Why is Steve Ott so hated?
by Brandon Worley on Mar 5, 2009 2:45 PM CST
in Dallas Stars News
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PrintI had no clue how much a polarizing figure Steve Ott was until he was suspended this past weekend. I found myself defending Ott on multiple website among hockey fans from all over the NHL, who pretty much collectively thought that Steve Ott deserved the beating Travis Moen handed him. Nevermind the fact that Ott was pretty much defenseless and couldn't legally fight back; most people hoped that Ott received many more shots to the face in the future.
Why so much anomosity towards Ott? Many say that Ott is a cowardly player, never man enough to back up the words he is so famous for using. Fans around the NHL feel that Ott is known for "turtling" out of fights and refuses to ever engage in a fair bout of fistacuffs. Some others say that Ott is a cheap shot artist who should be held accountable for his late hits by opposing players.
I say it's all about perspective.
To me, Steve Ott is the ultimate team player. Every thing he does is meant to help out the Dallas Stars in some way. When Ott first came into the league there wasn't much room on the team for another scoring winger, so he carved out a niche for himself on the fourth line as an aggressive agitator, a player who specializes is pissing off the other team. Steve Ott is adept at being able to draw penalties and give the Stars the advantage, night after night. He was a huge factor in the first two rounds of the playoff series last season, when his physicality and aggressiveness gave the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks fits. While his refusal to fight at times can cause fans of opposing teams to question his "manhood", his smart play puts the Stars on the power play more times than none.
Steve Ott is an emotional, physical hockey player and when you play that style of hockey that are risks you must take. It's not the smartest form of hockey, either. There are times where he has crossed the edge he walks each night, notably last season when he was suspended for a high hit on Colorado's Jordan Leopold. It was a particularly vicious hit, although technically Ott left his feet and thus was suspended accordingly. Yet Ott has never been one out to intentionally hurt opposing players.
This season, with Brenden Morrow out of the lineup, Ott has become much more important to the Dallas Stars than at any other point in his career. He is the team's emotional catalyst and he has become more than just the team's agitator. His hard working style spills over to the rest of the lineup and and creates chances for those on his line. His offensive skills have never been more apparent than this season, where he has become an key member of the Stars' top offensive line.
Steve Ott will also be the first player on the ice to stand up for a teammate. Currently, he cannot physically or legally fight because of a broken hand he sustained while fighting. Last Saturday, Ott had caused problems for the Ducks all game long, incensing them with hit after hit. His rough play towards captian Scott Niedermayer brought the rage of multiple Ducks players from all over the ice. Ott held on for dear life while Travis Moen rained punches down on his head, all the while never swinging back. Ott was eventually suspended for eye-gouging Moen once both were on the ice although both have said it was most likely unintentional.
For whatever reason, Ott is the object of fans and opponents' discontent. Yet I can gaurantee that every single player and fan out there would welcome Ott to their team with open arms. He is in the middle of a career year offensively and never before has he his worth to a hockey team been more apparent.
Perhaps the fact that he gets so much attention is a good thing. If he can keep doing what he does best, scoring goals and getting opponent's thrown in the penalty box, he can stay hated for all I care.
All I know is that I am proud Steve Ott plays for my team and I wouldn't want him to be any other way.
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That's just the nature of the game
Just as as there are still fans here that wouldn’t hesitate to figuratively shove Bryan Marchment out into the path of an oncoming bus, likewise, there are fans in San Jose that would probably throw themselves in front of that bus.
The game of hockey has seen these kinds of players before and they’ll continue to do so until the end of time.
But even then, the value of these players won’t be seen by outsiders unless they’ve ever played for your team.
Reminds me how, as an Islanders fan growing up, how universally hated Darius Kasparaitis was. Specifically, Pens fans hated him because he wasn’t afraid to back down from Jaromir Jagr or Mario Lemiuex during the playoffs in 1993.
Then he got traded to Pittsburgh, gave Eric Lindros a concussion, and was hailed by the same fans that hated him years earlier.
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The Kasparaitis comparison is spot on!
So true. Agitators are just not popular and rarely vindicated. Ott is serving his role and doing it well. I do not like the incident and think Moen should have gotten a major. I can’t blame Jiggy as he was just taking up for his teamate. I will say that I was cheesed off at the rest of the Stars on the ice for not jumping in the scrum. Moen knows Ott can’t hit back while he was doing his best to crack his skull. So be it. I just wish he hadn’t just got traded to San Jose as I would love to have seen Chris Barch call Moen to the carpet for his participation. Scratch one Moen.
