Senators Sign Scott Gomez

[AlaskaFlyerFan]

http://www.ottawasun.com/2016/03/03/ottawa-senators-welcome-ex-rival-scott-gomez-to-dressing-room

 

Ottawa Senators welcome ex-rival Scott Gomez to dressing room

 

By Ken Warren

 

 

Who’s next? Gary Roberts? Jason Pominville? Jeff Friesen? Darcy Tucker?

The appearance of former arch-rival Scott Gomez in the Ottawa Senators dressing room — barely a month after the arrival of ex arch-rival Dion Phaneuf — takes some getting used to.

“I’ve always been the Mexican guy, so it’s always a little different walking into (a new room),” Gomez, 36, said with a laugh, before the Senators met the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.

“It’s hockey, man. I’ve been around long enough where paths are going to cross with people. I’ve had some battles with Dion. I think I’ve cross checked him across the face a few times and we were just laughing about that.”

Gomez also spent time Thursday joking with injured Senators defenceman Chris Phillips, talking about being old men in the increasingly younger NHL.

Gomez went head-to-head against Phillips in the 2003 Eastern Conference final — one of the most heartbreaking defeats in Senators history — en route to winning his second Stanley Cup with the Devils.

“That’s the special part about our game,” he said, standing one dressing room stall away from Daniel Alfredsson’s old home. “Once you switch the jerseys and you’re on same team … we all know friends of friends and I might be a tool — I’m sure I’ve been called that before — but once you get on the ice (with a new team), it’s a brotherhood and great to be part of.”

Gomez, who entered Thursday’s game with a combined 1,066 career regular season and 149 career playoff games with New Jersey, Montreal, San Jose, Florida and St. Louis, was signed by the Senators Wednesday, a day after ending his tryout stint with Hershey of the AHL.

“It was a good surprise, let’s put it that way,” Gomez said.

Gomez, who scored four goals and 18 assists in 20 games with Hershey, is a Band-Aid for the loss of Kyle Turris due to a high ankle sprain. He still feels he can contribute, primarily as a playmaker.

“It’s not like I’m dragging my ass out there, I know how to skate,” he said. “Put me in the right situation and I can still get any guy the puck and that’s the whole point.”

Senators coach Dave Cameron is optimistic that Gomez’s experience and poise should help take some pressure off some younger players. At Thursday’s morning skate, Gomez had Ryan Dzingel and Alex Chiasson on his wings.

“I played against him when I was in Binghamton and he was in Hershey,” said Dzingel. “I watched him growing up and my dad always liked the way he played. It’s going to be cool to play with him. (In Hershey), he just slowed the game down so well, he came into the zone and pulled up. He’s always open, always creating things.”

[mojo1917]

1 hour ago, AlaskaFlyerFan said:

Gomez, who scored four goals and 18 assists in 20 games with Hershey, is a Band-Aid for the loss of Kyle Turris due to a high ankle sprain. He still feels he can contribute, primarily as a playmaker.

“It’s not like I’m dragging my ass out there, I know how to skate,” he said. “Put me in the right situation and I can still get any guy the puck and that’s the whole point.”

I saw him in Hershey and he looked both fresh and spent on the same shift frequently.  He can still possess the puck and dish it.  He cannot / did not back check the entire time he was on the ice.  The Bears ran their power play through him on the right half wall and that looked like the old Flyer Killing Scott Gomez.  Most of the rest of the time he was "dragging ass" out there.

[JagerMeister]

You've acquired a world class goal scorer.

[ScottM]

Probably needless to say, I'm less than excited about this. I don't see how Gomez helps our chances one bit. I'd rather play some young talent and give them some experience than do what I feel is nothing more than waste time with someone like this.