Brian Gionta said that longtime friend Scott Gomez didn't encourage him to sign with the Canadiens, but the two are delighted to be on the same team again.

Canadiens are a team with "a ton of speed" and good balance, says new Habs right-winger Brian Gionta.

Photograph by : GETTY IMAGES, FILE

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"We've been playing together since we were involved with USA Hockey when we were 15," Gionta said yesterday during a conference call from his summer home outside Rochester, N.Y.

"We didn't talk before I signed, but we've talked since and we're both excited."

And why not? The two enjoyed their best season in the National Hockey League in 2005-06 when they were linemates with the New Jersey Devils. Gionta established career highs with 48 goals and 89 points, while Gomez had a career year with 33 goals and 84 points.

Gionta was the final piece of the puzzle as general manager Bob Gainey changed the face of the Canadiens Wednesday. Gionta signed a five-year,

$25-million contract. He earned $4 million last season with the Devils, who made no serious attempt to retain him.

"I had offers from several teams and there were other teams that showed some interest, but I felt Montreal would be the best fit for me and my family," said Gionta, who is the father of two pre-schoolers.

While Gainey said he would leave the line formations to new head coach Jacques

Martin, it will come as no surprise if Gomez starts between right-winger Gionta and the team's other free-agent forward acquisition, Mike Cammalleri.

Gionta said he saw the Canadiens as a team with "a ton of speed" and good balance, and dismissed criticism that the newcomers are on the small side. Gomez is 5-foot-11, Cammalleri is 5-foot-9 and Gionta is 5-foot-7.

"It's something that I've had to live with all my life," said Gionta, who went on to say he was flattered when former head coach Pat Burns compared him with another undersized player, Tampa's Marty St. Louis.

Gionta's output dipped to 25 goals and 45 points in 2006-07 when he missed 20 games with injuries. He scored 45 goals and 113 points during the past two seasons without Gomez.

While the departure of 10 players who were unrestricted free agents and Christopher Higgins, who went to the New York Rangers in the Gomez deal, there are bound to be adjustments. But Gionta said he was looking forward to playing for Jacques Martin - "a good coach who believes in having a structured team."

That's the kind of team Gomez and Gionta played on in New Jersey.

The Canadiens were the most active team this week and Gainey said the only item left on his shopping list was a seventh defenceman.

But Gainey has other unfinished business. He extended qualifying offers to five restricted free agents - Guillaume Latendresse, Tomas Plekanec, Matt D'Agostini, Gregory Stewart and Kyle Chipchura. The offers are on the table until July 15. If there is no agreement by then, the players can entertain offers from other teams but the Canadiens have the right to match any offer or are entitled to compensation if they allow the player to leave.

Plekanec is the only member of the group who can apply for arbitration.

Martin also has some work. He still needs to fill out his coaching staff with at least one assistant, a goaltending coach and a strength and conditioning coach.