"Je m'appelle Scott." My name is Scott.

That is how Scott Gomez, one of the many new faces with the Montreal Canadiens this season, introduced himself at the start of an interview earlier this month. It will take a few more French lessons, not to mention a productive offensive season, for Gomez to win over the Montreal faithful completely, but it's a start.

The veteran center was the centerpiece of a big off-season trade. Gomez now likely will be asked to center a completely revamped first line, one that could have former New Jersey teammate Brian Gionta on the right and 39-goal scorer Mike Cammalleri on the left.

Gomez scored 128 points in 158 games for the Rangers over the last two seasons, yet his stay on Broadway is remembered as less than stellar, mostly because the club failed to advance past the second round of the playoffs. Now he'll star for a storied franchise where the 25th Stanley Cup championship is considered 16 years pas due. The Canadiens won their last Cup in 1993.

"There's a lot of personal pride and a lot that I need to do. And what better place?" said Gomez, who won a pair of Cups with the New Jersey Devils. "My dad said it best -- I went from being in the oven to the microwave. And you know it's just like anything. I go to New York, it was great, but now hockey takes over. It's the No. 1 thing. And if you win there, you'll be fine. I mean, it's when you're losing and how you're going to face that adversity, but it's a challenge and in our game there is no better place to win than Montreal."

Gomez played his entire nine-year career in the Atlantic Division, so road trips to Montreal are nothing new for Gomez, who has burned the Canadiens for 37 points in 34 career games against the franchise for which he now plays. He only can imagine what it will be like to have the support of 21,273 fans behind him at the Bell Centre.

"There are certain cities that when you're ready to land that you just realize that you're in a special place, and Montreal is definitely one of them," Gomez said. "When I was a rookie, all the vets would get excited about Montreal because it's a hockey town, it's a place where you feel the atmosphere and buzz right away."

But lifting the fortunes of the Canadiens in a season during which the franchise will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding doesn't fall entirely on solely on Gomez's shoulders. He is one of seven significant new faces -- Travis Moen, Paul Mara, Hal Gill, Jaroslav Spacek, Cammalleri and Gionta. Even coach Jacques Martin is a newcomer.

"I think the adjustments they've made and the guys that they've brought in … I mean, you've got me and Gionta, coming off our worst years since being pros, so we've got a lot to prove" Gomez said. "We've got a lot to get back on it. Mike Cammalleri ... what can you say about him? He's proven he's a legit elite player in this League the last couple of years. Hal Gill, Jaroslav Spacek … guys like that bring character and are team guys. Those are guys that are going to bring a lot to the table. Travis Moen … he's a character guy. He's a hard-working, hard-nosed player. Obviously everyone looks good right now on paper. Everyone's goal is to win the Stanley Cup. But it's going to take time and adjustments. We can shock a lot of people in the East and that's our goal."

In 2005-06, Gionta scored a Devils-record 48 goals with Gomez as his center. In three seasons since, though, Gionta has totaled 67 goals. "We've had great success in New Jersey, but that was back then," Gomez said. "One thing about it, I know him, you're going to get a guy that goes 100 percent every shift. You can't ask for anything more with one of your linemates."

It's not just the new faces that give Gomez optimism. Youngsters Matt D'Agostini, Josh Gorges, Andrei Kostitsyn, Sergei Kostitsyn, Maxim Lapierre, Guillaume Latendresse, Ryan O'Byrne, Mac Pacioretty and Yannick Weber will take heat off the veterans.

"Aside from the guys they've brought in, definitely some of the young guys that they have that are on the verge of making a move," Gomez said. "They've got some young guys that are ready to take the next step. They went through a lot last year with all that happened with the media and all that, but they've got guys there that definitely are ready to take the next step. They were a hard team to compete against last year, and I think a lot of people have forgotten that. They were in your face, a fast, quick team, and if we keep building on that we'll be fine."



Contact Rocky Bonanno at rbonanno@nhl.com