COLTON GILLIESBorn: February 12, 1989 (age 21)
Surrey, British Columbia
6 ft 04
195 lbs
Left Wing
Shoots: Left
Career Transactions:
Assigned to Houston (9/28/09)…Selected by Minnesota in the first round (#16 overall) in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.
Now that Benoit Pouliot is gone, it is probably safe to say that the biggest puzzle in the Wild system is Colton Gillies. He seems to have all of the physical tools to be among the best players in the system. He’s got some speed, he’s got some size. He’s got a decent shot, at times. But what Gillies has failed to do in either his one season with the Wild or his one full season with the Aeros is to put everything together at one time for an extended period of time.
Gillies, who finished with 20 points last season (7+13=20) in 72 games, had brief flashes where all of the potential came together and he seemed to be that player everyone thought he could be. Unfortunately, those flashes never lasted for extended amounts of time. And while his toughness had been questioned at times when with the Wild, he spent the first part of last season skating with a nose that he broke in
But that was last season, and with Mike Yeo as the new coach, and with a new system for the players, Gillies is looking at a fresh start. The talent’s there. It’s just a question of getting it all to click into place, and getting it to all stay in place once it’s been clicked.
Photo Courtesy of Fred Trask
Posts
4 comments:
he is a bit "frisky" as also Almond.. easily led into a fight and penalties, too often forcing penalty kill plays rather than scoring plays!
Gillies did not break his nose in a fight at the start of the season. He broke it in a open-ice collision at Manitoba in the second game of the year.
Just wanted to clarify that point.
I could sworn it was a fight. That's what I get for doing this at a Barnes & Noble on a Sunday night while checking out the cute blonde sitting a couple of tables over.
Thanks for the clarification.
Colton, will have a great season, this year, he not only has the skills he has great character for a young man and will be a leader both on and off the ice. He will end the year will 40 points and will show himself as a leader on this team. That is, if he doesn't get called up to the big club.
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