Not that Broadway is anything to sneeze at when it comes to high-pressure hockey markets, but Scott Gomez is about to enter the gauntlet.
The former New York Rangers forward, who was acquired by the Montreal Canadiens in a seven-player deal on June 30, has arrived in his new city and seems to be getting acclimatized to life in La belle province, but Gomez is well aware that things are about to heat up once the puck drops on October 1st to open the Habs' NHL regular season.
"I've been in Montreal now since the beginning of the month. It's a little different. I mean, everywhere you go people are going to recognize you," Gomez said Wednesday. "I left a great place and I'm going where they say hockey kind of got started and it's going to be neat."
A native of Anchorage, Alaska, whose father is originally from Mexico, Gomez is also set to start taking French lessons to improve communication with fans and media, and also out of respect for his new city and country.
"It's something I want to do. It's not going to be easy. Us Mexicans, we roll our "R"s," Gomez joked, adding that learning French "...is important. I do believe that if you go into someone else's country you always try to learn the language. It might not sound pretty but hopefully it'll be all right."
Asked what he'd learned so far, Gomez replied, "Merci beaucoup."
Light-hearted cultural differences and off-ice activities aside, the real question on the minds of Montreal hockey fans is whether the 29-year-old Gomez can regain the form that earned him the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie in 1999-2000. That year, Gomez had 19 goals and 51 assists, was selected to the All-Star game and put up 10 points in the playoffs to help the New Jersey Devils win the Stanley Cup. He had several successful seasons with New Jersey following that, but his production tailed off slightly in his most recent season in the Big Apple.
In 2008-09 with the Rangers, Gomez put up 16 goals and 42 assists for 58 points - good numbers for most players but arguably below expectations for a guy who had 84 points with the Devils as recently as 2005-06.
"I had an off-year but it's going to happen," Gomez said of his last campaign. "I'm not going to sit here and say I'm going to score 30 goals but at the same time I'm going to get back to my game where my linemates are going to score 30 goals. It was one of those years, but I think the main thing is to stay healthy."
Listed generously at 5'11, 200 pounds, Gomez was one of several skilled but small off-season acquisitions made by Habs GM Bob Gainey, the others being Brian Gionta (listed at 5'7) and Mike Cammalleri (listed at 5'9). Gainey was criticized in some circles, with naysayers claiming he had built a team that was far too small for success in the NHL.
With that critique (fair or unfair) to overcome, Gomez will also have to deal with the media glare in Montreal which is, to say the least, notorious. Unlike some hockey markets like Columbus or Nashville where players can slip under the radar, players in Montreal have numerous cameras in their faces after every game, and the attention is especially intense (and particularly unwanted) when a player is going through a slump. So is Gomez worried about the pressure from the media?
"No, that's just when you act like you don't know the language," he said with a laugh. "What did someone say? I went from the stove into the microwave...It's going to be a great life experience. It doesn't matter what you do, as long as the team wins."
That October 1st season opener, by the way, is for a hundred-year-old team and happens to be against none other than the hated Toronto Maple Leafs. Arguably, no two teams in all of sport (certainly not in hockey) share as historic a rivalry as these two Original Six squads. No pressure, Scott.
Gomez was selected by the Devils 27th overall in the first round of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. He has 148 goals, 430 assists for 578 points in 706 career regular season games.