Scott Gomez

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Position	Centre
Shoots	Left
Nickname	Gomer
Height Weight	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 200 lb (91 kg)
NHL Team	New Jersey Devils
Nationality	United States
Born	December 23, 1979, Anchorage, AK, USA
NHL Draft	27th overall, 1998 New Jersey Devils
Pro Career	1999 – present

Scott Gomez (born December 23, 1979, in Anchorage, Alaska) is a professional ice hockey player who shares a Mexican and Colombian heritage. He plays the position of centre for the New Jersey Devils in the National Hockey League.

Contents 1 Playing career 2 Trivia 3 Awards 4 Career statistics 5 International play 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Playing career

In the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, Scott Gomez was selected with the 27th pick of the first round by the New Jersey Devils. He was the first Latino NHL player, as well as the first Latino ever drafted by an NHL team. His father is Mexican-American and his mother is Colombian-American. 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 led the South Surrey Eagles of the Tier II Junior "A" British Columbia Hockey League to within a game of winning the 1997 Royal Bank Cup. After this impressive WHL performance, he was brought to New Jersey for the 1999-2000 NHL season. In his rookie NHL season he scored 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 totalled 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 NHL season, Gomez's numbers dropped, as he scored just ten 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 NHL 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 Alaska and played for the Alaska Aces of the ECHL. During that season, 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. ^[1]

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 fellow linesmen Brian Gionta, Patrik Elias and Zach Parise, Gomez helped rally the Devils from a very 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 5 goals and 4 assists in 9 games. On July 25, 2006 Devils General Manager Lou Lamoriello accepted an arbitrator's ruling of a 5 Mil/1 Yr contract for Scott Gomez for the 2006-2007 season.

[edit] Trivia

• Had a walk-on role on One Life To Live as an airport clerk in 2000 ^[2].

[edit] Awards

• 1996-97: Top Forward (Tier II Junior "A" Royal Bank Cup)
• 1997-98: All-Rookie Team (WHL)
• 1998-99: West First All-Star Team (WHL)
• 1999-00: Played in All-Star Game (NHL)
• 1999-00: All-Rookie Team (NHL)
• 1999-00: Calder Memorial Trophy Rookie of the Year (NHL)
• 1999-00: Stanley Cup New Jersey Devils (NHL)
• 2002-03: Stanley Cup New Jersey Devils (NHL)
• 2004-05: First All-Star Team (ECHL)
• 2004-05: Top Scorer (ECHL)
• 2004-05: Most Valuable Player (ECHL)

[edit] Career statistics

				Regular Season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
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
1999-00	New Jersey Devils	NHL		82	19	51	70	78		23	4	6	10	4
2000-01	New Jersey Devils	NHL		76	14	49	63	46		25	5	9	14	24
2001-02	New Jersey Devils	NHL		76	10	38	48	36		-	-	-	-	-
2002-03	New Jersey Devils	NHL		80	13	42	55	48		24	3	9	12	2
2003-04	New Jersey Devils	NHL		80	14	56	70	70		5	0	6	6	0
2004-05	Alaska Aces	ECHL		61	13	73	86	69		4	1	3	4	4
2005-06	New Jersey Devils	NHL		82	33	51	84	42		9	5	4	9	6
NHL Totals				476	103	287	390	320		86	17	34	51	36

Stats as of July 8, 2006.

[edit] International play

• 1998 - Played for the US Junior National team
• 1999 - Played for the US Junior National team
• 2004 - Played for the United States in the 2004 Ice Hockey World Championships
• 2006 - Played for the United States in the XX Olympic Winter Games

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=121922&hubname=
2. ^ http://www.nhlpa.com/PlayerOfTheDay/index.asp?Date=2004-02-23

[edit] External links

• Scott Gomez's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• Profile at tsn.ca
• Page at latinosportslegends.com
• Scott Gomez's U.S. Olympic Team bio

Preceded by Chris Drury

Winner of the Calder Trophy 2000

Succeeded by Evgeni Nabokov