Perhaps a 2008 Dallas Morning News headline best captured the essence of the Dallas Stars' resident rabble-rouser: Simply the Pest.
Off-putting, chirpy and downright annoying, opposing players hate the thought of going up against Ott.
At the not-so-subtle art of agitation, the all-energy center has few equals. Keeping top players out of their comfort zone has become his calling card.
Wherever his travels have taken Ott, he's quickly become a local fan favorite. In visiting rinks … not so much.
Born in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Ott moved to Windsor, Ontario, when he was young, and it was there that the hockey fixation took hold.
The Stars selected Ott with the No. 25 pick in the 2000 NHL Draft after a promising first year with Windsor of the Ontario Hockey League, when he scored 62 points in 66 games.
He excelled in his final two junior seasons as well, scoring 50 goals in 2000-01 and 43 goals in 2001-02.
Ott played 26 NHL games in 2002-03, his first year with a Stars team that would boast Jason Arnott, Mike Modano and Pierre Turgeon as its top three centers. Ott spent the remainder of the season with Utah of the American Hockey League.
Ott didn't fully develop his trademark ornery-but-effective persona until the 2007-08 season. During a four-year span in Dallas, beginning in 2008-09, he ranged between 32 and 46 points a season and 135-183 penalty minutes.
On July 2, 2012, Ott was traded to the Buffalo Sabres, where his influence led to him being named captain. Pending free agency loomed in the summer of 2014, and as the trade deadline neared, Buffalo traded Ott to the St. Louis Blues on March 1, 2014.
Because of injury, Ott was limited to 21 games in the 2015-16 season, and didn't play a regular-season game after Dec. 5, but he returned for Game 3 of the Blues' First Round Stanley Cup Playoff series against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Ott's two-plus years in St. Louis produced only three goals and 20 points - regular season and playoffs - in 143 games.
Searching for a more physical, edgier dimension to its game, the Detroit Red Wings signed Ott to a one-year contract on July 1, 2016.
NOTES & TRANSACTIONS
- Canadian Major Junior Second All-Star Team (2001)
- OHL Second All-Star Team (2002)
- Traded to Buffalo by Dallas with Adam Pardy for Derek Roy, July 2, 2012.
- Traded to St. Louis by Buffalo with Ryan Miller for Jaroslav Halak, Chris Stewart, William Carrier, St. Louis' 1st round pick (later traded to Winnipeg -- Winnipeg selected Jack Roslovic) in 2015 NHL Draft and St. Louis' 3rd round pick (later traded to Florida -- Florida selected Linus Nassen) in 2016 NHL Draft, February 28, 2014.
- Signed as a free agent by Detroit, July 1, 2016.
- Traded to Montreal by Detroit for Montreal's 6th round pick in 2018 NHL Draft, March 1, 2017.
