I know it almost was... I am not disrespecting their improbable run they made this year.. but that roster has all but 5 contracts expiring in 2 years. In addition to the likelyhood that one of the best goalies of all time will be gone by then and they do not have a pipeline goalie.
- JVince11

These are the risks players take when they sign ridiculously long contracts. I think contracts should be capped at 8 years, and even that is pushing it. Roster flexibility is key to success these days, yet for some reason GM's keep signing these stupidly long deals. Very few are worth it in the long run, some of them aren't even worth it in the short.

yep

he is all over the ice on their second team pp
all over the ice on pk

back checks as good as any player in the nhl

I have watched many stars games just to see him play

If they gave him a bigger role, he could be a 55 point player
- homiedclown

I like Ott's game as much as the next guy, but if the Stars felt a guy like that could handle a bigger role, they'd have given it to him by now. There's most likely a reason for it. The Sabres have enough problems trying to give newcomers different roles as it is. Ville Leino comes to mind immediately. Even Ehrhoff struggled until they finally figured out the way he is most effective is to let him do what he does best.

so....... Kaleta 2.0
- JVince11

Exactly I don't think he will get a bigger role in Buffalo though, do you?
Sure he'll be on the pp and pk but I don't think he gets a crack at the top 6.
- sabres23tx

no, but you can bring him up to the second line for a dozen games or so, due to injuries from another center, and he wont hurt you

Wow former habs goalie PISSED about Sundin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u88WdovasU0

I like Ott's game as much as the next guy, but if the Stars felt a guy like that could handle a bigger role, they'd have given it to him by now. There's most likely a reason for it. The Sabres have enough problems trying to give newcomers different roles as it is. Ville Leino comes to mind immediately. Even Ehrhoff struggled until they finally figured out the way he is most effective is to let him do what he does best.
- buffalofan19

ott has played many games with benn

to be honest, I am surprised he is on the market after the trade of Ribeiro

Wow former habs goalie PISSED about Sundin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u88WdovasU0
- BuffaJoe

I remember that commercial

RJ to be full time this year!~!!!

ott has played many games with benn

to be honest, I am surprised he is on the market after the trade of Ribeiro
- homiedclown

The Sabres had also won a handful of games with Adam Mair playing with Roy and Vanek. That didn't mean playing him there as often as they could was a good idea. In today's NHL, that sort of mixing and matching happens all the time to create a "spark", or out of necessity because of injury. It's rarely permanent. The reason Steve Ott doesn't get a bigger role in Dallas and more ice time is because he is most effective on the 3rd line. Take Jarret Stoll in LA. He was absolutely capable of playing on the 2nd line. The Kings were just an overall better team when he was on the 3rd line.

Too (frank)in' bad. Isn't he one of the anti-fighting ex-enforcer brigade? Can't come back now, he's too "damaged" from being "forced" to fight.
- BuffaJoe

uhhh, not even close. He's 100% pro fighting

The Sabres had also won a handful of games with Adam Mair playing with Roy and Vanek. That didn't mean playing him there as often as they could was a good idea. In today's NHL, that sort of mixing and matching happens all the time to create a "spark", and it's rarely permanent. The reason Steve Ott doesn't get a bigger role in Dallas and more ice time is because he is most effective on the 3rd line. Take Jarret Stoll in LA. He was absolutely capable of playing on the 2nd line. The Kings were just an overall better team when he was on the 3rd line.
- buffalofan19

come on
Mair never scored 22 goals in a year or put up 46 points in a year

thats insulting to throw his name in the same breath as ott

RJ to be full time this year!~!!!
- J03Y

So awesome!

RJ to be full time this year!~!!!
- J03Y

uhhh, not even close. He's 100% pro fighting
- J03Y

My bad, I thought he was one of the guys in the post-Boogard/Belak anti-fighting stand. If not, then comment withdrawn.

EDIT: actually, he said this:

"I did it because it was my job but I hated it," said Georges Laraque, one of the most successful hockey heavyweights in his 12-year NHL career. "I hated to fight. I hated the pressure. I hated to be called a goon, and an animal. I hated promoting violence."

http://edition.cnn.com/20...forcers.deaths/index.html

comment un-withdrawn!

Like I said... unless Morrow or another piece is coming back..

trading Roy or Sekera is wayyyyy too much.

