.
One player from the rival islanders that could beat u up wasnt afraid of schultz or anyone an awesome person and not 1 fighter in hockey today could carry his jockstrap!!!!
He'll Willie Plett picked Wilson up one night and threw him down. Plett stomped Cochrane twice too. Willie ended up on top 9 out of 10 times when the fight got to the ground.
The reason Wilson never said anything to Gillies when he was in the penalty box was that, other than fear, when he attempted to speak, his broken jaw would have fallen off, etc.
The reason Wilson said nothing was because he spoke with his right fist knocking Gillies into the ice sheet. TKO punch scored in a win for Behn Wilson in round 2 . Wilson beat the crap outta Gillies in round one. Gillies was Wilson's practice punching bag. LMAO 😆
@mirandasalinas9412 Watch Behn's recent podcasts, he doesn't mention anything about fighting Gillies, not even when he smoked him in the 1st round. Like Clark said, Behn was all too willing to chirp after a fight, and was silent and didn't even look in Clark's direction afterwards. This was highly uncharacteristic of Behn. Clark's uppercuts were brutal, Behn wasn't in good shape after that bout.
Rest In Peace Clark. One of a kind player! The hockey world lost a true warrior.
Awful news,so very TRUe..Jethro RIP
A real stand up guy. He could have played on my Flyers anytime
RiP great man . Bs fan here. Always huge respect. All the Bs players did. What a loss. Him and Bosse. I cant imagine. Our condolences.
Clark Gillies a class act
We all miss you
Gone too soon
From a Ranger Fan 🏒
RIP Clark
LEGEND and all round great guy, that era had some really tough guys
Miss that type of hockey
Flyers fan, but Clark Gilles was a heck of a hockey player and rarely beaten in fights. Great story teller as well.
Clark Gilles one of the classiest, coolest players ever!
I always respected Clark Gillies for not being a bully. He was a hockey player first and a pretty darn good one. If you crossed the line and got him angered he was always ready for the challenge but he didn't look for trouble.
Just ask Dave Hoyda.
No argument here. As John Sterling who was the Islander’s radio broadcaster said after the fight, “Gillies just gave muscle beach Honda a beating”. Honda had to save face by picking on little Gary Howatt. Bobby Ny also gave Hoyda a good beating.
RIP Clark. It was an honour to play with you man.
Just googled you, your from south Boston, I'm also from Mass, I grew up in Medford and I remember southie was always a tough crowd, had a few jams in faneual hall back in the day with a couple of southie dude's and your a cop now in Hanson Massachusetts, stay safe brother, that's such a tough job today
Priceless. I hated the Islanders when I was a kid, but watching the old videos now of their playoff runs, I gotta say that they were such a loaded team that paid their dues for many years before they won 4 cups.
I don’t know anything about Hockey but this is one of the best sports stories ever!!! A bad ass is a bad ass in any sport.
Member of the legendary line Gillies/Trottier/Bossy. One the best power forward in the history. RIP Clark and Mike.
What a character, just a great and dominant player, what a dynasty they had! A great team with unforgettable players. Gone too soon .
This is fantastic. I can listen to these stories all night.
That was awesome! I could watch that all night! Clark Gilles, man, the real effing deal!!
Contrary to what host said here, Gillies played in the BEST era, when NHL hockey was played with PASSION, from the ice to the stands. Bettman bred the passion out of the game. Not in favor of bench-clearing brawls, but players do a good job of keeping it an honest game.
these days it's money first, then passion, which is a shame
Bettman turned hockey into soccer while football and basketball have become more violent.
