Scott Gomez Retires from NHL After 16 Seasons

Former New Jersey Devils first round, draft pick has announced his retirement after 16 seasons in the National Hockey League. 

Gomez told Doyle Woody of the Alaska Dispatch News, of his plans to hang up his skates on Wednesday. 

He said, “This has been my life. It is so weird to think I am never going to play hockey again. People say, ‘You will find something.’ But saying that, there will never be that feeling again, of even playing a preseason NHL game. You are playing at the highest level there is.”

He added, “But I am done. I am done.”

 

Gomez was drafted by the Devils, 27^th overall in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. During his rookie season, in 1999-2000, he won the Calder Trophy, as the top rookie in the NHL and helped New Jersey win their second Stanley Cup in team history. He also helped the Devils win the Stanley Cup in 2003 as well.   

Prior to the Devils drafting Gomez, he was playing with the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League and was named to the WHL All-Rookie Team. After being drafted, he was able to put up 108 points in 58 games with the Americans, tabbing him a spot on the WHL First All Star Team.

Following his spectacular season in the WHL, the Devils brought him to the New Jersey, as he became just the fifth player from the state of Alaska to play in the NHL. 

  

When he became an unrestricted free agent, on July 1, 2007, Gomez signed a seven-year, 51.5 million-dollar contract with the Devils cross river rivals, the New York Rangers. New York signed Gomez on the same day they sign Chris Drury, who also wore the number 23. 

To settle which player would get to keep number 23, they flipped a puck and Drury won the right. Coincidently, Gomez had succeeded Drury as winner of the Calder Trophy. 

When he signed with the Rangers, he was asked about his decision to leave New Jersey, which he responded by saying, “I think it was more New Jersey and I did not really talk much. Both sides were ready to move on. They are a tremendous organization. So many memories, what can I say? 

Everything I have and everything I have done is because of them. But I think in the end it was time.”  

Gomez was able to record his 500^th point, an assist on a Drury goal, on February 1, 2008, against his former team. The Rangers had named him as an alternate captain on October 3, 2008. 

The Rangers traded Gomez, along with Tom Pyatt and Michael Busto to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Christopher Higgins, Doug Janik, Ryan McDonagh and Pavel Valetenko, on June 30, 2009. He was reunited with former Devils forward, Brian Gionta who had signed with the Canadiens following the trade. 

Many media organizations criticized Montreal’s acquisition of Gomez, since his production level went down, after signing one of the longest and largest contracts in the NHL. As his number 19 he wore in New York and number 23 in New Jersey, were retired in Montreal, for Larry Robinson and Bob Gainey, he reversed the number and wore number 91.

Before the start of the 2010-2011 season, he changed his number to 11, which he wore during his childhood. 

After scoring a goal on February 5, 2011, he hit a 60 game drought, before finally waking up his stick with a one timer, a little over a year later on February 9, 2012, in a 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders.   

During the 2012-2013 lockout, Gomez returned to the Alaska Aces of the ECHL, who he had played for prior to being called up by the Devils. He initially signed with the Aces on a training basis, but eventually signed a player contract in Anchorage and put up 13 points in 11 games.

The settlement of the lockout affected Gomez in two ways, the first being teams were not allowed to hide players making more than 900,000 dollars, in their American Hockey League affiliate to avoid the salary cap hit, and the second way it affected him was because Canadiens general manager, Marc Bergevin had asked him to stay home during the shortened season, so that they could buy him out in the offseason. 

The Collective Bargaining Agreement was revised and allowed teams to use a compliance buyout prior to the start of the shortened season. The Canadiens then bought Gomez out on January 17, 2013, making him an unrestricted free agent. Six days later he signed a one-year, 700,000-dollar contract with the San Jose Sharks. 

In 39 games with the Sharks, he scored two goals and 13 assists. The next season he joined the Florida Panthers, as he put up two goals and 10 assists. 

Gomez returned to the Devils on a professional tryout for the 2014-2015 NHL season. He won a roster spot on December 1, 2014. He was able to play in his 1,000^th NHL game on December 28, with the same team he got his start with. 

The return to New Jersey helped Gomez regain that scoring touch, as he put up his best offensive season since the 2011 season, and finished third on the Devils in scoring with 34 points in 58 games. 

In the offseason though, the Devils with a management change and looking to develop a younger roster, decided not to offer him a contract. The St Louis Blues though gave him a tryout, and signed him to a one-year, two-way deal. 

With the Blues he was used primarily on the power play, and put up eight points in 21 games, before being place on waivers on December 29, 2015, after St. Louis was able to get some of their injured players back. 

After clearing waivers, he agreed to a deal with the Hershey Bears, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Washington Capitals, before finishing the year with the Ottawa Senators, when they lost Kyle Turris. 

Gomez represented the United States during the 2006 Turin Olympics. The two-time All-Star, was able to score 181 goals and 756 assists in 1,079 NHL games throughout his career.