Adam, Brennan, and a 2nd rounder... tops out for me.
- JVince11

Roy and Sekera don't have the high value you perceive them to have. And quite frankly hearing those two grouped in every trade proposal now is bordering on Kadri and Komiserak proportions.

come on
Mair never scored 22 goals in a year or put up 46 points in a year

thats insulting to throw his name in the same breath as ott
- homiedclown

It was just a local example. Steve Ott could play on the 2nd line here, and not look out of place. I'm not disputing that. All I'm saying is that reasoning alone doesn't automatically mean he should. The reason he mostly plays a 3rd line role is because that's where he helps his team the most. It's like the backup quarterback in football. He'll win you 3 games, but the odds are he'll also lose you the next 3. Sure he'll be okay as a stopgap, but if you're counting on him to be top 6 all year, you probably won't have that good of a team. Players of Ott's mold thrive in the 3rd line role. It's a case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

My bad, I thought he was one of the guys in the post-Boogard/Belak anti-fighting stand. If not, then comment withdrawn.

EDIT: actually, he said this:

"I did it because it was my job but I hated it," said Georges Laraque, one of the most successful hockey heavyweights in his 12-year NHL career. "I hated to fight. I hated the pressure. I hated to be called a goon, and an animal. I hated promoting violence."

http://edition.cnn.com/20...forcers.deaths/index.html

comment un-withdrawn!
- BuffaJoe

he also said this:

But Georges Laraque, another ex-Canadiens heavyweight, says fighting is the only way for less talented players to get a job in the world's top hockey league.

He vehemently disagreed with Nilan, telling an Edmonton radio station this week that cheap shots are a bigger problem in hockey than fighting.

The 6-foot-4, 245-pound Montrealer also had harsh words for retired scrappers who are now calling for a fighting ban.

"All the former guys I used to fight, and who think they (NHL) should phase that out, they make me want to puke," Laraque told 880 AM. "That's selfish, because there's another guy like me who won't be talented enough (skill-wise) to make it to the NHL."

But Laraque, who fought Belak several times, admits that the life of a hockey enforcer is "the most demanding, the hardest, the most stressful in all of sports."

"When you drop the gloves ... you know what you have to do, it's your job," says Laraque, who's a hockey commentator for QMI's French sports channel. "If you don't (fight), you disappear."

http://www.torontosun.com...-guys-divided-on-fighting


edit - and as far as promoting violence.......the dude has fought MMA fights

Roy and Sekera don't have the high value you perceive them to have. And quite frankly hearing those two grouped in every trade proposal now is bordering on Kadri and Komiserak proportions.
- Gunner Staal

oh my!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

he also said this:





http://www.torontosun.com...-guys-divided-on-fighting


edit - and as far as promoting violence.......the dude has fought MMA fights
- J03Y

Well now he's a waffler. Nobody likes a waffler.

- homiedclown

Thats not even close... that is just an absolute cheap shot...

Well now he's a waffler. Nobody likes a waffler.
- BuffaJoe

Not really. He's saying he personally hated doing it, not that he thinks it should be gone. To me it's a classic case of "it's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it". If that's what it took for him to make a living playing hockey, so be it. He also just didn't like being portrayed as some sort of neanderthal on skates.

That being said, I don't buy his reasoning in the second bit. If you're not good enough to play in the NHL, you shouldn't be in the NHL, period, just like any other profession.

Roy and Sekera don't have the high value you perceive them to have. And quite frankly hearing those two grouped in every trade proposal now is bordering on Kadri and Komiserak proportions.
- Gunner Staal

I don't care if they don't have the highest quality in order to land a Bobby Ryan or Getzlaf because I don't think they are that good either..

but for a 3rd line center who is a glorified Goon but can actually score and play the game some too.. they would be too much.

Well now he's a waffler. Nobody likes a waffler.
- BuffaJoe

I think he loved the game of hockey, but knew his only way to stay in the league was to fight. Most of the "enforcers" don't like to fight, but know they have to in order to keep a job. Makes plenty of sense IMO.

How many people want to have that on their plate night after night for years.


But at least he sticks up for keeping fighting in the league even though he may not like to have to do it.

Roy and Sekera don't have the high value you perceive them to have. And quite frankly hearing those two grouped in every trade proposal now is bordering on Kadri and Komiserak proportions.
- Gunner Staal

Sekera at least puts up double digit points every year, and Roy has cracked the NHL full time, not sure how they compare to Kadri and Komi. I'll agree the trade proposals of these two guys are getting old, but they exist because they are the players that we no longer want that actually WOULD have a value to another team. I think Roy on a new team in a 2C role would put up 60+ again easily.

I don't care if they don't have the highest quality in order to land a Bobby Ryan or Getzlaf because I don't think they are that good either..

but for a 3rd line center who is a glorified Goon but can actually score and play the game some too.. they would be too much.
- JVince11

getz is a two time all star
ryan has averaged over 32 goals a year for the last 4 years

saying they are not good players is stupid

Roy and Sekera don't have the high value you perceive them to have. And quite frankly hearing those two grouped in every trade proposal now is bordering on Kadri and Komiserak proportions.
- Gunner Staal

It is getting really annoying....