Oh well. I want Morrow back like yesterday!
I eventually grew to like Ott as a player...
…as I learned more about his game AND hockey overall. His skill and value as a team player has really been obvious this season. I had begun to compare his game to that of Morrow’s when Razor threw out his awesome “Brendan Ott or Steve Morrow” comparison. Great minds think alike!
He’s hated because of the real and perceived cheap shots he gives opposing players, notably the opposing team’s key players. Any player who does the same is hated.
His reputation as one who turtles isn’t entirely without merit, but he’s also always ranked within the top ten in the NHL with fighting majors (when healthy, mind you). If he engaged in a fight every time one presents itself, he’d never sit on the Stars bench. There are, of course, other players who turn down fights for various reasons, including those whose sole purpose of earning a paycheck is for fighting, but they never get the reputation a player like Ott.
With respect to the criticism Ott leaves his feet when he checks, and he does on occasion, hardly anyone seems the least bit perturbed when Niklas Kronwall does the same on a good many of his hits. Kronwall’s leap into another player results in YouTube videos and fans praising his hard-hitting play, while Ott’s same or similar actions result in scorn. It’s not the hit, how it was leveled or the result thereof, causing fans of other teams to become red in the face, but rather who did the hitting.
It’s the perception Ott has been suspended multiple times for various violations, when at present he’s now been suspended only twice for a grand total of four games. While suspensions are handed out by the NHL for _ and giggles, or so it appears, the number accrued is a good indicator of the severity of alleged transgressions one player does while employed.
The perception does not mesh with reality, and it never will.
THANK YOU
finally someone else who sees Kronwall leaving his feet EVERYTIME he hits someone, yet that is deemed clean and a great hit.. I cannot stand that because it should be a penalty everytime for leaving your feet.
OTT is the best, screw people who don’t like him.
born to destroy
People don’t care that he fights on occasion. Sure, he’ll pick his spots and fight on his terms (not entirely a bad policy) but what pisses people off is that he won’t answer the bell after his questionable hits. Think about the Boston game this year. He had a few (note, plural) questionable hits in that game and yet he turtled every time he was challenged. I don’t watch every Dallas game (but I do watch a lot because I have the CI package and love the Pacific division) and it is entirely different to be the fighter coming in for retribution to defend a teammate and the guy that just pulled off a dirty hit and then won’t stand up to the other team.
You must have missed this one then
Also, it’s rather obvious that Ott’s hit was a hip check in the game against Boston. Rather late, I’ll give you. But it’s physically impossible to check somebody at the knees with your shoulder without going down to your knees. Even if you’re hitting Zdeno Chara.
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I don’t know how that fight is relevant. It wasn’t following anything that appeared to be a cheap shot. My problem is with guys that regularly make borderline cheap hits and then refuse to stand up and be held accountable for them. It basically disgusts me that guys can draw a PP for their team following their own dirty hits. I realize that it has become a part of the game (thank you instigator rule) but that doesn’t mean I have to like it or the players that make a career doing it. Ott led with his shoulder on that “hip check.” It’s hard to tell which part of his body made first contact but just because he was bent over and low does not make it a hip check. My definition of hip check almost always involves approaching skating backwards, leading with your rear. Ott (and Tucker on his hit on Peca) clearly was skating forward and ducked his shoulder to get low instead of leading and going shoulder to chest/shoulder.
He is a piece of garbage. I have no respect for the way he plays the game.
“Ott has never been one out to intentionally hurt opposing players.” I totally disagree with that statement. Go back and watch the tape of the Bruins game. On several occasions during that game he tried to injure guys by going for the knees and leaving his feet on checks and then refused to be accountable for his actions by turtling every time someone challenged him to fight. If you are going to play that way, answer the bell.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG6wQRnnT8o
He was no angel in that Moen fight either. If you can’t fight that day, don’t instigate and throw cross-checks to someone’s back.
by Stanley Cup of Chowder on Mar 5, 2009 10:27 PM CST reply actions
Lay off the Chowder
Is every player who throws a hip check attempting to injure whomever he checks? Of course not, and you’ll argue those weren’t hip checks. It’s a tiresome argument and is playing loose with facts. Should Stars fans be equally outraged at Ferrence for leaving his feet on a check, or Thornton for jumping the boards to engage in a fight (giving the Bruins seven on the ice btw)? I know, I know. It’s how this irrational hatred goes. It’s all Ott’s fault.
