Former Mississippi Sea Wolves forward Trevor Gillies is making preparations along with his Portland Pirates teammates for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals versus the Hershey Bears in the American Hockey League Calder Cup Playoffs.

Gillies is going up against two other Mississippi connections in the series. Hershey is coached by former Sea Wolves bench bosses Bruce Boudreau (1996-99), who is the Bears head coach, and Bob Woods (2001-05), who is Hershey�s assistant coach.

The thrilling series between Portland and Hershey will come to an end with deciding Game 7 on Tuesday, May 30 at 6 p.m. CT at GIANT Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania with the winner advancing to the AHL Calder Cup Finals to face the Milwaukee Admirals.

During the regular season with Portland, Gillies recorded two goals and three assists in 50 games, while racking up 169 penalty minutes. The 27-year-old has appeared in four postseason games in 2006 going without a point or registering any penalty minutes.

Earlier this season, the 6-foot-3 and 235-pound enforcer made his NHL debut with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim on November 6 by playing four shifts against the Minnesota Wild. In that contest, Gillies also tallied one shot and accumulated a whopping 21 penalty minutes with minor penalties for hooking, boarding and instigating, a major penalty for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct.

A native of Cambridge, Ontario, Gillies started his professional career with Mississippi in the 1999-00 season, collecting six assists and 202 penalty minutes in 53 games.