Otter

[Aesa]

So, who replaces Ott on on the Blues?

[Frank Underwood]

Steve Ott is well liked around the franchise. When Kyrou and Buch suddenly turn into slugs and the team has most of its forwards injured im not sure what wizardry it would take to have a good PP. Does Ott control the PP personnel? My guess is no hes been saddled with lack of RH shots, poor talent, no chemistry not sure all this falls on him

I agree with this…..and yet I’m ready to move on from Ott. But you’re right Harry. The only time the Blues powerplay has looked really good was the last two months of last season, after 4 Nations. They had Bolduc in the bumper spot and that worked beautifully. If they had followed that up this season by putting Snuggerud in the “Ovechkin spot”, I think it would be a totally different story. I doubt Ott had any real input into trading Bolduc, so can’t blame him for that.

By the way, this is NOT more whining about the Bolduc/Mailloux trade. I think Mailloux is progressing and will be much better next season. Bolduc, on the other hand, has gotten lost in the shuffle in Montreal and hasn’t done much of anything when he isn’t on the top line with Suzuki and Caufield. I’m anxious to see what Montreal does with him as far as a contract, given that they have a good amount of young talent. Honestly, I think he ends up as trade bait.

[BluesHockeyFan777]

I believe power play specialist coach Adam Oates is currently available...?

[sneptsmoustache]

I have absolutely no idea if this is the case, but I wonder if there's been a bit of a good cop/bad cop thing (from the players' perspective) with the Blues coaches this year...Monty is the hardass (bad cop), whereas Ott is the younger, funny assistant that can still connect with the players (good cop). After last night's pathetic showing, they have relatively few options to shake this crew up, so they are shipping the good cop off to Springfield as kind of a "punishment" to the players.

Either way, I'm not viewing it as completely unrelated to how awful the team was in Edmonton last night and how disappointing this team has been this season.

[smilinjoefission]

Now he's going to ruin the prospects.

lol @ this clown show

Konowalchuk has Springfield at the 4th worst record in the AHL.
I don't see Ott doing any worse.

Army, Monty, Ott and Co. have Blues at the 4th worst record in the NHL...why would any of these guys do better anywhere else?

[hotrivets]

Now he's going to ruin the prospects.

lol @ this clown show

Konowalchuk has Springfield at the 4th worst record in the AHL.
I don't see Ott doing any worse.

Army, Monty, Ott and Co. have Blues at the 4th worst record in the NHL...why would any of these guys do better anywhere else?

Completely different jobs. It's possible Ott might be a great AHL head coach which does not mean he would be great at the NHL level.

Blues seem to lack the skills basic to NHL hockey. Unless Army really assembled a group with no talent that gets down to coaching. The schemes on the PP are just not effective and everyone sees it but nothing changes. I'm ready for the Ott change and a couple more. Even with Binner they should be able to coach him into making better decisions as he has in the past. If players can no longer be coached into improvement it's time for them to go.

[dhsux]

I'm not sure this is a demotion at all.

It could be an arranged thing for short term, could be Ott wants the experience for his own resume, could be a lot of things.

If you want to get rid of him you fire the guy. That's not what is happening.

[xweazel75]

Now he's going to ruin the prospects.

lol @ this clown show

Konowalchuk has Springfield at the 4th worst record in the AHL.
I don't see Ott doing any worse.

Army, Monty, Ott and Co. have Blues at the 4th worst record in the NHL...why would any of these guys do better anywhere else?

Completely different jobs. It's possible Ott might be a great AHL head coach which does not mean he would be great at the NHL level.

Blues seem to lack the skills basic to NHL hockey. Unless Army really assembled a group with no talent that gets down to coaching. The schemes on the PP are just not effective and everyone sees it but nothing changes. I'm ready for the Ott change and a couple more. Even with Binner they should be able to coach him into making better decisions as he has in the past. If players can no longer be coached into improvement it's time for them to go.

Agreed. Offensively, our coaching scheme hasn't been working for a while now. This style worked for a totally different team when we won the cup. Its more effective in the playoffs when teams sit back and counter, transition quickly. dump and chase, and hit, hit, hit. Much like Otters game was when he was an NHLer.

I think this team does have the talent, but its strengths aren't being used. Theyre young and arent loaded with veterans to carry them. When was the last time you saw a goal from a set play?

Players dont know where to go to get into scoring position. PP is totally ineffective. Lots of dump and chase, bad line changes, and all of the sudden bad chemistry everywhere? All the players having down years?

Go get yourself a modern, offensive minded assistant coach for this team Monty. You deserve to finally hire one of your own assistants.

-x

[hotrivets]

Now he's going to ruin the prospects.

lol @ this clown show

Konowalchuk has Springfield at the 4th worst record in the AHL.
I don't see Ott doing any worse.

Army, Monty, Ott and Co. have Blues at the 4th worst record in the NHL...why would any of these guys do better anywhere else?

Completely different jobs. It's possible Ott might be a great AHL head coach which does not mean he would be great at the NHL level.