The previous two comments proved an earlier point. Steve Ott does fight when he’s healthy. In fact, he’s had two rather severe injuries from fights. Yet there are those that will always hate him because he doesn’t engage in every fight proposed his direction, never seeming to understand that’s not his job.
That was not a hip check. That was a shoulder check to the knees. It was also really late. That was probably dirtier than the Tucker on Peca hit, but it’s at least in the same category. I said my problem (and many others) is that Ott won’t stand up and fight after he pulls a scumbag move. I don’t care if you can be the late man in and grab a guy and start swinging. When you take liberties with someone and the other team challenges you, you fight. It’s the same reason I hate Tucker, Ruutu, Cooke, and the rest of that breed. This discussion just happens to be about Ott.
I’m shocked, shocked, you didn’t think it was a hip check. While poorly executed, it was indeed an attempt at a hip check. That’s something he’s been doing this year and last in open ice. I wouldn’t expect you to know that since you clearly don’t pay much attention to him other than what might pop up on a YouTube clip, and that’s perfectly understandable since it’s impossible to watch every NHL game.
“I said my problem (and many others) is that Ott won’t stand up and fight after he pulls a scumbag move.”
That’s just a bunch of bunk. Ott does fight when he’s healthy, even more than he should. According to Hockey Fights, he’s been involved in 56 regular season fights. That includes the 2006-2007 season where he broke his ankle in a, you guessed it, fight and played a grand total of 19 games. It includes this season in which Ott missed 11 games with a broken hand suffered in a, you guessed it again, fight and counts games he’s played with a still broken hand.
What you seem to want is Ott to drop the gloves every game, every shift and any time any of his hits are questionable, or at least questionable to you. Should every other NHL player drop the gloves when he carries out a questionable hit? If that happened, the NHL as we know it wouldn’t continue on because it would become a more European style game.
It’s a reputation that Ott has that he won’t drop the gloves. You’ve bought it and continue to spout that garbage. It’s just not true.
You are missing my entire point. I admitted that I don’t see all Stars games, but I do see a lot of them. My point is the context of when he fights. When you make a questionable hit and the other team challenges you, you should fight. I don’t particularly care about the other fights. It is chicken shit to throw a hit that could end a career and then refuse to stand up for yourself. I’m not the only one that believes this. If he is getting challenged to fight every shift on this basis, then doesn’t that mean he is throwing a lot of questionable hits? I never said he had to drop them every time someone challenged him. No doubt, people challenge him regularly based on reputation or just being a pain in the ass to play against, I have no problem if you don’t fight after everyone of those. It’s when you throw a borderline hit and the other team is pissed about it that you should stand up and fight. He’s in the NHL, he knows when he has thrown a borderline hit. What happened when Jordan Tootoo laid out Modano? That was an entirely clean hit but he knew someone was coming for him and he stood up for it. You can argue that Tootoo got off a quick sucker punch but at least he didn’t let Robidas come in and grab him then flail around like a rag doll trying to draw a PIM. Context, Chad, context. When does Ott fight? Not how much.
You're one piece of work
What happened when Jordan Tootoo laid out Modano?
He didn’t lay him out. He hit him with a hard but clean hit. I’ll give you that much.
That was an entirely clean hit but he knew someone was coming for him and he stood up for it.
I’ll let you answer this for yourself.
You can argue that Tootoo got off a quick sucker punch…
Yes, he certainly did. On a player who had not so much as even raised his hands.
Absolutely hilarious that you’ll defend what Tootoo did to Robidas two years ago and hail it as some kind of statement about his manhood. Yet, you continue to throw out the meme that Ott doesn’t answer for his questionable hits.
In my previous post, Ott hit Steve Montador along the boards. Montador apparently didn’t like it, invited Ott to dance, and he did.
You’ve apparently held Ott to a standard that impossible to achieve.
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by Brandon Bibb on Mar 7, 2009 12:34 PM CST up reply actions
No man, you guys are just not getting me. If we replace “Steve Ott” with “Darcy Tucker” I’d bet most of you agree. My point was that NHL players know when they have done something for which they are going to be held accountable. Tootoo laid out a star player, that is going to draw a reaction. So is a cheap shot. Tootoo didn’t flop and try to draw a PIM, he dropped his gloves and got ready to fight. I didn’t say it was clean, I was using it as an example that NHL players know when they are going to have to fight. The hit in the Montador post wasn’t dirty so it doesn’t address my point. Nobody fights every time they are asked. Not Brashear, not Laraque, not Parros, not Barch. Those guys fight when they need to shift momentum or when someone is taking advantage of their team; that is why they are enforcers (get it? context). Ott fights on occasion, good for him. He WON’T fight when he has pulled off a bush league hit and he knows someone is coming for him. What was the reason he was cross checking Scott Neidermayer with 3 seconds left in a game? He wasn’t battling for position, he was just being a dirt bag. YOU asked why Steve Ott is so hated, I am telling you. If you don’t want to accept it that’s not my problem.
