In the first episode of the five-episode series, which premieres on NHL social media platforms, including YouTube, Instagram and Facebook, on Thursday, Gomez drives in an RV shuttle bus to Boone Valley Golf Club in Augusta, Missouri, to play a round and chat with his former New Jersey Devils teammate
Martin Brodeur
. The Hockey Hall of Fame goalie splits his time between the St. Louis area and New Jersey in his role as the Devils executive vice president and hockey operations advisor.
"I was driving out there and it was like 30-40 minutes outside of where Marty lives and, all the sudden, I'm seeing Daniel Boone's house is right there," Gomez said, referring to the American Revolutionary War veteran and frontiersman. "It was kind of neat just being out there. … We just talked about old stories and stuff we did. We had a blast."
Gomez, a forward who played 16 NHL seasons with the Devils, New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, San Jose Sharks, Florida Panthers, St. Louis Blues and Ottawa Senators before retiring in 2016, enjoyed making the series because it gave him a chance to catch up with old friends. The idea evolved from a playful series of Instagram and YouTube videos, entitled "Scotty's House", Gomez made with videographer T.J. Webb.
Gomez and Webb, natives of Anchorage, Alaska, had plans to make a documentary on athletes from Alaska before the coronavirus pandemic caused almost everything to shut down in March 2020. With some time on their hands, Gomez and Webb started making tongue-in-cheek videos about how to survive in Alaska.
"It was basically just to make people laugh," Gomez said.
The videos became a hit and led to Gomez, a Stanley Cup winner with New Jersey in 2000 and 2003, reminiscing about his playing days with some of his former teammates in a segment called, "Storytime with Uncle Scott."
"Then, we had an idea where wouldn't it be funny to take this on the road," Gomez said. "So we rented an RV shuttle van and we just started seeing old teammates around places you could (drive to). We went something like 30,000 miles. It was crazy. … So we just kept up with it and then the NHL came calling."
With NHL Studios involved, Gomez arranged a few more trips. Other episodes in the series feature Gomez visiting with former NHL forward
Torrey Mitchell
and internet skills sensation Peter Lenes at Performance and Custom Ice in Essex Junction, Vermont (premieres June 21), his former Rangers teammate
Steve Valiquette
, in Milford, Connecticut (June 25), Hockey Hall of Fame forward
Adam Oates
in Tuckahoe, New York (June 29), and his former Devils teammate
Ken Daneyko
, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey (July 3).
Mitchell and Lenes give Gomez some on-ice lessons at their skills school. Valiquette, a former NHL goalie and now an MSG Network analyst, shows Gomez some of the inner workings of his company, Clear Sight Analytics. Oates, who privately tutors NHL players and aspiring pros with his company Oates Sports Group, also gives Gomez some on-ice lessons at a private rink. Daneyko, a former NHL defenseman and an NHL Network and MSG Network analyst, takes on Gomez in a heated match of pingpong.
But, mostly, the series is about sharing old stories.
"'Dano' had some good ones. I totally forgot them," Gomez said. "But playing pingpong with Dano, he thought it was Game 7."
