ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Anchorage-born skater Scott Gomez is officially a member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, announced Wednesday as part of the Class of 2025.
Gomez became the first Alaskan to be inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of fame. This after a stellar 16-year NHL career and more than 1,000 career games played.
“It is quite the honor, what a class,” Gomez said in a U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame press conference. “I have been a proud member of USA hockey, has always done me right. This is right up there; this is pretty cool.”
Gomez headlines the class that features fellow NHLers Joe Pavelski and Zach Parise, as well as trailblazing Olympic gold medalist Tara Mounsey and legendary photographer Bruce Bennett. The 53rd class will be inducted on December 10 in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Falling in love with the game around the rinks of Alaska, it actually wasn’t a skater who inspired Gomez and helped him realize the heights he could achieve.
″I think I owe a lot to Trajan Langdon, ‘The Alaskan Assassin’“, Gomez said, speaking of the former Duke star and state’s first NBA draft pick. ”When [big time coaches would come up to recruit] my dad would always put in my ear, ‘if you’re good enough, they’ll find you’. That was kind of our motto up there. The goal was basically to get to college. The pros were so far away. As you kept getting older and better and seeing competition outside, we can play.”
Gomez, a former East Anchorage Thunderbird, quickly earned his place in the world’s highest league after being selected in the first round of the 1998 NHL draft, comprising a career unlike any other Alaskan skater.
He made history as the first Latino player to earn the Calder Trophy, the NHL’s Rookie of the Year honors, in 2000 while winning the Stanley Cup that same season. Gomez also recorded 70 points during the regular season. Winning another Cup with the Devils in 2003, he would cement himself as New Jersey’s third all-time assists leader and one of the franchise’s most dynamic players. Gomez went on to become an NHL All-Star for the New York Rangers, skating for five other teams during his 16-year career.
″It starts with my parents, they had two rules; I had to have fun, and I had to work hard, so there was never pressure there,” Gomez said before rattling off youth coaches that helped him get to the U.S Hockey Hall of Fame.
Gomez is considered the state’s best skater. His career totals of 1,079 games, 181 goals and 575 assists are the most by any Alaskan. Fans from the 49th state remember him bringing the historic Stanley Cup back to Alaska, or for him skating for his hometown Alaska Aces during the 2004 NHL lockout, where he won the ECHL’s MVP, scoring many of his 86 points that season at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage.
Representing the country, Gomez was a member of the 2006 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team. He was a part of Team USA for the IIHF World Junior Championship in both 1998 and 1999 and at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.
Gomez remains around the rinks as he begins his first head coaching stint with the USHL’s Chicago Steel this season. He was previously the General Manager of the BCHL’s Surrey Eagles and an assistant coach for the New York Islanders.
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