The Scott Gomez era in Montreal is remembered less for what the Canadiens hoped it would become and more for the long, strange silence that followed.
When the Canadiens reshaped their roster before the 2009-10 season, they were saying goodbye to a lot of familiar names. Saku Koivu was gone in free agency to the Anaheim Ducks.
Alexei Kovalev, who had led the team in scoring in three of the previous four seasons, headed to the Ottawa Senators. Chris Higgins, Mike Komisarek, and Francis Bouillon also moved on, leaving Montreal to rebuild quickly.
The club added Mike Cammalleri and Brian Gionta, but the biggest name was Scott Gomez, a two-time Stanley Cup champion brought in to help fill the void.
Gomez arrived with a strong résumé. In New Jersey, he had been a key offensive piece for a Devils team built on structure and defense.
As a rookie, he put up 70 points in 82 games, finished second on the team in scoring, and added 10 playoff points as the Devils won the Stanley Cup. He was part of another championship three seasons later, and over time he built a reputation as a steady producer who could be counted on for 60 to 70 points a year.
His peak came in 2005-06, when he reached 84 points.
That run led to a huge payday in the summer of 2007, when Gomez left the Devils for a seven-year, $51.5 million deal with the New York Rangers. Two years later, Montreal stepped in looking for a replacement for its longtime captain.
The Canadiens still had Tomas Plekanec, but they were desperate for a top-line center. The Rangers took advantage of that urgency.
On June 30th 2009, they sent Gomez, Michael Busto, and Tom Pyatt to Montreal for Doug Janik, Chris Higgins, Pavel Valentenko, and Ryan McDonagh. McDonagh became the headline piece in that deal, but Gomez was the player Montreal was betting on.
At first, it looked like the Canadiens might get something useful out of the move. In his first season in Montreal, Gomez finished second on the team with 59 points in 78 games.
He also delivered in the playoffs, piling up 14 points in 19 games as the Canadiens reached the Eastern Conference Final before losing to the Philadelphia Flyers. Then the slide began.
His second season in Montreal was where the story turned. Gomez’s production dropped to 38 points in 80 games, and the goals started disappearing.
He was never a pure finisher - his game was built more around setting up teammates than burying chances - but he usually found his share of goals. He had topped 20 only once in his career, with 33 in 2005-06, yet he could still be expected to land in the teens.
That changed in Montreal. On February 5th 2011, he scored his seventh goal of the season, and then went more than a year without scoring again.
He did miss time with injury, but still played in 60 of the Canadiens’ 90 games during that stretch.
The drought became its own running joke in Montreal. Fans even built a website called DidScottGomezScoreLastNight.com.
The wait finally ended late in the 2011-12 season, almost exactly a year later. Against the New York Islanders on February 9th 2012, with Montreal already ahead 2-0, Gomez jumped on a rebound after a Raphael Diaz shot and blasted home his first goal in over a year.
The streak was over. He would score just once more in a Canadiens uniform before the team bought out the rest of his contract.
In the end, Gomez’s time in Montreal became a cautionary tale. It helped open the door to a new wave of buyouts for veteran players carrying big contracts and not delivering enough. He didn’t leave behind many memorable moments, but Canadiens fans will always remember the night the goals finally came back.
In Other News...
Canadiens Fans Face Another Frustrating Change To Watching Their Team
Canadiens fans are staring at another shift in how they will watch their team, with the NHL and Gary Bettman confirming a 12-year broadcast agreement with Rogers Communications that deepens the leagues long-term move toward streaming in Canada. The new setup will bring English and French coverage into the mix, a reminder that the viewing experience for Quebec audiences is once again changing along with the leagues media landscape.
The biggest immediate wrinkle for Montreal supporters is the timing: Wednesday night NHL games in Canada are set to move to Prime Video beginning in the 2026-27 season. For the Canadiens, that means seven games will be part of the package, adding another layer of adjustment for fans who have already seen the way they follow the team evolve in recent years. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Just Showed Exactly What They Value In This Rebuild
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He has gone from top power-play quarterback to a second-unit role and then into penalty-kill duty, all while remaining a steady presence for a team still sorting out its long-term blue line. Kent Hughes has made it clear he sees Matheson as the kind of player who puts team success ahead of individual numbers, and the extension gives Montreal a reliable piece whose value could shift again if the lineup changes around Lane Hutson or Noah Dobson. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Fans Wont All Agree On This Kirby Dach Trade Twist
Kirby Dachs name is back in the rumor mill, and for Canadiens fans that alone is enough to split opinion. Reports have linked Montreal to trade discussions involving the young center, with the idea that his inclusion could help the club reshape its forward group as it looks for a different kind of fit in the lineup.
The twist is less about whether Montreal is listening and more about what Dach represents in those talks. His injuries, uneven play and uncertain availability have all fed into a murky valuation, and any move would almost certainly need more than just one player going the other way. The Canadiens would likely have to add more to the package, and for now the whole thing remains speculative, which is why the debate around Dach feels so much bigger than a simple trade rumor. [Read more 🡒]