Gomer a Goner: Scott Gomez Traded to Montreal Canadiens

I can't lie.  

It was no mystery to me why Scott Gomez was playing poorly.

For crying out loud, he signed with the Rangers two seasons ago to give Jaromir Jagr a playmaker to replace Mychal Nylander.  

However, the pairing never really gelled.  Then, after a season and a half of playing defensive-minded hockey under Tom Renney, the Rangers flip directions for the second time in a season by hiring All-Go-No-Quit John Tortorella to create some offensive magic behind the bench.

Then, not only was Gomez playing poorly, at least from where this writer was sitting, he was also unhappy.

Now, don't get me wrong: Gomez was a prized asset to snag and brought his reputation and his two Stanley Cup rings to the Rangers.  I was excited when they signed him. However, he never lived up to his potential.

Gomez had only played for one team. That team has played the same system for over a decade. It's an opportunistic and defensive system that demands constant responsibility.  The Devils coaching staff has always seemed to be pretty militant about the "my way or the highway" mentality.

Now, one might say that he should have thrived under Tom Renney's system. I disagree. Tom Renney was not a taskmaster, and the Rangers have been a team in constant flux for the last three seasons.  

They have tried everything they can to find an identity using a variety of players and coaches.  The only thing they truly have had going for them with any consistency is their goaltender, Henrik Lundquist.

But, as good as Lundquist is, he is not a legend, a la Patrick Roy or Martin Brodeur.

So let's talk about team image for a second.  At the end of the '08-'09 season, the Rangers were again a team searching for themselves.  They remade themselves at the trade deadline again.  And Tortorella has started to mold the team into what he believes is a winner. 

Gomez, for all his skill, just doesn't fit into that system.  

This writer, for one, will miss Scott Gomez.  However, if the Rangers can turn his vacated cap space into, say, Dany Heatley or Marian Hossa and not make a futile and destructive move like Marian "Mr. Glass" Gaborik, Gomez won't be missed for long.

Gomez also may find that he is a better fit with the Canadiens, who tend to play that militant, ultra-responsible, defensive style.

Needless to say, with the free-agent spree starting later today, we live in interesting and dangerous times here in the world of the NHL. More on free-agent day as it comes.