Sergio Momesso

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Sergio Momesso bigraphy, stories - Canadian ice hockey player

Sergio Momesso : biography

September 4, 1965 –

Sergio F. Momesso (born September 4, 1965 in Montreal, Quebec) is a retired professional ice hockey player who spent 13 seasons in the National Hockey League between 1983 and 1997.

Playing career

Blessed with size and a mean streak to go with a soft touch around the net, Momesso played his junior hockey for the Shawinigan Cataractes of the QMJHL, and was drafted 27th overall in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft by his hometown Montreal Canadiens. He made his NHL debut the following season at the age of just 18, playing a single game for the Canadiens, but remained in junior for most of the following two seasons, during which time he began to dominate the QMJHL and establish himself as a blue-chip NHL prospect. In 1984–85, he recorded 56 goals and 146 points in just 64 games, along with 216 penalty minutes, and was named QMJHL Player of the Year.

For the 1985–86 NHL season, Momesso made the Habs’ roster out of training camp and meshed well on a line with Brian Skrudland and Mike McPhee, recording an impressive 8 goals and 15 points in his first 24 games to start his career. However, he suffered a knee injury in December 1985 against the Boston Bruins that shelved him for the rest of the season; it also cost him an opportunity to engrave his name on the Stanley Cup as Montreal went on to win that season. Montreal still include Momesso on the 1986 Montreal Canadiens team winning picture, and gave him a Stanley Cup ring.

Momesso would spend two more seasons in Montreal but never recaptured the form of his rookie year, battling injuries and frustrating the team with his inconsistency. At the conclusion of the 1987–88 season, he was dealt to the St. Louis Blues in a multi-player trade.

After a mediocre first season in St. Louis during which he recorded 26 points in 53 games, Momesso’s career took an upward turn in 1989–90 when he was placed on a line with superstar sniper Brett Hull and playmaking centre Adam Oates. Spending much of the season on the Blues’ top line, Momesso turned in the most productive year of his career, finishing with 24 goals and 32 assists for 56 points, along with 199 penalty minutes. However, he would lose his spot on the top line in 1990–91, and recorded just 10 goals through his first 59 appearances.

Vancouver Canucks

At the trade deadline in 1991, Momesso was dealt to the Vancouver Canucks in a monster six-player deal along with Geoff Courtnall, Cliff Ronning, and Robert Dirk for Garth Butcher and Dan Quinn. The deal would prove to be a heist in favour of Vancouver, as all four players they acquired would be significant contributors for several seasons, and is still regarded as perhaps the best trade in Canuck franchise history. Momesso got his Canuck career off to a fine start, recording 6 goals in 11 games to help the team on a successful late-season push to qualify for the playoffs.

Momesso’s stay in Vancouver, although up-and-down at times, would be the longest stop of his career. He continued to show glimpses of his ability to be an above-average power forward, but would frustrate with stretches of ineffective, uninspired play and was prone to undisciplined penalties. Through his first two seasons in Vancouver, he played largely on a line with Jim Sandlak and his former St. Louis teammmate Cliff Ronning, with the two large wingers used to create space for the diminutive Ronning. (As a result, the line would be known as ‘the Twin Towers’). In 1991–92, he played some of the best hockey of his career to finish with 20 goals and 43 points despite missing 26 games due to injury. In 1992–93, he had another solid year to finish with 18 goals and 38 points, as well as a career-high 200 penalty minutes.

1993–94 would be a struggle for Momesso, as he struggled and finished with just 27 points, his lowest total since 1989, and was a target for substantial criticism from Vancouver fans and media. However, he redeemed himself in the 1994 playoffs, as his strong physical play on a line with Martin Gelinas and Nathan LaFayette was one of the catalysts for Vancouver’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals. Along the way, he scored what was probably the biggest goal of his career, an overtime winner against the Dallas Stars.