“Tootoo didn’t flop and try to draw a PIM, he dropped his gloves and got ready to fight.”
Actually, no he didn’t. His gloves were on and he sucker punched Robidas. If he were ready for a fight, he would have done what every other NHL player does and start to square up. That’s beside the point, however.
You keep writing the same thing over and over, insisting Ott won’t fight when he’s done something you deem as either dirty or questionable. Along with this repeated mention comes your opinion no one seems to get your point in all of this. This would be humorous if it wasn’t so sad. The insinuation is that those whom have responded to you are too dimwitted to understand some magnanimous point you’ve made, when in fact all that has happened was others, including myself, have responded that your point with respect to Ott is incorrect.
While you may think your opinion is one universally shared among Ott haters, and I don’t doubt that may be the case for many thereof, it is still incorrect as has been pointed out numerous times to you without as much as a slight recognition your perception of Ott might in fact be incorrect in this specific critique. Instead you go to your defense that those who disagree with you just don’t get your point.
If I had the perception Ovechkin was a soft player, and mind you I do not, and if I used as evidence to support my opinion small snippets of information while leaving out the bulk of the information available, would that make the perception reality or would it make that perception incorrect?
Nice use of magnanimous...
I would go find a clip of Ovechkin laying some guy out. There are plenty of them. You haven’t shown me one example of Ott answering for a cheap shot. So, you either a) don’t think he takes cheap shots or tries to injure players, or b) haven’t gone and found one. Maybe it does exist, but I haven’t seen it (and trust me, I watch a ton of hockey, probably too much). Tell me what is the difference between Ott, Tucker, J. Ruutu, Cooke, et. al. Ott is on DAL so you like him? These are guys that play on the line and occasionally over it. That is what pisses people off. It only adds to that anger when a guy tries to injure your players and then turtles and you end up SH. Sure, you love it as a DAL fan, but there is no difference between what Ott does and those other guys, and I’m sure you probably don’t love them or defend them so vociferously.
Ok so the Tootoo example is probably a bad example, I just used it to show that players know when they violate “the code.” How about a better one. Dustin Brown smashes Ribeiro as Ribeiro is turning near the boards. Brendan Morrow challenges Brown to a fight. Brown realizes that he needs to be held accountable and so he accepts what is coming, which, in this case, was a nice beating from Morrow. He didn’t turtle and try to draw a PIM from Morrow. THAT is what people want to see Ott do. Players know when they violate the code, and they know they need to stand up and be held accountable. Players that violate the code and turtle piss people off. That is why Ott is hated. Compare Carcillo to Ott. Compare Brown to Ott. Compare almost anyone from the Brian Burke Ducks to Ott. Separate yourself from your emotional attachment to your own player and tell me you honestly do not understand this.
I didn’t miss your point, rather I pointed out it is wrong. Ott does fight, be it after a questionable hit or just normal on-ice activity. To suggest otherwise is just flat out wrong, and it’s the exact reputation I and others have pointed out in this very thread as being wrong-headed. If you choose not to believe it, so be it, but don’t continue to make the same incorrect point over and over and think those that do not believe you are somehow missing your repeated point.
“If he is getting challenged to fight every shift on this basis, then doesn’t that mean he is throwing a lot of questionable hits?”
This can’t be a serious question, can it? If it is, it’s incredibly naive. Ott is known as a talker, one who tries in earnest to get an opposition player of his game through a series of verbal barbs. Sometimes it works (i.e. Iginla), other times it doesn’t. With that in mind, don’t you think that maybe, just maybe, those propositioning Ott to fight aren’t concerned about what you deem is a questionable hit but rather are upset by what he says on the ice?
You say he is a piece of garbage...
but if he was a bruin or on a team you root for you would love him…the man is annoying as hell and a great overall hockey player…can score, skate, handle the puck, cause havoc, and fight (when he doesn’t have screws in his wrist).
Here is the fact…he is annoying as hell when he plays against your team…but if he was a member of your team you would love him. If he left the Stars I would be pissed and would probably curse him when he was harassing our players too.
Lay off the Chowder, Please
Yes, please lay off the chowder. I am so tired of hearing about that Boston game. He is a highly emotional and physical player who got carried away (perhaps carried along with by a certain player who is thankfully no longer a Star) during that particular game. How about someone giving me another game as an example? Anyone? Anyone?
