His heart is beating fast, pumping rich, blue and gold transfused through his body. He loves a good fight.
He'd love for his NHLPA brothers to end their CBA conflict with the NHL owners. He wants a resolution now.
Steve Ott LOVES his new team and is really impressed with his new teammates.
What he doesn't love is the jet black cloud that represents the second lockout of his NHL career. looming over Lake Erie.
“It’s getting down to the wire. We want to play hockey,” Ott told me last Thursday at a muni rink in South Buffalo, where @otter2nine was getting to know his new team mates while playing 3 on 3 shinny. Ott was traded with Adam Pardy to Buffalo from Dallas in July .Long time Sabres centre, Derek Roy went south in the deal.
On Monday, just before the shotgun start of the annual Buffalo Sabres Foundation golf outing at the prestigious Park Club, Ott re-iterated that he wants nothing more to pull on a Sabres sweater and go to war with his new battalion.
“The players are looking for a fair deal. We want to play, and we want to get going. I think every single guy is ready to go. It would be a complete shame if the doors are locked by ownership.”
After the entire 2004-05 season was lost due to labor struggles, the NHL is heading toward another work stoppage. The collective bargaining agreement expires Sept. 15. And for players who are looking to make fresh starts on new teams — like Ott — any delay makes it that much harder to get acclimated.
“I can’t wait for the opportunity to throw my Buffalo Sabres jersey on,” said Ott, who will be among several players who will hit Manhattan Thursday to show their solidarity. “Hopefully it starts in October, and it’s ready to go. I love this team. It’s a young team, but it’s molded right.”
Ott's got every right to love his new squad. He's gotten an up close and personal look at Pominville, Vanek, Stafford, Foligno, Kaleta, Girgensons, Tropp, Ehrhoff, Myers, Weber, McNabb, Miller, Leopold, Regehr, Enroth, Ellis and the rest of the boys. He knows the talent level that has been assembled in Buffalo is actually better than the way it performed on the ice from January-March 2012. Decimated by injuries, the Sabres launched out on a January road trip from Hell to NYI, CHI, DET, WPG, and STL, and were kicked to the curb, losing five straight games by a combined score of 23-5. No points earned out of a possible 10 points in five game span buried Buffalo in the basement of the Eastern conference. They fought like Braveheart in March and April to dig themselves out of the crater of a sinkhole that they had dug themselves into, however, in the end, they missed the playoffs by an eyelash.
Ott wants to help his new team. He has a ton of leadership to offer to his new organization. He can't lead while he and his boys are locked out. He loves hockey. He plays it the right way. He goes balls to the wall for his team mates, and he'll never say die.
Ott spent that 2004-05 season playing with Hamilton of the AHL after playing 99 games for the Stars, starting in 2002.
“It was a shame that we had to miss a whole season,” he said. “It did nobody good. It wasn’t exciting for the fans, it wasn’t exciting for the players, and it wasn’t exciting for the ownership.”
Sabres owner Terry Pegula spoke conservatively at a press conference to formally announce a $123 million project he’s building in downtown Buffalo across from his arena. Pegula has high hopes for this team, especially after it missed the postseason last year.
“I don’t know if (a lockout) is going to happen,” he said. “Obviously, we’ll all want to see some hockey played. So let’s hope it doesn’t happen and be positive on it.”
Pegula also mentioned that if there were to be any sustained work stoppage, he had no plans on cutting the pay of his administrative staff. Meanwhile, several Sabres have been skating on their own already. While working out, of course, labor talks are always a topic of conversation.
“It comes up every single time in the dressing room,” Ott said.
If there’s no deal in place over the next week or so, Ott said he and his new teammates will seek more ice time at a local rink. But he’s hoping those workouts won’t last very long.
“We’re here, we want to play, and we want a fair deal,” he said. “To see and show the growth of the game and how its changed in the last seven years, and then to see it possibly have another lockout is disheartening.”
Drew Stafford, Steve Ott, and Mike Weber are among the Sabres players who will take a pause for the cause, and be in attendance at the NHLPA offices on Wednesday and Thursday. Staff told me last week: "I'll be there. Definitely. We all support Don (Fehr)".
This morning, he and Buffalo mayor, Byron Brown met with local media to further outline the plans for the Pegula financed, HARBORcenter. Its a $123 million project that will require zero, yes, zero public money. Pegula is investing his own money into the Buffalo community. The HARBORcenter will feature two ice rinks, retail space, parking ramp, and a luxury hotel, mere footsteps from the First Niagara Centre's entrance way.
thanks, sabres.com
John Vogl of the Buffalo News reports that Pegula was asked about the September 15th expiration date of the current collective bargaining agreement between the NHL owners and the NHL Players Association.
"I can’t tell you anything, just that talks continue," Pegula said. "I don’t want to lose draft picks
Pegula dared not speak publicly about the ongoing CBA negotiations for fear of fine or league discipline.
Pegula left the HARBORcenter presser to join the Sabres Foundation's golf outing at a nearby country club. Present and former players participate in this anual event, along with front office staff as well. Yes, Ryan Miller is in town and playing, as are all of the Sabres.
It should be noted that the Calgary Flames are having their annual golf outing today. Their sponsors and dignitaries tradionally play with the active players, who usually attend and play golf in the event each year. According to Eric Francis of CBC HNIC's "Hot Stove", the Flames players have pulled out of this year's event as a show of solidarity against the union. Media and celebs are taking the place of the Flames players at the event.
Not so in Buffalo, where all Sabres current players are present and accounted for.
Thats how Pegula rolls. Its a family affair.
Pegula, ever the family man, considers his players and employees to be like his family. Pegula is not your daddy's NHL owner. Remember how he lost his composure during his initial press conference? I'll never forget the teary-eyed Pegula asking: "Where's Perreault?". Pegula is a player's owner. He's not like Ed Snider and Jeremy Jacobs in that they are the two hawk owners that who along with Gary Bettman, are continuing to drive the hard line against the players in these tumultuous times.
I'm not suggesting one iota that Pegula is on the side of the players in this CBA conundrum. What I am suggesting is that he has only owned the Sabres for nineteen months. He's a junior owner in NHL terms, and he's learning how to navigate the at-time slippery ownership slope. Guys like Snider and Jacobs are the senior, battle-scarred owners, who have driven the hard line for four plus decades in the NHL. Snider and Jacobs have been there, done that through all of the labor strife and previous lockouts.
Today, Pegula was asked about the potential for a moratorium on communications between he and the players in the event of a work stoppage.
"That’s just a temporary thing," Pegula said. "We all know that. If anything happens, there will be no lasting effect after."
Sabres veteran D, Robyn Regehr joined two other current NHLers in New York City on Friday. The players sat in on teh two "informal" discussions taht were shared between Gary Bettman, Bill Daly, and the Fehr brothers. Neither side spoke on Saturday and Sunday. No talks are planned for today.
This may change as the September 15th deadline inches closer.
More to come....
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