You and the other 3 repliers are off your rockers. I was a big fan of hockey fighting too but to me fighting doesn't necessarily equal passion. IT was the norm and a lack of dsicipline in all departments of there life was the norm and the reason for the amount of fighting. Not passion, lol. Watch a game from then, I mean the actual playing of hockey, not fighting then watch a game from today and I think your ideas may be rearranged a bit. I guess I question your idea of passion. To me, training all year round in the most efficient way possible for your exact body, position, goals for improvement, eating healthy foods specifically to optimize your body for the highest caliber athlete, not having any physically or mentally destructive vices to get in the way of you being the best possible player you can be all the time, not only having the insane discipline to do that but control every word you say and every move you make outside hockey because even the smallest thing can drown you and someones always watching and broadcasting you. Having the discipline to not take stupid penalties because its way more costly and you can't count on the other team to even it out by taking there share of stupid penalties Knowing that you have to do all those things and more all the time because if you don't there's a thousand other guys doing the same things that want to see you fail so they can take your place. I grew up playing hockey in the 80's and my best memories of hockey and the NHL use to be from that era. I had my own romantic ideas about that era until the last 5 years or so when i was first hand exposed by a couple guys to what things really look like for the players these days. I now look back on it and see it for what it was. They didn't have to do all those things I mentioned. It was seriously like they weren't even playing the same game, it's so different. You could pretty much do whatever the hell you wanted on and off the ice back then. That's not passion to me, that's apathy, that's a serious lack of discipline, commitment, professionalism, work ethic. If you said to an NHL'er today that there's a guy who lacks the most intense , freaky discipline he wouldn't hesitate to tell you that it's not possible if he made it to this level. Nevermind staying there for 15 or 20 years. IF you took some of the most dedicated players from back then and put them into today's game it would be a huge struggle and most likely impossible for them to adapt to what is required. It's pretty much 24/7 and 365 commitment. Other than the flying it was a 5 or 6 hour commitment approximately 3 times a week for games and a few hours a week of practice, maybe a couple hours of media and team meetings, 7 months of the year. But there was more fighting back then.
@@davidhampton4133 What a long winded diatribe. Take your pseudo-intellectual dissertation of the relevance of fighting in hockey and stuff it.
And noe Bettman wants them to play in July 24 teams in some obscure city .
Legend! Truly a great guy and player. RIP.
Those Isles teams were absolutely incredible! A true band of brothers! The hockey world lost one of the great ones. RIP
how some people rate the oilers over the islanders is a joke.the isles were the more complete team by far
Loved the stories when you were alive. Much better now. God bless.
Gillies played in the BEST era of hockey!
Got that right the goon era was the best era for sure but I'm a little biased and liked the Kane, Toews era also.
Gillies "played in a fucked-up era", the guy next to him says. That's true in a way. But everyone has been through stuff like that while growing up, in the schoolyard or in the neighbourhood. R.I.P, Jethro, the cleanest tough guy I've ever seen in hockey.
I wish guys today were most like him and schultz
@@raymondkaufmann9408 Schulz? I sure hope you're not talking about Dave Schulz ?
Nothing but respect, thanks for sharing Clark!
bullshit
TakeAShowerStinky, Perhaps, but he still kicked Wilson's ass Homey.
TakeAShowerStinky, Still pounded your Wilson, Hoyda, and Schultz fkkker.
@@dennisblack218 Butthurt Flyers fan.
@@gogooshttrflshr6335 Wilson skated thru his punches and deck him with an over hand right. Wilson was sitting on top of him when the linesman rush in. I loved Gilly but he was dazed going to the penalty box.
I’m a Boston Bruins fan and had nothing but respect for Clark Gillies. RIP Big Guy 🙏
RIP Clark, from a lifelong Rangers' fan. God bless. Btw, I never knew he was the Captain.
I can’t believe he is gone, you will be deeply missed Jethro.
May you Rest In Peace
Awesome talk by Jethro... So interesting to hear the behind the scenes stuff...
Rest is Peace Jethro!!! You were an amazing gentleman, hickey player and warrior!!! You will be missed!!!!
What is rest is peace? What is a hickey player?
@@cluman1
A player who leaves hickeys with his fists on other player’s faces!
Yes...God Bless Clark Gillies...Funny thing is I went to public school and then high school for a couple of years with Behn Wilson until he moved on to other places to play Hockey and as a classmate I kinda got to know him pretty well...He was a very big guy even then but I never expected him to become an NHL tough guy which of course he was... he was also a very good Hockey Player, had very good skill...!!!
What a hilarious story. RIP, Clark Gillies.
Jethro the toughest sob i have ever seen on the ice...thanks for the memories Clarkie!
This from a long time Flyer fan, and I loved Behn Wilson still do but I now love Clarke Gillies what a great story and funny too, I had a suspicion that I would like this guy what a fighter and what a funny guy he appears to be, kudos to Clarke funny story.
Eric Day Most hockey players are great guys, definitely with a sense of humor.
Eric Day agree, Behn Wilson was a beast, but Jethro was all a class act...
