Welcome to the next article in what we here like to call Captaincy Week. Today we focus on a Sabre who left a huge mark on fans after only one season with the team, Steve Ott.
For many fans, Ott is the perfect type of player to have on your team. He can fight, get under people’s skin, hit, not to mention that he has a bit of a scoring touch. It seemed that Ott was ready to take a leadership role right from the start, talking like a true veteran and leader. When Pominville was traded, an “A” was stitched on Ott’s chest to officially make him an alternate captain, despite already serving as a leader of the team without it.
Now that the new year is coming around, Ott should be one of the best and most talked about candidates for the new captaincy position.
If you look at the captains around the league, many are top players on the team at their position, and Ott wouldn’t be that. The question is, does he need to be? The best player isn’t always the guy who scores then most or has the fanciest moves. Sometimes that leader is more of a physical presence, someone who stands up for their teammates when need be. Steve Ott never fails to do this, which undoubtedly earns him respect in the locker room.
Sure, Ott sometimes does things that you might not deem appropriate for your captain. Licking player’s facemasks is funny, but is that the behavior you want the face of the team to have? Ask around, you’ll likely get very different responses. Were he to serve as captain, Ott would likely have to bottle up some of the unique gamesmanship that’s helped to define him in order to serve as the peacemaker, counselor, and on-ice lawyer when called upon.
One argument against Thomas Vanek becoming captain is that his contract is up at the end of the season, yet it’s easy to forget that Ott is in the same position. While the two have spoken in very different fashions regarding their situations (Ott has stated that he wants to stay, Vanek not so much) the risk is still there that the captain could be gone after only one season.
The real question is if Steve Ott is captain material, and is the risk of a one year captain something that is worth making. The Ott supporters are just as vocal and numerous as the Vanek captaincy supporters, yet Ott may have a bit more opposition than Thomas. So, what’s your take on Ott?