St. Louis Blues: Steve Ott Proving To Be Worth His Weight In Gold

Steve Ott is one of those players that when he’s on your team, you like him. When he’s on the opposing bench you hate him. While he’s always been that type of player, he’s really showing what he’s worth to the St. Louis Blues now

Let it be stated, for the record, that I was against reinserting Steve Ott in the lineup against the Chicago Blackhawks. It was nothing against Ott, I just felt that Ryan Reaves had done enough to warrant his own place in the lineup. How wrong I was.

Reaves had been a heavy hitter and wasn’t making any mistakes and basically doing his job. We all knew that Scottie Upshall and Kyle Brodziak were not going to exit the lineup so it came down to Ott vs Reaves in a certain way.

While it may have been harsh for Reaves to have to take a back seat, the decision could not have been more correct. Ott isn’t the type of player to show up on the stat sheet, so his value has shown up in other areas.

What he does do that shows up on a stat sheet is physicality. Despite the fact that hits have been way overblown, Ott has still gotten in on the party. In two games he has recorded nine hits and one blocked shot.

What can’t be measured is his tenacity. He gets under people’s skin. Not to poke the bear either, but he does it in a way unlike Andrew Shaw.

Shaw is just as likely to get revved up himself in those mental moments while Ott seems to get calmer when he sees his plan coming together. It is semi-sociopathic but he gets enjoyment out of being the burr in someone’s saddle and he does it well. Whether he took psychology classes to achieve such heights is unknown to us.

Despite all his psychology and energy he brings, an underrated quality of Steve Ott is his leadership. Sure, he’s a fourth line player but he’s vocal. He’s been around the block. Players look up to him and listen to him.

Game 4 against Chicago was a prime example. After all the controversy (from Blues fans’ perspective anyway) following the Crawford/Fabbri fight, Chicago scored a powerplay goal to take a 2-1 lead. Sensing how the game could slip away, Ott stepped up and then so did the team.

For me personally, that seemingly small action gave me an all new respect for Ott. There were the stories going around how great he is in the locker room and how he’s funny and gets along with all his teammates. There are stories about that for a lot of guys though.

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For whatever reason (especially if the Blues go on to beat Chicago and maybe even more) that action of calming everyone down on the bench and letting them know there’s still a job to do will stick in my mind for a long time to come. It showed what kind of player Ott is and what kind of man he is.

He had a sense that there was still much to do. There was a bigger objective. The guy who is known for irritating and being physical was the one to tell everyone not to seek revenge and to focus on the bigger picture.

Ott truly is one of those odd ducks that makes a team click. Fans sometimes can’t identify with that. Some don’t see the value in a player that rarely scores, rarely plays double digit minutes and regardless of what he may have been at any other time, is now a prototypical fourth line player.

Ott isn’t the missing piece the St. Louis Blues have been searching for. He’s been with this team for two previous playoff runs and wasn’t much of an impact. What he can be though, and may have been with his pep talk in Chicago, is the player that nobody expected to step up at the right time and do something that impacted everyone on the squad.

Next: David Backes Finally A True Leader

Ott has been through a lot this year. Double-hamstring surgery, colitis, setbacks and more.

Through it all he has persevered. He’s come back stronger and more determined and maybe even a bit more seasoned (if that was possible). In only two playoff games in 2016 he’s proven to be worth the risk of altering the lineup and then some. He’s still salty on the ice, which is what everyone would expect, but he’s got a vision and now (especially after his pep talk) his teammates do too.

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