Montreal Canadiens: Scott Gomez Finds New Coaching Role

The Montreal Canadiens coaching staff is staying in place for next season. Martin St. Louis will be back behind the bench with Alex Burrows, Trevor Letowski and Stephane Robidas serving as his assistants.

While that remains unchanged, a former Canadiens player just got a new job in the coaching world.

Scott Gomez was hired by the Surrey Eagles of the BCHL as their new assistant coach. Gomez played for the Junior A circuit when he was an 18 year old in the 1996-97 season. He played terrific in his one season with the Eagles, scoring 48 goals and 124 points in 56 games. He added 18 goals and 41 points in 21 playoff games that season as well.

Gomez would move on to the Western Hockey League following his lone season in the BCHL and star for the Tri-City Americans. He played two great seasons there and was drafted in the first round of the 1998 NHL Draft by the New Jersey Devils.

Gomez would go on to win two Stanley Cup championships with the Devils, and was named the Calder Trophy winner as rookie of the year in 2000.

His time in Montreal was not as ceremonious. He was acquired from the New York Rangers for a package that included Ryan McDonagh going the other way. Gomez then struggled to meet the expectations that came with his cap hit that was north of $7 million per season.

He would play three seasons with the Canadiens, with his first being the best. He scored 12 goals and 59 points in 78 games that season and helped the Canadiens reach the Eastern Conference Final by scoring two goals and 14 points in 19 playoff contests.

He had seven goals and 38 points in 80 games the following year and just two goals and 11 points in 38 games in his final season with the Habs. He would then be bought out following the lockout that reduced the 2012-13 season to just 48 games.

Gomez would play four more seasons after that, for four different teams, and wrapped up his playing career in 2016 with 181 career goals and 756 career points.

He was most recently an assistant coach with the New York Islanders for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. The team did not make the playoffs in his first year there, but greatly improved to 103 points in his second season before losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round of the playoffs.

Now, Gomez will head back to the BCHL where his playing career really began.

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