Gomez: Canadiens’ buyout was life lesson

The Montreal Canadiens bought out the final two seasons of Scott Gomez's seven-year, $51.5 million contract in January of 2013.

Hockey Hearsay compiles stories from around the hockey world and runs weekdays, 12 months a year.

GOMEZ KNOWS HABS’ BUYOUT WAS BUSINESS

The South Florida Sun Sentinel recounts how Scott Gomez, now with the Florida Panthers, was lambasted in the hockey-crazed Canadian media and scorned by Habs’ fans while with the team.

Fortunately, Gomez heeded the advice of former teammate Joe Nieuwendyk and late Devils coach Pat Burns, who told him not to read his press clippings, good or bad.

“They took my paper away and said one of these days you’ll be playing somewhere you might want to jump off a bridge,” smiled Gomez.

Of the buyout experience itself: “It was just straight business,” said Gomez. “It’s a life’s lesson. It’s not about ego. Are you kidding, you play pro hockey. It’s another challenge.

“We’re all here for a reason, you want to prove everybody wrong, but it’s not about Montreal, it’s the playoffs; that’s what fuels me.”

OILERS’ NUGENT-HOPKINS PAIN-FREE

The Edmonton Journal projects that the way Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was buzzing around at an informal Oilers skate Tuesday morning, whipping wrist shots, working his way through some traffic, he could be ready for the season-opener at Rexall Place.

“Time will tell if I’m ready for Oct. 1. We’ll talk to the doctors and go from there,” said Nugent-Hopkins, who went under the knife April 23 to repair a labrum tear in his shoulder. “Everybody will be a little bit cautious. It’s important the shoulder is good for the rest of my career.

“I think I’ll be on the ice pretty much with the guys right away (when camp opens Sept. 12) but I’ll probably wear a yellow (no hitting me, please) jersey to start, but it feels really good. I have 100 per cent range of motion. No pain.”

On if the rehab work added some muscle to his slight frame: “Yeah, I’ve put on a few pounds. I’ll be between 180 to 185,” he said. “Last year, I was 175, 176. I’d like to play heavier, in the 180-185 range, if I can maintain it.”

KHL PRESIDENT SEEKS PLAYER FLOW WITH NHL

Excellent article in The New York Times on a number of aspects of the Kontinental Hockey League and its ambitions. A brief Hearsay blurb can’t do it justice.

Ilya Kovalchuk’s signing hardly signaled an exodus of N.H.L. players to the K.H.L., but it demonstrated the league’s increasing attractiveness — especially after dozens of players signed with teams during the last season’s lockout — and the deep pockets of at least some of the teams’ owners.

“Our aim is not to make a barrier — or iron curtain — between the K.H.L. and the N.H.L.,” the league’s president, Aleksander I. Medvedev, said in an interview in his Moscow office, where he also serves as the head of Gazprom Export, a subsidiary of the state natural gas empire that is the league’s biggest patron. “We would like that players, depending on their circumstances and vision of the world, can play everywhere. It will make hockey better if more North Americans will come to play here, and vice versa.”

FLYERS’ GIROUX EXPECTS TO BE 100 PERCENT

Although he won’t be ready for the start of training camp next week because of a golfing injury to his right index finger nearly three weeks ago, Claude Giroux tells The Philadelphia Inquirer he expects to be ready when the season starts Oct. 2 against the Maple Leafs.

“I think everything will be back to 100 percent. I have no worries at all,” said the Flyers captain. “The doctor says everything will be good.”

Giroux, wearing a splint on the finger, skated at the Flyers’ practice facility in Voorhees on Tuesday, and general manager Paul Holmgren said his recovery was “on schedule.”

In other words, Giroux – who has been working hard to build up his legs – is expected to be able to play in a few exhibition games and be ready for the opener.

“You need a couple games to get into your rhythm,” he said.

DEBOER ADDRESSES DEVILS’ GOALTENDING TANDEM

Here’s a portion of Fire & Ice’s detailed Q&A with New Jersey Devils coach Pete DeBoer, as it pertains to the starting goaltending situation with Cory Schneider joining Martin Brodeur’s team.

Q: So, having 22 back-to-back sets makes deciding your starting goalie for at least those 44 games easier?

A: “(Laughs) That definitely plays a factor.”

Q: You’ve been mostly splitting the back-to-back sets between the two goaltenders the last two seasons with Brodeur anyway. Have you thought a lot about how you’ll split the games overall between Brodeur and Schneider?

A: “No. Not really. Those things sort themselves out. Marty’s back. Marty’s our starting goaltender and we’ve got a fantastic 1A in Cory Schneider.”

RED WINGS WANT A COMPETITIVE STEPHEN WEISS

Michigan Live relays Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock’s message to his new second-line center, Stephen Weiss.

“We explained the situation to him very clearly,” Babcock said Tuesday of the time before Detroit signed Weiss to a five-year, $24.5 million contract on July 5. “Told him if he wasn’t ultra-competitive he couldn’t come here. If he didn’t bring it every day he couldn’t come here, because he was going to hate it if he didn’t, dislike the coach and dislike playing here.

“It’s real straightforward. If you don’t do it right, you’re not happy here.”

Babcock also added Tuesday: “He’s really excited to be here. We think he has lots of skill set. He’s got to bring it every day. You got to play without the puck here. Simple.”

STOLL ADDRESSES SUMMER SEIZURE

Jarret Stoll, via LA Kings Insider, on his early July seizure and how he currently feels: “I feel fine. I feel a hundred percent. That’s not an issue. I think it’s more of an issue if people talk about it, and it’s just one of those things that happened that I wish didn’t, but it did. I’m just moving on looking forward to the start of the season. Medically cleared, all those things, had a great doctors take care of me in terms of getting ready for camp and being cleared for play. So that’s all taken care of.”

ERIKSSON EXCITED TO PLAY FOR ORIGINAL SIX BRUINS

The Boston Globe notes Bruins winger Loui Eriksson met the media in person today for the first time since being traded to Boston in the Tyler Seguin deal.

“It feels really good,” Eriksson said of donning the spoked B. “It’s nice to finally get here. I got in Saturday, so it’s nice to see some guys here and go on the ice a little bit and skate around and just have fun.”

On playing in Boston: “It’s going to be nice to play on one of the Original Six teams too,” Eriksson said. “They have a little bit more fans here than in Dallas. … Like I said, I’m excited to be here. I’m going to do all I can to help this team win.”

CANES’ PITKANEN OUT FOR UNKNOWN PERIOD OF TIME

The Raleigh News & Observer indicates Carolina Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford said Tuesday that Joni Pitkanen, who suffered a broken left heel bone in April, had not fully recovered. Rutherford said he learned la week ago that Pitkanen still could not put weight on the heel and had not been able to skate.

“We don’t know how long it’s going to be that he’s going to be out,” Rutherford said. “Is he going to be out a couple of weeks, a month, a half a year, a whole year? I don’t know. … But I’m getting prepared for the worst at this point.”

WHAT THEY’RE TWEETING ABOUT

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