The United States Hockey Hall of Fame announced on Wednesday that former Senator Scott Gomez has been selected to its 2025 induction class. The two-time All-Star is best known for his time with the New Jersey Devils, but also played with the Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, Florida Panthers, San Jose Sharks, St. Louis Blues, and yes, for the briefest of time, the Ottawa Senators.
You’d be forgiven if you forgot that Gomez, now 45, ever played for the Senators. Gomez played 1079 games in the NHL, but only the final 13 came with the Senators at the end of the 2015-16 season.
The Sens needed a centre after Kyle Turris went down with an injury, and Gomez, who was playing in the AHL with the Hershey Bears, signed on here as an unrestricted free agent, joining his seventh NHL team in four years. At that point, Gomez’s best days were behind him, and he put up just one assist in 13 games as a Senator. He hung up the blades at the end of that season.
But Gomez had a fine career, putting up 181 goals and 756 points. He burst into the league, winning the Calder Trophy during his 1999-00 season after posting 70 points during his rookie season with the Devils.
He reached the 60-point mark on six occasions and was part of two Cup winners with the Devils, including the one that defeated Ottawa in seven games in the 2003 Conference Final.
Gomez becomes the first Alaskan added to the American Hall and never forgot his roots. In fact, during the last two labour stoppages, he played for his hometown Alaska Aces in the ECHL, and while the NHL was cancelled completely in 2004-05, Gomez was named the ECHL MVP.
After hockey, Gomez was an assistant coach for a couple of years with the New York Islanders. In 2020, he tried his hand at a light-hearted YouTube channel that features various skits about life in Alaska.
Today, Gomez is head coach of the USHL’s Chicago Steel.
By Steve Warne
This article was first published at The Hockey News-Ottawa
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