I remember watching this game and when the N.Y. Rangers were up 3-0, 4-0…. 5-0!!! I was demoralized. I was going to turn off the game but I generally always watch every game start to finish no matter what. On this night I did and I went from demoralized to amazed.

It seemed as though “it all went right” for the Rangers for the first half of the game and it just totally switched.

I figured Michael Ryder looked like he could have scored 10 goals in that second half. It was amazing to watch. I also remember that Kovalev goal where he falls to the ice with legs in the air. (Check out Scott Gomez playing for NY)

Classic moment in NHL hockey and a historic game. Coming back from a 5-0 deficit is no light task.

You remember this one?

Watching this video, my memories and even emotions come back…. pretty neat.

What do you remember most about this one?

Back in the early months of the summer and just prior to the draft we all heard of that big trade that brought Scott Gomez over from the New York Rangers. In that deal we saw Chris Higgins go the other way…. a player that I enjoyed and had high hopes for.

Along with Gomez came his hefty contract which, I will admit, made it hard for me to swallow that deal. After “UFA season” opened and we signed Cammalleri and Gionta, who both mentioned the Gomez deal as a factor in their decision, I thought it might be shaping up. At least it didn’t look too bad…. we had some newly acquired offensive punch to replace that which had gone out with the players who were not being offered contracts to return.

In that trade came a player that at first I took no notice of. His name is Tom Pyatt.

So who is Tom Pyatt??

Well, Tom Pyatt is young guy.. born on the 14th of february, 1987 (that makes him 22 at the time of this writting).

He comes from Thunder Bay Ontario (same place as the Staal brothers) and he played his major junior hockey with the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL.

Pyatt was originally drafted 107th overall in 2005 by the New York Rangers.

I had barely seen Tom play prior to this trade but if you happen to watch the World Junior Championships and you were watching back in 2006 and 2007.. then you’ve seen Tom Pyatt play.

This summer Pyatt was invited to camp and played in several pre-season games. That’s when I got to really watch him play. I can honestly say that I really liked what I saw from him. Pyatt played a pretty good 2 way game and seems to be a good skater.

I thought that he was making a case to stay on board as the pre-season was ending but then a big hit resulting in a minor injury seemed to put an end to that.

So how has he been doing?

Well, he’s been playing well.

In 9 games with the Hamilton Bulldogs, Tom has 5 goals and 3 assists to lead the Bulldogs with 8 points. He’s also +6.

In Pyatt we may have a really good 2 way player in the making. I guess we’ll find out as the days, weeks and months go by how everyone’s career will play out. But by all indications this guy will work hard and if he keeps it up we may see him at some point in the season for a few games.

This brings me back to the Gomez deal. As many people weren’t really fans of the deal (I wasn’t at first) this player may be a bit of a hidden gem. Seemed many people thought “who is that?”… not knowing much about Pyatt or having seen him play.

This is just a thought, but seeing as Chris Higgins has really been slumping, Doug Janik or Pavel Valentenko (maybe… just maybe) likely won’t play in N.Y. and Ryan McDonagh is as of yet a high draft pick that has been hyped but has never played a game or produced anything in the pros…. this deal might look better for the Habs then most originally thought.

Gomez has been playing fairly well…. and of course we got this guy, Tom Pyatt in that deal who I would bet will eventually play in Montreal.

This was Montreal’s 10th game of the season. Montreal won this game 5-4 in overtime with Mike Cammalleri playing a monster game scoring 3 goals (including the winner) and 1 assist for 4 pts.

You can also find other game stats here:

Game Summary

Event Summary

Facoffs Report

Full play by play

TOI Rangers

TOI Canadiens

Roster Report

Shot Report

As luck would have it though, I stumbled across another article over at BleacherReport that talks about the Rangers – Habs trade that brought us Scott Gomez.

This article shows a chart that was created and rated Scott Gomez 17th overall (Corsi number stat). If you check the list his name appears in some pretty good company.

I believe Scott Gomez will have a good year this season. I think he’ll be playing more regularly with guys who will be able to finish his plays. Cammalleri, Gionta, Andrei Kostitsyn (unless one of those rumours comes through). He’ll have better surroundings then a fading Marcus Naslund or Callahan. At least I think he will.

Just remember, some people were laughing at Gainey for taking Kovalev who had faded in NY. Love him or hate him, Kovalev had an impact in Montreal and a career year for himself.

I believe Gomez has it in him too. He’s younger then Kovalev was when he came over….

Anyways, take it for what you will. I think some of the experts will be wrong again this year.

That’s just my opinion. Thank God I’m not an expert.

I’m just a hockey fan.

You can find the article titled “Inside the Numbers: Scott Gomez for Chris Higgins+ Ryan McDonagh” over at BleacherReport where the author not only talks about the Corsi number but compares the Gomez trade.