Was also a very good player
I'm an Islander fan and think the same way about Behn Wilson. After watching several of his podcasts, he comes across as good man. Another thing was, Behn never felt like anyone of the Flyers had his back. Not Holmgren, Clark, Bridgman or anyone. Wilson told various players on that team, if you see me get in a fight, at least hold one guy so he doesn't jump in. If I don't see you containing at least one player, you WILL answer to me. The Flyers core was really screwed up, Wilson has said a couple of times, Paul Holmgren was strong, but he couldn't fight, mentioning how Fotui beat his ass. And Behn lost all respect for those core Flyer players. They pretty much used him for his fighting ability, his goals and assists were just a bonus in their eyes. Darn shame.
What a great historical record! And Bob Nystrom certainly handled himself against Cochran, who knew he was in a fight. Great interview! Last comment was hilarious!
There are not enough interviews with this guy. 1000 hours would not be enough. He's was so damn funny.
That is fuckkng awesome. Thanks for sharing. Always respected gillies because he never talked just hit. “Can I keep talking?” 😆😆
I still remember how you could throw down with some of the best fighters this game has ever seen, Jethro.
And unlike a lot of them, Gillies was a fine hockey player also, not just a fighter. He was no goon.
Back when men played hockey.
now we have beta males on the ice and in the crowd.
They turned hockey into Disney on ice. It sucks.
Behn was a big boy. Lots of good fighters back then.
Awesome talk by Jethro... So interesting to here the behind the scenes stuff...
RIP Jethro , you were a class act.
Big time Isles fan here but the one guy I remember getting the best of Clarkie was Danny Gare on the Sabres. Gare was like 5’9” and 175 but he got the upper hand in that one. 50 goal scorer one year iirc, too. RIP Clark Gillies and thanks for countless great memories.
Yes, Danny was a fierce little battler who took no crap from anyone.
A really underrated player.
Let me get something straight for the record. I'm a Ranger fan for nearly 40 years, but I'm from the UK. I have always hated the Islanders, them being our local rivals and all that. One of the few players on the Islanders who I had any respect for was Clark Gillies. To be an enforcer type player and wear the "C" on his uniform carries a buttload of responsibility. He did his job well, the kind of man who you hated playing against, but you would love to have him on your team. I was saddened to hear of his untimely passing on the 21st January. RIP Clarkie.
Btw I enjoyed the clip - I love to hear the ex-players answering questions from the audience and reminiscing about days gone by. Thanks for posting.
@Dani G80 thanks for the reply. The Rangers are doing well this season, Kreider has stepped up amazingly. But the Islanders dynasty of the late 70s and early 80s were definitely the team to beat. They had a great roster, they played physical hockey but had so many players who could tear opposition defences apart. Bossy, Trotter, Nystrom, Tonelli, the Sutter brothers - and I'm barely scratching the surface. All that plus solid blue line led by Denis Potvin, and great goaltending, what more do you need?
Yes, the Isles had it all in those years.
@Rich Casino yes I knew about Mike Bossy, his goal scoring feats, the serious back injury that ended his career prematurely, and the cancer that ended his life. When he played for the Islanders along with the rest of that great team of the late 70s into the 80s, it made us Rangers fans want to beat them more, play harder. Gillies was my favourite Islanders player, but I still have a great amount of respect for guys like Bossy who were great players and great people.
Was a huge bruins fan but ya have to love this guy
Terry O'Reilly was one tough guy..
@@williemays2488 indeed he was!
Loved it! Thanks for posting!
RIP Clark Gillies.
Nice upload. Always respected Gillis and Nystrom as well, despite being a Ranger fan. A true warriors there and a star. I'd love to see Eichel, McDavid, Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin..etc try and play in that era.
Yeah because Gretzky didn't do very well did he...
What an idiotic comment.
...by BMF, just for the sake of clarity.
All the players you mentioned would have performed well in that past era, not only because of their skills, each team had enforcers that would protect the star players without having to worry about the ridiculous instigating penalty that exists today.
