Senior Season — 2015-16
Gillam was named to the All-Ivy League second team for a second time after another terrific campaign to backstop the Big Red to the ECAC Hockey Championship finals and its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2012. The Big Red's lone nominee for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award started 34 of Cornell's 35 games with a 21-8-5 record, 2.25 goals against average and .917 save percentage. His three shutouts pushed him to 11 in his collegiate career, which ties Gillam for fourth-most in Cornell program history. At one point, he had the nation's longest unbeaten for goaltenders with a 10-0-1 record from Nov. 19 to Jan. 27. Gillam also continued his unique offensive prowess, with his quick outlet setting up a goal Jan. 21 against St. Lawrence and giving him his fourth career assist and fifth career point. Immediately following the season, Gillam signed a professional contract with the ECHL's Orlando Solar Bears.
Junior Season — 2015-16
Gillam wasted no time establishing himself as the Big Red's go-to goaltender and was presented the Nicky Bawlf Award at the team's postseason banquet as the squad's most valuable player. Gillam ultimately starting all of the team's 34 games and posting seven shutouts — which is tied for the third-most in a single season in program history. He also posted the third-longest shutout streak in program history, spanning 213 minutes, 17 seconds over four games in November. That included consecutive shutouts at Yale and Brown, marking the Big Red's first back-to-back shutouts on the road since 2008. Gillam finished the year with a 16-11-7 record, 2.16 goals against average and .926 save percentage. He was named ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Week on Nov. 17, then earned Player of the Week and NCAA First Star honors on Nov. 24 followed by a 40-save effort Nov. 28 against Boston University. Gillam also continued to demonstrate his puck-handling skills and instincts, making a pass to Alex Rauter that directly led to Trevor Yates' goal on an odd-man rush Jan. 23 vs. Harvard. It was Gillam's third career assist and fourth career point.
Sophomore Season — 2014-15
Gillam stepped in seamlessly as the team's primary goaltender, earning All-Ivy League Second Team honors. He consistently ranking in and near the national lead in goals-against average and save percentage for virtually the whole season, and he was a key contributor in a Big Red penalty kill that led the nation at the conclusion of the regular season (91.1 percent). Even after the team's postseason struggles, Gillam still turned in a stellar 1.99 goals-against average and .927 save percentage. He earned his first collegiate shutout on Dec. 28 in a scoreless tie against Lake Superior State at the Florida College Hockey Classic. Gillam was particularly strong in the first half of the season, when he surrendered zero or one goals in eight of his first 10 appearances. He also got in the mix offensively, notching a pair of assists. The first came on a long outlet pass during a Nov. 14 game against Clarkson, and the second was two weeks later against Penn State at the Frozen Apple in New York. As of the end of the season, Gillam ranked fifth on Cornell's career goaltending list with a 2.01 goals-against average.
Freshman Season — 2013-14
Gillam had just about the most memorable collegiate debut possible. Not only did he make 24 saves to earn a victory Nov. 26 against Niagara, he became the first Big Red goalie to directly shoot the puck into the opposing net to score a goal. Gillam gloved a long-range shot from Niagara's Matt Chartrain, dropped it to his stick and fired it 175 feet into the vacated net at the other end of the ice with 8.6 seconds remaining. He became just the eighth goalie in NCAA Division I history to be credited with a goal, and the first since Harvard's Kyle Richter in 2008. Only two other goalies have ever actively shot the puck into the opposing net, with Western Michigan's Mike Mantua being the last in 2002 (Michigan State's Chad Alban was the other, in 1998). It was Gillam's only start of the season, as he served as an understudy to Ivy League Player of the Year Andy Iles. Gillam would later stop eight of nine shots he faced in a Feb. 8 relief appearance at Colgate.
Prior to Cornell
Gillam joins the Big Red after a two highly decorated seasons with the Chilliwack Chiefs of the British Columbia Hockey League, culminating with a nomination for the prestigious 2013 RBC Canadian Junior Hockey League Player of the Year. He was named the Chiefs’ most valuable player in both 2012 and 2013, as well as the rookie of the year in 2012. He posted a 27-18-1 record with a 2.53 goals-against average and .928 save percentage in the 2012-13 season, which earned him BCHL First Team All-Star honors for and the Vern Dye Memorial Trophy for the Coastal Conference’s Most Valuable Player. He was a BCHL Second Team All-Star in 2012 and the league’s Rookie All-Star goalie selection. The following summer, he attended the New York Islanders’ prospect camp. Prior to his stint in the BCHL, Gillam was named the Most Improved Player for Berkshire Prep School in 2011. He also played lacrosse through the secondary and prep school ranks, helping St. Peter’s to the Ontario provincial championship in 2009.
Personal
Mitchell Bryant Gillam is the son of Bill and Carole Gillam. He is enrolled in the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning. His father played college hockey at SUNY Geneseo, then played one professional season with the International Hockey League’s Kalamazoo Wings and the Atlantic Coast Hockey League’s New York Slapshots. Gillam’s older brother, Josh, played hockey and lacrosse at Dartmouth before his graduation in 2010. He now plays professional indoor lacrosse with the Minnesota Swarm and professional hockey with EC Peiting of Germany’s Oberliga.
