Colton Gillies (born February 12, 1989) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He spent time playing for both the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...

and

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...

in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

. Gillies spent the last five years of his professional career playing overseas, most notably spending time in the

KHL The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs b ...

playing for

Dinamo Riga Dinamo Riga ( lv, Rīgas Dinamo) is a professional ice hockey team based in Riga, Latvia. It is a member of the Latvian Hockey Higher League. The club is affiliated with HK Zemgale/LLU. The club was re-founded on 7 April 2008 as a successor of ...

. He is the nephew of NHL hockey player

Clark Gillies Clark Gillies (April 7, 1954 – January 21, 2022) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played for the New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League between 1974 and 1988. Gillies served as captain of the Island ...

Playing career

Gillies was the second overall pick by the

Saskatoon Blades The Saskatoon Blades are a major junior ice hockey team playing in the Eastern Division of the Western Hockey League, formerly the Western Canadian Hockey League (WCHL). They are based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, playing at the 15,195-seat SaskTe ...

in the 2004

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

(WHL) Bantam Draft. Gillies spent parts of four seasons with the Blades, but the team struggled and consequently Gillies played in only 10 playoff games during his major junior career. Still, he gained attention with his strong physical and two-way play, and was selected to represent

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

at the 2007 IIHF World U18 Championships in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, where Canada finished 4th overall. Colton Gillies Amerks

That summer he was selected in the first round of the

NHL draft The NHL Entry Draft (french: Repêchage d'entrée dans la LNH) is an annual meeting in which every franchise of the National Hockey League (NHL) systematically select the rights to available ice hockey players who meet draft eligibility requirem ...

by the

, who traded up three spots in the draft in order to pick Gillies 16th overall. Gillies was named captain of the Blades during the 2007-08 season and again represented his country at the 2008 World Junior Championships in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

where he helped Canada to its fourth consecutive gold medal at the tournament. Late in the 2007-08 season Gillies made his professional debut with the Wild's

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL) affiliate, the Houston Aeros. He managed 8 points in 11 games with the team. That fall he cracked the Wild roster out of training camp and went on to play 45 games for the team during the 2008-09 season. Gillies recorded his first career point, an assist, on October 11, 2008 against the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

, and his first career goal on December 19, 2008 against the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

. Gillies spent the entirety of the 2009-10 season developing his game with the Aeros. Though he would remain with the Aeros for the majority of the 2010-11 season, Gillies was re-called by the Wild on April 3, 2011. He played the final 7 games of the season with Minnesota, contributing a goal in the last game of the season, a 5-3 victory over the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and were founde ...

that ended the Stars' bid for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. On July 6, 2011, Gillies signed a two-year contract extension with the Wild. In the 2011–12 season, Gillies struggled to establish a role with the Wild, assisting on only 2 goals in 37 games before on January 13, 2012, he was placed on waivers. The following day he was claimed by the

. A free agent approaching the 2013-14 season, Gillies accepted an invite to attend the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

training camp. Unable to secure a contract with the Sabres he was reassigned to their AHL affiliate, the

Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League; the team is an owned and operated affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home games in Rochester, New York, a ...

training camp, on September 21, 2013. He was then signed to a one-year AHL deal with the Americans on September 25, 2013. As a free agent again in the off-season, Gillies participated in his second consecutive training camp on a try-out with the

. Gillies was assigned to AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on a professional try-out to begin the 2014–15 season, before signing a one-year AHL deal on December 12, 2014. Gillies played for HC Banska Bystrica in Slovakia during 2015-2016. After this, Gillies joined

in the

for four seasons. Gillies retired from professional hockey in 2021 and accepted a coaching position with the

Surrey Eagles The Surrey Eagles are a junior "A" ice hockey team based in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Mainland Division of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). They play their home games at South Surrey Arena. History New ...

of the

BCHL The British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) is a Junior A ice hockey league from British Columbia under Hockey Canada and BC Hockey. Founded in Vernon in 1961, the BCHL now includes 18 teams. From 1993 to 2021, the league was a member of the Ca ...

Personal

Gillies is also a firefighter, working in

Penticton, British Columbia Penticton ( ) is a city in the Okanagan, Okanagan Valley of the British Columbia Interior, Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada, situated between Okanagan Lake, Okanagan and Skaha Lake, Skaha lakes. In the 2016 Canadian Census, its pop ...

. He and his partner welcomed their first child, a baby boy, in late 2021.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gillies, Colton 1989 births Living people Bridgeport Sound Tigers players Columbus Blue Jackets players Dinamo Riga players HC '05 Banská Bystrica players Houston Aeros (1994–2013) players Ice hockey people from British Columbia Minnesota Wild draft picks Minnesota Wild players National Hockey League first-round draft picks People from White Rock, British Columbia Rochester Americans players Saskatoon Blades players Canadian ice hockey left wingers