Born in Glasgow, Scotland and raised in Saint John, New Brunswick, Gordie Clark spent most of his nine-year playing career in the American Hockey League with Rochester, Springfield and Maine.
Clark played collegiately at the University of New Hampshire and was drafted by the Boston Bruins in 1972, beginning his professional career with the Rochester Americans. He recorded 64 points in 65 games as a rookie and increased his goal production in each of his four years in Rochester, earning a spot on the AHL Second All-Star Team in 1976 and again in 1977 – the first of his four career postseason All-Star selections.
After brief stints in the World Hockey Association as well as AHL Springfield, Clark joined the Maine Mariners late in the 1978-79 season and averaged better than a point per game to help them to a Calder Cup championship that spring. He led the American Hockey League with 47 goals in 1979-80, and two years later he set career highs when he scored 50 goals and totaled 101 points.
Clark retired in 1983 with 267 goals and 332 assists for 599 points in 540 AHL games.
He spent some time as an assistant coach with Maine and in the NHL with Boston and the New York Islanders, and for more than three decades Clark has been one of the most highly regarded player personnel executives in the NHL, working with the Bruins, Islanders, Rangers and Canadiens.