Look up Ott on hockeyfights.com. He is not afraid to fight and has taken on many players much bigger than himself. But, like someone said earlier, if Otter took up every player who wanted to fight him, he wouldn’t be able to do anything else. Besides isn’t the idea supposed to be to draw the other player into a penalty without getting a penalty yourself?
Ott is not a fighter, he is an agitator. His job is to draw penalties and frustrate other players so much it throws them off their game. And that my friends, he does very very well.
Thanks for defending him, Brandon. You have a great sight here. Keep up the good work.
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So Ott being a douche bag is Overy’s fault also? Dear God, what isn’t Avery’s fault? Suck it up. Avery is a dirt bag also but it’s not like every team he has played for has flopped. It’s the opposite. And, by my recollection, out of Avery and Ott one of them had the balls to stand up and fight in that Boston game…
Boston game, again and again and again and again.
I was only referring to the Boston Game, in that Otter getting carried away was possibly influenced by playing along side Avery in that one particular game. Have you seen Ott play in any other game besides the YouTube clips from that one Boston game? You say you have, but I doubt it. If you had actually watched Ott play on a regular basis you would know what kind of game he plays. Does he occasionaly cross the line, you bet. But what player who plays his style of game at the intensity level he plays does not?
As I recall, in that Boston game, since that is the only one in which you have seen Ott play, the Bruins were challenging our players to a fight every chance they had. Does that mean every hit a Dallas Stars player made was dirty? Or does it mean the Bruins don’t know what a dirty hit is? Or maybe the Bruins just like to start fights. Or perhaps they can’t take a hit period. Or maybe they like to jump a player who is down on the ice and pile on him to give him a beat down and then have one of their tough guys beat down one of the other teams rookies to make them feel tough and vindicated because of one players unwillingness to fight. Gee, if that was the only game I’d ever seen Boston play, I might be prone to think that about Boston. But I try to base my opinions of a team on their body of work, not just one game. Give me a break.
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Just tell me what the difference is between Steve Ott, Darcy Tucker, Matt Cooke, Jaarko Ruutu. I don’t like any of those guys. This isn’t specific to Ott. Don’t tell me you can watch his game and not understand why people hate him. Fine, he’s on your team so you love him, I don’t care. But don’t come and try to tell me that his reputation is unwarranted or that he’s misunderstood.
Defending Ott
I will say this- Ott was always great to watch in years past but there were plenty of times that I thought he went too far. Since then, he has earned his way up the lines and now plays (very well) on the first line in place of Brenden Morrow. He has learned to deflect pucks and takes all of the punishment for that, he has learned to pick his battles and he brings energy pretty much every time he steps out there. He’s also surprisingly quick and is getting decent at passing through traffic.
He doesn’t quite have the hands or skill of Morrow (yet) and he may be more of an agitator, but he really does have a lot of the same traits. Now tell me, what other power forward in the league do you know who will fight every single time someone challenges them?
In fact, this whole “turtling” label has gotten annoying in general- wasn’t “turtling” originally supposed to be not fighting back so that the other guy gets penalized? So now it applies to people who’d rather piss you off until you take a penalty then fight back so he can’t play?
I don’t get the logic. He’s on the top line and often takes on the best D men in the business. He never shies away from going back on the ice after a big hit, which is something that I WOULD consider turtling.
In short, he throws huge hits, doesn’t OFTEN leave his feet (uh, you’ve noticed he’s shorter than a lot of the guys he hits, right?) and generally takes people off of their game. But then he’ll go right back out there and do it again. Don’t you think that, just maybe, drawing penalties and not actually fighting unless it is called for is sort of a great thing in the coach’s eyes?
Let’s see: You’ve got a guy who can hit hard, plays hard, can actually shoot, isn’t afraid to block shots or screen a goalie, empties the tank on every shift and can draw penalties. He’s also on your top line. Do you want him to go out and fight and be taken out of the game for 5 minutes or do you want him to get right back in and piss off another defensemen?
If you right back out there against the top line and go right after the same guy who wants your blood, you’re an agitator, not a turtler. In short, that’s what makes him Steve Ott rather than Sean Avery.
Post one fight where he answers for a CHEAP SHOT
…unless you are seriously saying he never takes cheap shots
You beat me to it.
Thanks, Gravypan. You beat me to it. But just for good measure…
Here’s another one.
And another.
And yet another.
And those are just from last year.
Ok, I’m done.
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