As part of the American Hockey League’s 70th anniversary this season, theahl.com will be taking a look at some of the legendary careers that have been carved in the AHL over the last seven decades.
Right wing Gordie Clark had a relatively brief career in the American Hockey League, but it was long enough to establish himself as one of the league’s elite scorers.
Born in Scotland and raised in Saint John, N.B., Clark was an All-American at the University of New Hampshire and was drafted by the Boston Bruins in 1972. He turned pro with the AHL’s Rochester Americans in 1974-75 and averaged just under a point per game as a rookie.
Known as one of the league’s more gentlemanly players, Clark led the Amerks in scoring with 79 points in 1975-76 while amassing just seven penalty minutes in 72 games, earning his first of two straight Second Team AHL All-Star selections. A year later, Clark helped Rochester reach the Calder Cup Final, and in 1979, Clark captured a Calder Cup championship with the Maine Mariners.
Clark had some of his finest offensive seasons in Maine, and was named a First Team AHL All-Star when led the AHL with 47 goals in 1979-80, and again when he hit the 50-goal and 100-point marks in 1981-82.
A postseason participant in each of his eight AHL seasons, Clark retired after another run to the Finals with Maine in 1983. His 90 career points in Calder Cup Playoff action tie him for fifth on the league’s all-time list, and his 42 postseason goals are good for fifth as well.
Clark went on to serve as an assistant coach with the Mariners and with the NHL’s Boston Bruins and New York Islanders. In 2001-02, as assistant general manager of the Islanders, Clark was also the director of hockey operations for the Eastern Conference champion Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
| Career AHL Statistics – Gordie Clark | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||||
| Season | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1974-75 | Rochester Americans | 65 | 22 | 42 | 64 | 34 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 6 |
| 1975-76 | Rochester Americans | 72 | 30 | 49 | 79 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| 1976-77 | Rochester Americans | 58 | 34 | 38 | 72 | 50 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 4 |
| 1977-78 | Rochester Americans | 75 | 37 | 51 | 88 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 1978-79 | Springfield Indians/ Maine Mariners |
46 | 19 | 26 | 45 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 2 |
| 1979-80 | Maine Mariners | 79 | 47 | 43 | 90 | 64 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 7 |
| 1980-81 | Maine Mariners | 59 | 25 | 29 | 54 | 32 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 4 |
| 1981-82 | Maine Mariners | 80 | 50 | 51 | 101 | 34 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| 1982-83 | Maine Mariners | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 16 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 2 |
| AHL Totals | 540 | 267 | 332 | 599 | 251 | 94 | 42 | 48 | 90 | 35 | |
