The Calgary organization is beefing up.
Again.
On Friday, Calgary’s AHL affiliate -- the Abbotsford Heat -- announced it had signed notorious tough guy Trevor Gillies. Gillies, 35, has appeared in 57 career NHL contests with the Ducks and Islanders, scoring three points while racking up 261 penalty minutes.
And no, that last part isn’t a typo.
Gillies’ most infamous moment(s) came during the 2010-11 campaign, when he was suspended nine games for this attack on then-Pittsburgh forward Eric Tangradi:
In his first game back from suspension, Gillies nailed then-Minnesota forward Cal Clutterbuck with this hit, earning himself a 10-game suspension:
Gillies has spent the last few seasons playing in Russia, Finland and, most recently, with ECHL Orlando.
As for the Flames, they already have a pair of heavyweights on their active roster -- Kevin Westgarth (who GM Brian Burke acquired via trade) and Brian McGrattan -- and were engaged in some fisticuffs two weeks ago during their now-infamous line brawl against Vancouver.