Blues seem to lack the skills basic to NHL hockey. Unless Army really assembled a group with no talent that gets down to coaching. The schemes on the PP are just not effective and everyone sees it but nothing changes. I'm ready for the Ott change and a couple more. Even with Binner they should be able to coach him into making better decisions as he has in the past. If players can no longer be coached into improvement it's time for them to go.

Agreed. Offensively, our coaching scheme hasn't been working for a while now. This style worked for a totally different team when we won the cup. Its more effective in the playoffs when teams sit back and counter, transition quickly. dump and chase, and hit, hit, hit. Much like Otters game was when he was an NHLer.

I think this team does have the talent, but its strengths aren't being used. Theyre young and arent loaded with veterans to carry them. When was the last time you saw a goal from a set play?

Players dont know where to go to get into scoring position. PP is totally ineffective. Lots of dump and chase, bad line changes, and all of the sudden bad chemistry everywhere? All the players having down years?

Go get yourself a modern, offensive minded assistant coach for this team Monty. You deserve to finally hire one of your own assistants.

-x

They HAVE to have set plays like every team, right? Not what my eyes see.

[Old_Goat]

The reality of this move is Konowalchuk wasnt getting it done and having Ott down there will be a big benefit. He'll make sure that whatever Monty wants to implement is getting passed along to the younger guys. This is a positive move

That's how I see it.
And I would not bring him back up here. Maybe his reward is eventually getting a chance to be the Head Coach somewhere in the NHL.
Let Montgomery run the PP as well as head Coach. I guess let Julien have the headphones on to get the word from the video guys as to whether or not to challenge a call on the ice.

[Jeff Goldblum]

Steve Ott is well liked around the franchise. When Kyrou and Buch suddenly turn into slugs and the team has most of its forwards injured im not sure what wizardry it would take to have a good PP. Does Ott control the PP personnel? My guess is no hes been saddled with lack of RH shots, poor talent, no chemistry not sure all this falls on him

What you dont do is continue to do the same thing over and over when your PP is completely inept. Every other team in the league has a PP that can sustain pressure. The Blues cant even get set up.

[Harry S Deals]

Steve Ott is well liked around the franchise. When Kyrou and Buch suddenly turn into slugs and the team has most of its forwards injured im not sure what wizardry it would take to have a good PP. Does Ott control the PP personnel? My guess is no hes been saddled with lack of RH shots, poor talent, no chemistry not sure all this falls on him

What you dont do is continue to do the same thing over and over when your PP is completely inept. Every other team in the league has a PP that can sustain pressure. The Blues cant even get set up.

Last year they had a 22% PP, up from 18% in '23-'24 seems like its more a personnel than management issue but idk

[hockey jedi]

They could bring Kirk Muller or Marc Savard back. These guys both had success in St. Louis and ran creative power plays. I remember Muller was really good with bringing Fabbri along his rookie year. I am sure they just want coaches that are good teachers with all of our young players and prospects. Army is about giving young players as much experience as possible in a winning culture and playoff games.

[Harry S Deals]

I have absolutely no idea if this is the case, but I wonder if there's been a bit of a good cop/bad cop thing (from the players' perspective) with the Blues coaches this year...Monty is the hardass (bad cop), whereas Ott is the younger, funny assistant that can still connect with the players (good cop). After last night's pathetic showing, they have relatively few options to shake this crew up, so they are shipping the good cop off to Springfield as kind of a "punishment" to the players.

Either way, I'm not viewing it as completely unrelated to how awful the team was in Edmonton last night and how disappointing this team has been this season.

Monty is more of a players coach from what i gather i dont think hes a hard (donkey)

[ManitobaBlues]

What the hell — so everyone suddenly thinks we’re about to see some massive power-play surge? With what, exactly? It’s the same (bleep) clowns on the ice. How is a coaching change magically fixing that? You can swap the voice behind the bench all you want, but if the personnel doesn’t change, neither does the power play. This isn’t rocket science.

Power plays come down to talent and shooting — simple as that. We don’t have a true PP quarterback, and until we do, it’s not changing. Coaching isn’t the issue. Just watch the Oilers’ power play. That’s not some genius system — that’s raw, elite talent on that first unit. Until we have players like that, expecting a miracle on the PP is just wishful thinking.

[the miracle]

Honestly not sure why anybody even bothers having an opinion on Ott. Do people have an opinion on Ray Barille too? What equipment manager does Carolina have, can we hire him? Who's the skate sharpener for Tampa Bay Lightning? Trade a couple draft picks for that guy.

Yes, Ott runs the power play. Yes, the power play sucks. The whole team stinks. Does anybody expect a team that is near dead last in the standings is going to have a power play unit humming along at 40% success rate? Get real.

Here's a question for those who want Ott fired so bad: Name 3 things he does on the team besides the power play. If you can't name those things, you have no idea what impact he has on the team. If you say he only runs the power play, see my previous paragraph.