"At the time, I didn't realize the big picture. I wish I could have done more," he said. "In saying that, you bet there was no one more proud that my last name was Gomez and I was in the NHL. I'll always take pride in that."
Gomez was voted winner of the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie in 1999-2000; he was the first Hispanic player to receive that honor. He helped the Devils to Stanley Cup championships in 2000 and 2003 and had 101 points (29 goals, 72 assists) in 149 Stanley Cup Playoff games. Gomez finished his career with 756 points (181 goals, 575 assists) in 1,079 games for the Devils, New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, San Jose Sharks, Florida Panthers, St. Louis Blues and Ottawa Senators. He retired in 2016 and joined the New York Islanders coaching staff in 2017 as an assistant, a job he held until the end of last season.
Gomez's presence on and off the ice resonated with Perez, whose family has Cuban and Portuguese roots. Perez saw his first NHL game at age 3, when his father took him to a Rangers game with tickets his mother received from work.
"I was just in awe from that point on, fell in love with it," he said. "I told him at the game, 'I want to play that.'"