The Islanders and the Clark Gillies Foundation have teamed up with Ronald McDonald House to open a media room filled with team apparel, sticks and video games for children at the New Hyde Park facility.
“It’s not just a media room, it’s a locker room,” Islanders owner Jon Ledecky told The Post. “I think that’s going to make these kids feel great about themselves, particularly those who are going through some tough times.”
And it will be put to good use, Matt Campo, CEO of Ronald McDonald House New York Metro, proudly bragged.
“Our families here are really excited to get into the space and start using it,” he told The Post, adding that designer Kim Radovich even became a hockey fan throughout the building process.
“She mirrored some of the paneling at the UBS Arena. There’s a great chandelier in the room that reminds you of hockey pucks, the ceiling resembles ice,” he said of the space — which also has a computer, couch, Islanders artwork and a replica dressing room locker filled with Clark Gillies collectables.
The room serves as a place for kids to unwind and have fun — yes, there are plenty of stuffed Sparky the Dragons in the room — and where parents can also get work done.
The ribbon-cutting took place Thursday night, which would have been the Islander great’s 71st birthday.
He died on Jan. 21, 2022.
Though Gillies, a four-time Stanley Cup champion with the Isles, was well-known for his take-no-prisoners hitting and fighting, he showed a heart of gold off the ice — especially when it came to children’s causes.
Previously, Huntington Hospital named its pediatric unit after Gillies, and his foundation raised a million dollars for its creation.
“I really didn’t know there was that side of Clark,” his former teammate, Butch Goring, now a broadcaster for the Islanders on MSG Network, told The Post of their playing days together.
“Watching him around these young kids, that was a different Clark Gillies — and not one I really expected. You know, a big, tough guy that can take on the world, and here he is, crumbling under a 6-year-old.”
Ledecky knows exactly how Gillies would feel about the media, rather, the locker room.
“I think he’d be sitting down with the kids at the table. He’d be having fun with them. Probably teach them how to play cards, teach them something about hockey,” Ledecky said. “He would be totally in their face in such a positive way, bringing them happiness, making them laugh, bringing them joy.”
What to watch
In high school baseball, Floral Park travels to Lynbrook for a 5 p.m. Friday game, and in softball, Longwood heads to Central Islip for a matchup at the same time.
