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Ott To Trot?

February 23, 2014, 5:41 PM ET [16 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT

Thanks, Dan Hickling


This isn't Steve Ott's first rodeo. The Buffalo Sabres' captain is a pending UFA who has been in hot demand for weeks by a dozen other NHL clubs. His contract expires in July and the buzz is intensifying around Ott becoming a rental player for a contender at or before the March 5 NHL trade deadline.

Its business. Its not personal.

He and his agent have spoken to the Sabres about a contract extension yet. The 31 year old Ott knows that the chances of him being traded from the last place Sabres are very good right now. Sabres GM Tim Murray is getting calls from his fellow NHL GM counterparts in both conferences to inquire about Ott's availability.

Murray has said repeatedly for weeks that he will do what he feels is in the best interested of improving the Sabres, and if that means trading away his pending UFAs Ott, Moulson, and Miller for valuable building blocks , then so be it.

The Sabres skated at Bud Bakewell arena in Riverside Buffalo on Sunday afternoon. After practice, Ott was asked about where his head and heart are at right now regarding the NHL trade deadline.

“Obviously I told them (the Sabres) I want to be here,” he said. “We’ll see where it all goes. I’m professional enough to know the business side of things as well and what the situation is here as well. We’ll see how it all plays out in the next two weeks or so.”

Ott is being pursued right now by Anaheim, Philly, NY Rangers, St. Louis, Detroit, Vancouver, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Montreal, and San Jose among others.

The price tag isn't cheap either.

Tim Murray wants a first round draft choice in exchange for his captain and he will get it from a serious GM if a trade is actually made. Ott would provide immediate adrenaline, accountability, leadership, and piss-n-vinegar to the locker room of a contender or a bubble team looking to break on through to the other side. Veteran players like Ott provide a ton of value for their teams in the NHL playoffs. That's why his name keeps coming up in trade talks.

Ott isn't listening to all of the chatter. He's only concerned with working with head coach Ted Nolan, Tim Murray and the leadership group in the room to improve the overall play of his Sabres. That's it. Team guy all the way.

“Any time you don’t have success as a team, there’s going to be changes,” he said. “And that goes from Stanley Cup winners all the way down to last place teams. I try to preach how important it is to come to work and put your work boots on every single day and show you want to be in this League.”

Ott, his wife and daughter have been embraced by Buffalo and the feeling is mutual. The Ott's love the Buffalo community. Leaving it as a rental at the trade deadline might just be a short term play. Ott told sabres.com on Sunday that he will would not rule out re-signing in Buffalo as a UFA in the event he is dealt away between now and March 5.

“I would have to look at all possibilities. I can tell you myself, my wife and family, we love it here. We’ve liked it,” he said. “It would definitely be in one of my top spots if I ever got to that position in the summertime.”



“It (Buffalo) definitely holds a big piece of my heart,” he said.



The NHL Olympic roster freeze will be defrosted at the stroke of midnight on Monday morning.


Look for the Ott trade talks to intensify this week. In the meantime, he will continue to bust his tail to improve his own game and that of his team.


Ott's a natural born leader. He wants to win a Stanley Cup. He's not getting any younger.




________________________________________________________________________

Back to life. Back to reality. Back to the here and now,

The defroster button was pressed at midnight on the NHL Olympic roster freeze. NHL GMs are now free to make trades. GMs of bubble teams (and there are a ton of them) like Washington, Ottawa, Columbus, Detroit should know by now if they are going to be buyers or sellers at the deadline. The conference leaders are also looking for special ingredient-players to infuse into their groups to strengthen the bonds that hold their teams together.

In Buffalo, Tim Murray spent the Olympic break doing what he does best: defrosting his windshield on his pick-up truck, stopping at a Timmy Ho’s drive-thru for a double-double, and watching junior players out on the snow-covered highways and bi-ways of Western New York, Northern Pennsylvania and Southern Ontario. Murray has made his list and is checking it twice. He, Pat LaFontaine and hwill be a busy man in the next ten days leading up to the NHL trade deadline on March 5.

The Sabres will play four games before the NHL trade deadline, with three of the games on home ice this week. Carolina will visit on Tuesday night, then Team Canada Olympic gold medalist Patrice Bergeron and his Boston Bruins will roll in on Thursday night. Team Canada Olympic gold medalist Patrick Marleau and the San Jose Sharks will be in Buffalo on Friday night. Then, the Sabres will take to the friendly skies for a three-game roadie that will keep them away from First Niagara Center during the NHL trade deadline. Team Canada Olympic gold medalist Jamie Benn, Lindy Ruff and the Dallas Stars will host Buffalo on Monday night, and then it’s off to Tampa for a Thursday night tilt with Team Canada Olympic gold medalist Martin St. Louis and the Tampa Lightning. The trip will conclude in Sunrise Florida next Friday night.


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Jaro Halak. Remember him? He of the 0-2 record and bloated 5.13 GAA and a .857 save % for the Slovaks at the Sochi games. Will we ever be able to forget Halak’s epic meltdown against the Americans in the first preliminary game?


In the end, Halak and his backup Peter Budaj lost the starting job to third stringer Jan Laco, who started the final two games.

Halak didn’t stick around Sochi to watch the closing ceremony. He was on the ice with his teammates in St. Louis on Sunday.

Lou Lorac of nhl.com asked Halak what went wrong for the Slovaks in Sochi.

"It didn't happen. That's hockey. We didn't play great," Halak said. "At the Olympics, when you play against the best, you need to play the best. We need to do our best every night. We didn't do that. That's as simple as that."

Halak stopped 28 shots in a 3-1 loss to Slovenia, a game in which was 0-0 heading into the third period.

It was before the final preliminary round game that Slovakia coach Vladimir Vujtek made the change and decided to start Laco against Russia, a game in which the host country won 1-0 in a shootout.

During the Russia game, NBC commentators quoted Halak as saying that he had been told by his coach that he was done for the Olympic tournament tournament prior to facing rival Czech Republic in the elimination round. The report suggested that Laco would be the goalie the rest of the way. Halak refuted those reports.

"I was never told I was done for the tournament," Halak said. "I just figured maybe I was after we played well in Russia game. I was still hoping to get back in there, but it didn't happen for me.

"Obviously I didn't expect it, but we needed to win, we needed to make a few changes. Coach changed the goalie and that was it. I'm glad to be back here and get the first one."

"We didn't play great, I didn't play great," Halak added. "Now I'm glad to be back and hopefully I can help the guys get some points."



Halak strikes me as a guy who is suffering badly from an inferiority complex. The guy is a defeatist in the way he talks about himself in interviews. Why would he tell NBC that he was told that he was done for the tourney when it never really happened?
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