Records are meant to be broken. Scott Gomez sure hopes so.

 

I doubt another forward with his lofty salary will ever go as long as he did between goals. The 32-year-old Gomez earns $7.5 million dollars this season. He commands this high wage because of his past scoring prowess.

 

The 5-foot-11, 200 pound native of Anchorage, Alaska went an astronomical 60 consecutive regular season and playoff games without a goal (Feb 5^th, 2011 to Feb 9^th, 2012). For a player that gets regular ice time and power-play duty it’s hard to imagine going over a year without finding the back of the net.

 

Gomez scored 33 goals (and added 51 assists) for the New Jersey Devils in the 2005-06 season, so he knows where to put the puck, or at least he used to. “Trust me, I want to score as much as anyone. But I’m dead serious about this — if it took me not scoring for two years for us to win in Montreal, I’d take it,” said Gomez (Montreal Gazette).

 

Really? That’s the politically correct thing to say but no athlete wants to have a resume with such little production and suffer the abuse from fans and critics especially when earning that whopping pay cheque.

 

The NHL trading deadline is Feb 27^th but I doubt there is a team foolish enough to trade for him since he is under contract until 2014. Gomez signed a 7-year, $51.5 million deal when he was with the New York Rangers on July 1, 2007. That contract is arguably the worst among NHL forwards.

 

Now, getting back to records! There is nothing official or unofficial about where the Gomez goalless streak ranks for players in his salary range. In 1996/97 Gomez played in the BCHL with the South Surrey Eagles. The BCHL is in the news nationwide thanks to the Penticton Vees, who have won a record 32 league games in a row. The old mark was 29 in a row set by the New Westminster Royals in 1989-90.

 

Not to diminish the Vees accomplishment but one of their victories came in overtime (Dec 6^th 3-2 over Westside). All of the Royals wins came in regulation which was the pre-overtime era. The Royals in that same season went 38 games in a row without a loss which is obviously the next mark the Vees are chasing.

 

The following are the best and worst streaks from the four major pro North American Sports:

 

NHL: The longest win streak belongs to the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins who won 17 straight games.
The 2011-12 Detroit Red Wings have the league’s longest “home” winning streak of 21 consecutive games.
The 1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers went 35 games without losing for the league’s longest unbeaten streak. Both the 1974-75 Washington Capitals and the 1992-93 San Jose Sharks share the NHL’s longest losing streak at 17 games. The 1980-81 Winnipeg Jets went 30 consecutive games without a victory. 

 

NBA: The 1971-72 L.A. Lakers possess the longest winning streak with 33 straight victories. The 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers established the longest losing streak with 26 consecutive defeats (See what happens when Lebron takes his talents to South Beach). This year’s Charlotte Bobcats have dropped 16 in a row and counting.

 

 

NFL: The Indianapolis Colts won 23 regular season games in a row starting on November 2, 2008 and
ending Dec 17, 2009. The expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost 26 straight over the course of the 1976 and 77 seasons.

 

 

MLB: The New York Giants won 26 straight in September of 1916. Note: The Giants won 14 tied 1 won 12. In baseball, that’s a 26 game win streak as tied games are replayed. The longest streaks without ties would be 21 in a row set by the Chicago Cubs in 1880 and 1935. Since 1900, the team with the longest losing streak was the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies, who dropped 23 in a row, although historians point out the 24 game losing skid by the 1889 Cleveland Spiders.

 

Of all these aforementioned streaks, the hardest to top will be the 71-72 L.A. Lakers 33 wins in a row. According to Wikipedia, the longest winning streak (in any pro sports) belongs to Jahangir Khan’s 555 consecutive victories in squash from 1981 to 86. On the flip side, not even Gomez could go 555 straight games without a goal. Could he?

 

 

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If Rick Nash really is on the trading block, the Vancouver Canucks should take the lead and try to land the ultimate power forward. Of course, GM Mike Gillis doesn’t like to make bold moves, after all he prefers to sit in his office, wear the suit and be conservative. Sometimes though bold can beautiful and it’s all a matter of timing.