Willie Gordon thank performance by flyers was pathetic and cowardly. Russians had NEVER played that style and flyers new they would get embarrassed if they did not resort to cheating. Its not tough to fight someone whos not teady or expecting it.
one of the islanders on my wall as a kid growing up. the islanders dynasty was the last of the old school Canadian style play before the more wide open European style took over the league with the oilers and the influx of Eastern European and eventually soviet players...it gers forgotten that not only did the islanders win 4 in a row..they made it to a 5th in a row. moving to long island from queens as a 6 year old in 1980 was a great time for the island...my father put a poster on my wall of the islanders players each in an individual box...potvin, bossy, trottier, gillies, Smith, Nystrom, morrow, and pearson...that was the first sports team I followed as a kid and cable TV was just making its way to long island so all the kids in suburban long island got to watch the games...in those days all the kids at school had islanders shirts...my favorite was they had mock gravestones for the 4 teams the isles beat in the cups...then a fifth with no name yet as they headed towards a 5th...it wasn't to be , but they went out fighting. thanks for the memories clark..rip
Agreed, RIP number 9
Fantastic story!
RIP from a Bruins Fan,...
clark was a great man
Clark "Jethro" Gillies, MAY HE REST IN PEACE, was like a pre Rip Wheeler before Yellowstone even came to be. However, he could light up the lamp oh, could he light up the lamp.
Bob Probert is still the toughest sob to ever play the game!!! What scared guys about probert was you couldn’t hurt him and he got better as the fight dragged on, just a animal!!! RIP
Probert was and will always be the best ever fighter in the NHL. There is no doubt. Rip both! But Watching Probert was the best era of hockey for me ever!!!
Never saw him play in his prime but the players of his era said Gordie Howe was the toughest SOB in the league. His opponents said he couldn’t get away with a lot of stuff Howe did in today’s game.
Ok, Captain Obvious.
@@suprekoolio1227 ok fucktard🖕 nice name kool aid🤡🤡🤡
Yes, Probert and Domi didn’t feel pain ..they embraced it 😫
RIP Clark Gillies
I grew up in that era. Behn Wilson was one big bad ass mother who could really fight. I loved that 2nd fight. But it really was Bob Probert who taught Behn Wilson who the No.1 Heavyweight was in the NHL at the time. Much love and respect for Clark Gillies. Love ya my brother. P.S . That Dave Schultz pounding was just so awesome !!
Good post, but Bob Probert "taught Behn Wilson who was No. 1?" When? I'll tell you when - never. They started to fight once, on February 17, 1988, but the linesmen got in just a few seconds into the tussle. Other than that, they never fought each other.
skif usya Wasn't Wilson worn out by the time Proby was in his prime?
Wendel Clark punched the crap out of Wilson in his rookie year
Dave Schulz beat gilles in the first fight in Jan 1975. gilles won in May of 75 but when your regularly fighting like Schultz(unlike gilles) eventually you tire
Clark Gillies one of the most feared players in the league back in the best era of hockey IMO....Nystrom and Stan Jonathan were right up there also.
Was also at The Rock Shop that night and have my own recording of this story. It's been saved on my desktop for nearly 6 years now. When I need a pick-me-up I either watch this, or if I'm in a hurry, Jocelyne Lamoureux's shootout goal from the 2018 Olympics.
Many feared both Behn Wilson and Clark Gillies
Both feared Fotiu
@@stiveseguin8116 No one feared wussy Fotiu. Most overrated fighter ever.
Nystrom pummeled Fotiu when Nick played for the Whalers. Gillies by no means feared Fotiu. Wilson definitely feared Nick.
@@stiveseguin8116 Gillies, no way, feared anyone, including Fotiu.
He's a great story teller. Who knew?
Loved this!
Lifelong Ranger fan here nothing but respect for #9 not a stick guy didn't go after little guys played the game the right way...remember when he got dealt to Buffalo...hated that Islander team but loved when he beat up Dave Schultz...you could hear a pin drop in the Spectrum.
Great story
I am not an Islanders fan and never will be BUT listening to Clark Gillies talk here I have to show a great deal of respect to this man.
Great storyteller!
My greatest regret is that there was never a Gillies-Fotiu fight. That would have been EPIC.
or a Behn Wilson vs Larry Playfair
I think Fotiu would have beaten Gillies.
That's ok because Nystrom kicked Fotiu's ass. I can only imagine the destruction Clark would have done to Fotiu 👊👊
@@tomconnors8494 You should stop thinking, it's causing more brain damage, Clark would have annihilated Fotiu! 👊👊👊 Nystrom kicked Fotiu's ass and Bob was half the fighter Clark was.
Rocky Mtn TJ , Fotiu was a gold gloves boxer and would have clobbered Gillies. Can’t believe Nystrom beat Fotiu. My favorite is Nystrom taking a beating from Bridgman. They called him Knuckles Nystrom cause he tasted a lot of Bridgeman’s knuckles! LOL
R.I.P. Clarkie!
