Scott Gomez and New York City were evidently not a fit.
After failing to live up to his monster $51.5 million contract with the Rangers, he was promptly shipped to Montreal in the off-season for Chris Higgins.
The move to Montreal is a positive for Gomez. If things aren’t working out in one city, a change of scenery is always good. It is an opportunity to save face and prove he is worth his contract in the biggest hockey market in the world. There will still be pressure on Gomez to produce, but there will be less hype around him going into the new season.
The Canadiens had a busy offseason. They had the biggest overhaul in recent memory and were by far the busiest team. Not only did they trade for Gomez, but they signed Michael Cammalleri, Hal Gill, Jaroslav Spacek and most importantly, in regards to Gomez – Brian Gionta. Gomez is reunited with Gionta after a two year absence from each other.
In New Jersey, these two helped each other to some of their better seasons, including an 89 point (48 goals) performance from Gionta in 2005 (84 points for Gomez). If they can find the chemistry that they had that season, the Canadiens will be laughing to the playoffs.
On the other side of the combo, Gomez has legitimate goal scorer that he did not have in New York in Michael Cammalleri. Cammalleri scored 39 goals last season with the Calagary Flames and definitly has a chance to repeat that this season with a playmaker like Gomez at centerice.
With those three new faces in Montreal, the Canadiens have a formidable top line that will make their fans forget about their first round knock out last season.
For Gomez, he is already excited to by a part of Les Habitants and a change of scenery puts his dismal days in New York in the past.
After scoring just 58 points last year on a Rangers club that did not have a goal scorer, he will absolutely exceeded those numbers this year. With Gionta and Cammalleri as his wings, plus a very good powerplay, quarterbacked by Andrei Markov, Gomez is heading towards 21 goals, 50 assists, 71 points. (THN predicts: 17/53/70).
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