| Scott Gomez | |
|---|---|
Gomez with the New York Rangers in 2008 |
|
| Born | December 23, 1979 Anchorage, AK, USA |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Weight | 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb) |
| Position | Center |
| Shoots | Left |
| NHL team Former teams |
Montreal Canadiens New Jersey Devils New York Rangers |
| National team | United States |
| NHL Draft | 27th overall, 1998 New Jersey Devils |
| Playing career | 1999–present |
Scott Carlos Gomez (born December 23, 1979) is an American ice hockey center of both Mexican and Colombian descent, currently playing for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Contents |
In the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, Scott Gomez was selected with the 27th pick of the first round by the New Jersey Devils. His father is Carlos, a Mexican-American, and his mother is Dalia, a Colombian-American.[1] At the time, he was playing for the Tri-City Americans of the WHL, and had just been named to the WHL's All-Rookie Team. In the season after he was drafted, he justified the Devils' decision by scoring 108 points in 58 games for the Americans. This earned him a spot on the WHL West First All-Star Team. The year before, Gomez (while living in the U.S. and going to Blaine High School) led the South Surrey Eagles of the Tier II Junior "A" British Columbia Hockey League to the Gold medal game of the 1997 Royal Bank Cup against the hometown Summerside Western Capitals, but Gomez and his South Surrey Eagles were defeated 4-3.
After this impressive WHL performance, Gomez was brought to New Jersey for the 1999–2000 NHL season, making him the first native Alaskan to play in the NHL. In his rookie NHL season he had 51 assists and 70 points for the Devils. For his efforts, he was awarded the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie and played in the NHL All-Star Game. Gomez scored 10 points in the 2000 NHL playoffs as the Devils won their second Stanley Cup.
In his sophomore season, Gomez totaled 63 points. The Devils again made their way to the Stanley Cup Finals, but were defeated by the Colorado Avalanche in seven games. In the 2001–02 season, Gomez's numbers dropped, as he scored just 10 goals and 48 points. The Devils bowed out of the playoffs in the first round that season, losing to the Carolina Hurricanes. Gomez did not play a game in that series due to injury. The 2002–03 NHL season was an improvement for Gomez and the Devils. Gomez tallied 55 points and again helped the Devils win the Stanley Cup, this time scoring 12 points during the playoffs. The 2003–04 season was an even better year for Gomez, as he scored 70 points, the most since his rookie year. He also tied for the NHL lead in assists, with 56. However, the Devils lost in the playoffs to the Philadelphia Flyers.
During the NHL lockout that forced the cancellation of the 2004–05 season, Gomez returned to his native hometown of Anchorage, Alaska and played for the Alaska Aces of the ECHL. Throughout the season "Scotty" was the face of the Alaska franchise, and the ECHL; he led the ECHL in scoring and won league Most Valuable Player honors. Gomez's season ended early when he was seriously injured by Bakersfield Condors enforcer Ashlee Langdone, who checked him into an open bench door during game 4 of the Pacific Division Semifinals. Gomez sustained a broken pelvis from the incident.[2]
Despite the lockout, Gomez returned to form in 2005–2006 and set career highs in goals scored and points, tallying a total of 84 points. Along with linemates Brian Gionta, Patrik Eliáš and, before Eliáš' comeback, Zach Parise, Gomez helped rally the Devils from a poor beginning of the season by finishing the season on an 11 game winning streak and clinching the division title in the last game. Gomez finished the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs with five goals and four assists in nine games. On July 25, 2006, Devils General Manager Lou Lamoriello accepted an arbitrator's ruling of a $5,000,000, one-year contract for Gomez for the 2006–2007 season. Hence, he would go on to be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2007. During the 2006–07 NHL season he led the Devils to the second round of the playoffs and totalled 60 points. Gomez scored the final goal ever at Continental Airlines Arena on May 5, 2007.