Clark Gilles was a straight up tough dude. Never dirty, feared. He and Bobby Nystrom were the backbone of those championship Islander teams. Another one was Howatt, but he was a little off his rocker. Met him once after a game at the Coliseum. I said hello and he thought I wanted to fight him. I'm not that nuts...
I would take Clark over Nystrom. Nystrom was dirty at times. Especially later in his career. Check out video tape against George Mcphee and Dave Brown. Just to name 2 people. But , all in all he could fight
Basil Fromeen Please don't put Howatt in the same class as Button or Gillies. Gillies is a HOF winger and Bobby NY. was a solid all around player who excelled in games. As far fighting goes Howatt was a mediocre scrapper at best who built his reputation on fighting Schultz to a couple of draws and as a player. hä, finale me laugh. Gillies was a great fighter but more guys then Behn Wilson could have cleaned his clock. Larry Robinson, Barry Beck to name two. Nystrom got his ass handed to him by George McPhee (twice) who he out weighed by 25 lbs and 5 inches. If McPhee was 6-3 & 225 lbs they would have had to make him illegal. Stan Jonathan was once asked who the best short fighter ( under 5-9 or so), himself. or Howatt and he responded by saying George McPhee of the Rangers was by far and away the best he had ever seen, nobody even close.
@@michaelbelfer1069 George McPhee and Rick Tocchet had some epic scraps...two middleweights who threw fast and hard punches
Toni Chappell Rick Tochett was 6-0, 212 lbs, hardly what I'd call a middle weight my friend. The fact that McPhee kicked his ass twice while giving away 3-4 inches and at least 25 lbs., that's what made George "the man". Get your facts right before you talk shit.
Willie Gordon I didn't know that but I did see Ted Irvine knock him cold with a couple of hard right hands . When Irvine was with St. Louis , Gillies gave Ted some payback by giving him a serious beating. Broke his jaw, can't remember.
We had Clark Gillies on the podcast on episode #100, GREAT podcast and actually talks about these fights in more detail.. check us out!
I'm a Flyers fan I remember this Clark Gillies was feared big Ben Wilson held his own rest in peace Clark that was a hell of a team
great stuff!!!
Clark Gillies was an amazing player. I didn't like the Islanders, in fact I hated them but, I really respected him and Tonelli.
Rest In Peace Clark 🌹 🌹 🌹
Many old time hockey guys cite behn Wilson as the toughest
R.I.P.
Gillies is a nice guy. I met him and I have an autpgraph.
one of the most feared fighter was dave semenko when many people scared him because semenko was simply very big-sized in his time. No one wasnt as big as semenko in that era.
Back in the 80s I used to see Clark around Long Island. Asked him where Moose Jaw Saskatchewan was? He said 9 feet the moose's ass. The joke was back then nobody knew where Moose Jaw was where Clark was born. 😉
Cant remember ever seeing stan jonathan lose a fight
Dan polseno, can't remember ever seeing...?......Sorry, I have attention deficit when I listen to people with nothing above the brain stem.
Brad Maxwell beat him
Great story!
RIP #9
R.I.P. Clarkie
Epitome of "Old Time Hockey"
Clarky should do stand up.
How’s that for a friend and teammate in Nystrom?!
Barry beck and Clark gillies I thought had the most respect for each other.
Ya....those were the good ole days.....i remember when i played major peewee....and we were in the all ont.biggest toury at harman park for 3 days......and our 3rd game.we.played.the bay.ridges all.stars....with the great billy caroll as there captian.....he got 3 goals and 2 assists on me and we lost 7-2....and out of the tournament....yrs later iafter he retired from the NYI.s my bud asked if id come play on ice with him and some buddy.s.....in pickering and sure as hell ....who shows up.....billy caroll.....still so great with the puck.....he still scored at will.....lol
RIP Jethro.
Always had much Respect for Clark, a real stand up guy. This is coming from a Behn Wilson Fan/ Flyers Fan. I would take him on my Flyers team any time. And seeing him tell the truth about Losing the first fight ( as the story progressed ) He tells you later he took it on the Chin in that First Fight ....But , He isn’t very honest in their second fight. Behn doesn’t fall over top of Clark from being dazed after a punch . Footage does not show that
Gillies is full of beans, he got TKO'D by Wilson in round 2. Gillies got up wobbly. He was dazed from Wilson's punch .
