Sometimes all a man has to stand on is his word. I trusted Scott Gomez when he said he would never play for the New York Rangers.I thought Scott Gomez was a man of his word. I made a mistake.
Last year, when Scott Gomez went to salary arbitration, Devils fans everywhere were calling for Gomez to be traded. I stood up for Scott Gomez, saying that he was a loyal player, someone who didn't care about money and just wanted to play the sport he loved. Well, looks like I went 2-0 on that one. Scott Gomez is not loyal, and he is not in this sport to win. He's a money-hungry, selfish, and disloyal person whose only goal is to rape a team's payroll for his own benefit.
Today, my faithful blog readers, marks the beginning of the end for Scott Gomez. Today, on his first day of unrestricted free agency, he signed with the New York Rangers. The Rangers, for those of you who may not be as well-versed in hockey, represent everything that is wrong with the sport. They're a team that seeks star players at the cost of the team. The concept of a team is alien in the New York sports vocabulary. It is a win-at-all-costs mentality, minus the winning. They're a team that has, over the course of many years, helped to drive the league to a salary cap, a league-enforced tool that helps to even the financial playing field so that smaller-market teams like Columbus, Nashville, or Minnesota (to name a few) can compete with larger-market teams like New York, Detroit, Dallas, and Colorado. Teams like the New York Rangers go out and spend their money on big-name talent, instead of cultivating talent from the inside of the organization. And over the course of the past 10 years, that mentality has led the New York Rangers to the playoffs all of 2 times. For the Rangers, the names on the backs of their jerseys matter far more than the name on the front.
The New Jersey Devils, on the other hand, believe in developing talent in their farm system and over the years, bringing that talent into the organization. Their focus has never been on the individual player, but rather, on the team as a whole. New Jersey Devils management wholeheartedly believes in chemistry, in blending, and in the idea of a team that plays well for itself, not for the accomplishment or financial gain of individual players.
Scott Gomez, as far as I knew, has always identified more as a New Jersey Devil than a New York Ranger. His style of play is much more conducive to Devils hockey. Meticulous and deliberate breaks through the neutral zone, amazing quarterback passing, solid defensive responsibility. That's who Scott Gomez is, a New Jersey Devil. In fact, in cutting a promo this past season for the new Devils arena, Scott Gomez looked into the camera and said "Meet me in Newark!" And then he turned his back on New Jersey.
In my head, it makes no sense to me that a person like Scott Gomez would chase the dollar and not the Stanley Cup. It is hard to fathom that you can watch a player for 10 years, follow him through two Stanley Cups, Rookie of the Year accolades, Olympic games, and an NHL lockout, and then realize how little you actually know about that person's character. To leave New Jersey, an organization that has given Scott Gomez a chance to be as good a player as he is today, an organization that has, over the past ten years been a consistent contender for the Stanley Cup, I had to consider what Scott Gomez was thinking.
And all I could see was green. Scott Gomez is not signing with the New York Rangers for the level of competition, or for the chance to win the Stanley Cup. That's what hockey is all about, winning the Cup. Playing 82 games in the regular season, then winning 16 more in the Playoffs and capturing the oldest trophy in all of sports. Again, not for Scott Gomez. Today, Scott Gomez proved that playing this sport is second to his salary. Thousands of fans who buy Gomez jerseys and wear them to games don't matter as much to Scott Gomez as a little green piece of paper with George Washington on it. Or rather, 7 million of those every year.
Scott Gomez sold out his fans, his team, and himself. The people Scott Gomez grew up with in Alaska would dream of playing competitive hockey and having a chance every single year to win the Stanley Cup. To say no to $5.2 million a year from the New Jersey Devils is selfish. To take a deal from the New York Rangers, the biggest rival of the Devils, is a slap in the face to everything he has ever been offered from the Devils. A home in New Jersey, fans who buy his merchandise and support him even in slumps, teammates who buoy him to his best performances. None of it matters enough to stay loyal. Not when the moneybag Rangers come knocking with their bottomless wallets.
So today, Scott Gomez, we turn our back on you. Never again will we entertain conversation about your skills, or your career in New Jersey. Any legacy you had created in the minds of Devils fans is, from this point on, wiped out. Gone.
Slap us in the face? Have fun in New York, it worked out so well for Wayne Gretzky. The Rangers are the organization where players go to die. Any chance you had to win a Stanley Cup is now gone. Enjoy sold-out arenas. People will love having you there. But when people see you show your face in New Jersey, don't expect anything from us. As far as we're concerned, you're dead to us. The Scott Gomez trade represents the end of an era, but not just for the Devils. Your success in hockey has come to an end, and try as I might, I can't seem to understand it. You've traded respect for money, integrity for the dollar, and loyalty for a buck.
And at the end of the season, when you're watching the Devils in the Stanley Cup playoffs from the comfort of your 7 million dollar home, I hope you can find your smile again. The one you had every time you stepped onto the ice in red and black.
If money buys happiness, you should have no problem.
