Is Scott Gomez the latter-day Willis Reed? Well, at least for one night, the Rangers lithe center was a reasonable facsimile thereof.
Rib injury or not, Gomez pulled if off as if absolutely nothing bothered him. He baffled the Devils, putting his club in excellent position to pass New Jersey in the standings.
A good start would be Sunday afternoon's game with the Penguins in Pittsburgh, where the Blueshirts will be facing the recovered Sid Crosby, not to mention Evgeni Malkin, Marian Hossa and a fellow you may remember in a New York uniform, Pascal Dupuis. Monsieur Dupuis, you should know, has been placed on a line with Sid The Kid and that Hossa fellow who seems quite at home in The Steel City.
Yet, Pitt is an eminently beatable team. The Islanders -- with about half the squad refugees from Bridgeport -- played the Penguins pretty even on Thursday night, losing on a couple of cheap goals. If nothing else, The Igloo will be an ideal stage for Gomez to strut his stuff, bruised ribs or not.
Scotty's sudden return on Thursday night stunned me to the core. For at least 48 hours before the New York-New Jersey face-off, rumors circulated that the Gomez ribs were: a) so broken he'd be out until who-knows-when; b) broken enough so that he wouldn't be available until the playoffs; c) bruised to a point where it wouldn't be worth having him exposed to enemy body checks; and/or d) you fill in the rumor.
The Maven has known Gomez since he was a rookie. He's always been a competitor, but I never expected to see such a gallant -- and productive -- appearance from him.
In our pre-game "Hockey Night Live" show on Thursday, I told Al Trautwig that if I had been in Tom Renney's shoes, and Gomez told me that he felt fit enough to play, I'd play him because the two points were vital to the club. But I hardly expected Scotty to orchestrate the game so fervently. He made the Devils-Rangers rivalry look like a RIVALRY.
Which raises a point: who would you rather have on your club: Gomer or Sid The Kid? Tough -- very tough.
We all know Crosby's virtues; and there's every reason to believe that he will mature into an even better player than he is right now. That would seem to tilt the answer clearly in the direction of Pittsburgh.
Yet, there's something very compelling about the Gomez game. It, too, is still maturing and producing, but a different Scotty appeared than the one we got to know and love in New Jersey. He has become THE commanding figure on the Blueshirts' offense. His end-to-end rushes are incomparable. His sense of rink geography rivals Wayne Gretzky's, and his shot is a lot more deceptive than many believe.
More than that, Gomer has become a pure NEW YORK athlete. He is to the Rangers what Derek Jeter is to the Yankees, and while that may be saying a lot, it is what it IS. Scott has become very attached to the city, much like Rod Gilbert, Brian Leetch and Ron Greschner.
As a native New Yorker, I appreciate that affection yet, somehow, I never could imagine Sid Crosby feeling so warmly about The Apple. Which is sort of like going around the corner to tell you that I'd rather see Gomez wearing the red, white and blue than the pride of the Penguins.
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