I'd have guessed Larry Robinson.
Bobby Nystrom was one of the most underrated fighters ever. Would kick the shit out of most players today. Look at his fight with Larry Playfair and you will know
yeah, but bobby was a pillow puncher. to compare him with a boxer I would say sugar ray leonard. looks good, throws a lot of punches, but doesn't do much real damage.
I remember when Nystrom beat Fotiu. Fotiu was on the Whalers
He and Barry Beck seemed to have a mutual respect. I thought he would have said Barry Beck but as an Islander he cant. Just like Barry can't say Clark Gillies.
Gillies had a great sense of humor and was gentleman until he had to defend himself or a teammate. Recently, Behn Wilson has been doing various podcasts promoting his book, Facing Behn Wilson. I never knew much about him except like everyone else, he was one of the toughest sobs ever. Behn mentions on these podcasts that he respected Bossy and Trottier for their toughness, not in a brawling sense, but being able to stand their ground on the ice and their mental toughness, definitely impressed Wilson. Occasionally, Behn will mention Gillies and Nystrom as two of the toughest fighters in the league.
But Behn has never even brought up the 1st round where he smoked Clark or the 2nd where Clark got his revenge with the most brutal uppercuts I've ever seen hit anyone. As Gillies pointed out, he never heard from Wilson again, and judging by Behn's silence on this, I would agree with Gillies statement here. The 2nd round was arguably the worst beating Behn ever received. Sure, Plett rang Behn's bell and vice versa in their many matches. I've never seen such a one-sided fight for a superior fighter like Wilson. Clark hit Wilson with some tremendous shots that I don't ever recall anyone else hitting Wilson like that. Fotui blasted Wilson with that last shot in their '79 match that sent Behn backwards. And it's obvious Clark took a page out of Fotui's fighting style, keeping Wilson at a distance.
Like most Islander fans, I hated Wilson for decades. Now after hearing him talk about having to leave the game early due to various injuries and becoming a father to 3 daughters, he comes across as a good man. He pointed out after you become a dad, you realize you have to provide, and he goes on to say, my 3 daughters have this funny habit of having to eat every day. Which all of us dads can relate to. But anyway, Gillies and Wilson are 2 of the toughest sobs to ever play hockey, and it was great growing up in the 70's watching brutes like this take care of business.
nystrom just wanted to see a good fight!
Trivia fact. In the video Gillies mentioned fellow Islander player, Bob Bourne as his best buddy. Gillies daughter, Brianna is married to Bob Bourne's son, Justin.
Bourne did repairs on the Cup in his garage...another fun fact. He and Gillies were neighbors on the island. Cup spent a lot of time in that neighborhood.
Justin is the guy sitting to Clark's right in this video.
BTW, You-Tube Ben Wilson vs Wendel Clark...
Fucking legend. What a loss this was…
One player from the rival islanders that could beat u up wasnt afraid of schultz or anyone an awesome person and not 1 fighter in hockey today could carry his jockstrap!!!!
He'll Willie Plett picked Wilson up one night and threw him down. Plett stomped Cochrane twice too.
Willie ended up on top 9 out of 10 times when the fight got to the ground.
The reason Wilson never said anything to Gillies when he was in the penalty box was that, other than fear, when he attempted to speak, his broken jaw would have fallen off, etc.
The reason Wilson said nothing was because he spoke with his right fist knocking Gillies into the ice sheet. TKO punch scored in a win for Behn Wilson in round 2 . Wilson beat the crap outta Gillies in round one. Gillies was Wilson's practice punching bag. LMAO 😆
@mirandasalinas9412 Watch Behn's recent podcasts, he doesn't mention anything about fighting Gillies, not even when he smoked him in the 1st round. Like Clark said, Behn was all too willing to chirp after a fight, and was silent and didn't even look in Clark's direction afterwards. This was highly uncharacteristic of Behn. Clark's uppercuts were brutal, Behn wasn't in good shape after that bout.
@@JeepTJWheelin Gillies hurt Behn in that fight.
If Wilson was the guy he feared most, how come he never fought Fotiu ???
I miss the days when hockey was a violent game played by gladiators.
It's ok Clarke (rip), a lot of.people got.destroyed by Big Behn. You got some revenge in the next fight but Behn will always own the belt
RIP jethro