Written by Sam Blazer at Bloguin
The Players Tribune is slowly but surely becoming a one stop shop for athletes telling stories they wouldn’t ordinarily tell to anyone else. They themselves have editorial control and can put out whatever they are comfortable sharing. Scott Gomez, now of the St. Louis Blues, wrote an article this past March that put many of the other articles to shame. Gomez, who used to be one of the highest paid players in the game, was skating for the New Jersey Devils at the time for a lowly $550,000 (don’t we all wish we were paid so little?). He sharedone of his lowest moments in the league for all of us to read and let us see a vulnerable side we don’t usually get to see.
“Early in my career, I’d hear about guys with long scoreless droughts and just think, How’s that even possible? It made no sense to me.
But then there I was, sitting on the bench for the Montreal Canadiens, watching our home fans in the stands dancing around in sombreros and singing “Happy Birthday” in honor of my one-year goal drought.
By that point, I was fully aware of my poor play. My lack of scoring was the subject of TV reports, newspaper columns and, yes, its own website. But it was at that moment, serving as the butt of a bad joke for 20,000 fans at the Bell Centre, that it hit me hardest.
Holy shit, I’m that guy now.”
He was cut shortly after the 2013 season when GM Marc Bergevin told him to sit out the lockout shortened season so he could be released via a buyout. It seemed like the end. It could have been the end. He needed help to get out of a dark moment, he needed a chance, the Panthers gave him one but he needed to come home to find his game.
Who would have thought his resurrection would take place in New Jersey of all places?
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