USA TODAY's Kevin Allen noted former NHLer Scott Gomez completed his first gig as an analyst Thursday night on NBCSN's "NHL Live." Gomez said that he "always enjoyed the 'banter' with media when he played and suspected he might someday switch teams." However, he "didn’t believe it would happen this quickly." Gomez played 34 games with the Blues and Senators last season. Gomez: "I’ve ripped a couple of guys (while with NHL Network) who are friends." Gomez said that the players "handled it well because they knew he was being fair" (USATODAY.com, 1/12).
PROMISING START: On Long Island, Neil Best notes Islanders play-by-play announcer Brendan Burke has "received mostly strong, favorable reviews from Islanders fans, which is unusual in this era of cynical social media." MSG was "looking for a young voice who could grow on the job and potentially be in place for decades, and that is what Burke hopes and plans to be" (NEWSDAY, 1/13).
JOINING THE TREND: In N.Y., Phil Mushnick writes NBC's Cris Collinsworth has "become another say-anything, spoken-from-the-mountaintop blowhard." During last weeks Seahawks-Lions Wild Card game, Collinsworth concluded, "People don't have enough appreciation for [former NFLer] Marshawn Lynch." Mushnick: "If there’s any lack of appreciation for Lynch, perhaps it’s due to what Collinsworth ignored: Lynch was accused by players and coaches of abandoning his team, last season, and/or clear memories of him acting like a creep, intentionally grabbing his crotch after scoring" (N.Y. POST, 1/13).
NOTES: Houston-based KGOW-AM broadcaster Steve Bunin last month departed for Seattle's KING-TV, the latest of the former CSN Houston on-air crew to "land a job in another city" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 1/13)....Seattle Times Sounders beat writer Matt Pentz will no longer be with the publication. Pentz is a "causality of the most recent round of newsroom layoffs" (TWITTER.com, 1/9).