On July 1, 2007, Gomez signed a $51.5 million, seven-year contract with the New York Rangers.[3] On the same day, the Rangers signed Chris Drury, who also wears the number 23. To settle who would wear number 23 while playing for the Rangers, a puck was flipped, with Drury winning and earning the right to continue wearing number 23, while Gomez changed his number to 19. Coincidentally, Drury won the Calder Trophy the year before Gomez won the same award.[4] When asked about his decision to leave the Devils, Gomez said
| “ | I think it's more that New Jersey and I didn't really talk much… …Both sides were ready to move on. They're a tremendous organization. So many memories, what can I say? Everything I have and everything I've done is because of them. But I think at the end of the day, it was time.[5] | ” |
On February 1, 2008, in a game against his former club, the Devils, Gomez recorded his 500th career point by assisting on a Chris Drury goal.
On October 1, 2008 Scott Gomez and the New York Rangers won the Victoria Cup by beating Metallurg Magnitogorsk by the score of 4-3. On October 3, 2008, Gomez was named an alternate captain of the New York Rangers.
On June 30, 2009, Gomez was traded by the Rangers, along with Tom Pyatt and Michael Busto, to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Christopher Higgins, Doug Janik, Ryan McDonagh, and Pavel Valentenko.[6] This trade reunited Gomez with former Devils teammate Brian Gionta, who signed with the Habs after the Gomez trade. Montreal's acquisition of Gomez drew considerable attention and criticism across various news sources largely because of his lack of production since signing his contract, one of the longest and highest in the NHL.[7] With the Canadiens, Gomez wore the number 91 for the 2009-2010 season (reverse 19) as his former two numbers are retired by the Montreal Canadiens organization (Number 19 of Larry Robinson and the number 23 of Bob Gainey).
For the start of the 2010–11 season, Gomez decided to switch his number from 91 to 11 (previously worn by long-time Habs captain Saku Koivu). Gomez decided to wear number 11 because he wore it during his childhood.[8]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | ||
| 1996–97 | South Surrey Eagles | BCHL | 56 | 48 | 76 | 124 | — | 94 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | Tri-City Americans | WHL | 45 | 12 | 37 | 49 | — | 57 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Tri-City Americans | WHL | 58 | 30 | 78 | 108 | — | 55 | 10 | 6 | 13 | 19 | — | 31 | ||
| 1999–2000 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 82 | 19 | 51 | 70 | 14 | 78 | 23 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2000–01 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 76 | 14 | 49 | 63 | -1 | 46 | 25 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 7 | 24 | ||
| 2001–02 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 76 | 10 | 38 | 48 | -4 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 80 | 13 | 42 | 55 | 17 | 48 | 24 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 2003–04 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 80 | 14 | 56 | 70 | 18 | 70 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 6 | -2 | 0 | ||
| 2004–05 | Alaska Aces | ECHL | 61 | 13 | 73 | 86 | 26 | 69 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | — | 4 | ||
| 2005–06 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 82 | 33 | 51 | 84 | 8 | 42 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 9 | -1 | 6 | ||
| 2006–07 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 72 | 13 | 47 | 60 | 7 | 42 | 11 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 6 | 14 | ||
| 2007–08 | New York Rangers | NHL | 81 | 16 | 54 | 70 | 3 | 36 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 8 | ||
| 2008–09 | New York Rangers | NHL | 77 | 16 | 42 | 58 | -2 | 60 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -4 | 4 | ||
| 2009–10 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 78 | 12 | 47 | 59 | 1 | 60 | 19 | 2 | 12 | 14 | -6 | 25 | ||
| 2010–11 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 80 | 7 | 31 | 38 | -15 | 48 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 4 | -6 | 2 | ||
| NHL totals | 864 | 167 | 508 | 675 | 46 | 566 | 140 | 29 | 70 | 99 | 3 | 89 | ||||
| Year | Team | Comp | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | United States | WJC | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 1999 | United States | WJC | 6 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 4 |
| 2004 | United States | WCH | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| 2006 | United States | OG | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 10 |
| Junior int'l totals | 13 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 6 | ||
| Senior int'l totals | 11 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 10 | ||
In the summer of 2007 Scott Gomez and former Devils teammate Jay Pandolfo opened the Micro Ice Training Center in North Andover, Massachusetts where youth hockey players train and attend hockey camps.
| Preceded by Mike Van Ryn |
New Jersey Devils first round draft pick 1998 |
Succeeded by Ari Ahonen |
| Preceded by Chris Drury |
Winner of the Calder Trophy 2000 |
Succeeded by Evgeni Nabokov |